A Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and social justice advocate, a leader in the local immigrant services community, and a beloved social work scholar and mentor have been recognized for their impactful contributions to society.

Lauded during the 31st Annual Awards Reception of the California Social Welfare Archives, the three honorees are Sonia Nazario, who received the George D. Nickel Award for Outstanding Contributions to Social Welfare; E. Stephen Voss, honored with the George D. Nickel Award for Outstanding Professional Services by a Social Worker; and Murali Nair, who received the Frances Lomas Feldman Excellence in Education Award.

In her keynote remarks, Nazario described how she spent her childhood as a granuja, or troublemaker, and its lasting effects on her career as a journalist and advocate for marginalized populations.

Both of her parents’ families fled to Argentina to escape religious persecution—her father’s family from Syria and her mother’s family from Poland. Born in the United States, where her father had pursued his doctoral education, Nazario returned to Argentina with her family at age 13 after her father’s sudden death.

Their timing was poor. Argentina was in the midst of its so-called Dirty War, a military takeover that led to thousands of civilian deaths.

“I lived in fear every single day,” Nazario said, recalling how a family member was tortured, a close friend was killed and her mother burned a large pile of books in their backyard to avoid being targeted as left-wing intellectuals.

Fighting back

While walking along a street in Buenos Aires, she came across a pool of blood and learned from her mother that two journalists had been killed there by militants. Rather than flinching away, she became resolute in her recognition of the importance of a free and vibrant press willing to hold people accountable. She decided to become a journalist.

“I was determined to tell stories that mattered,” she said.

At 21, she joined the Wall Street Journal as a foreign correspondent. Although forced to strip away her sense of activism and attempt to eliminate any personal biases to become an objective observer, Nazario continued to focus her attention on social justice issues involving women, children, low-income populations and Latinos.

As a reporter at the Los Angeles Times, she authored highly acclaimed pieces on hunger among schoolchildren in California and the effects of addiction and the crack epidemic on children. She followed a 3-year-old girl in Long Beach for months, describing a scene in which her mother using heroin and crack as the girl slept nearby on a filthy mattress.

“I’m like a pig in slop when I can drop myself right into the action,” she said.

A dangerous odyssey

She is perhaps best known for her Pulitzer Prize-winning series about a young Honduran boy’s perilous trek through Central America toward the United States to reunite with his mother. Later adapted into a book, Enrique’s Journey, the story became a national bestseller and is required reading for thousands of high school students.

After meeting Enrique in Nuevo Laredo on the U.S.–Mexico border, she retraced his 1,600 kilometer journey over 3 months, experiencing firsthand the countless risks and dangers of riding on railcars and dodging robbers, gangsters and rapists along the northbound route.

“What I witnessed, it changed me,” she said.

Nazario left the Los Angeles Times in 2008 and began wading into social activism. She has since advocated for legal representation for unaccompanied minors seeking asylum in the United States, noting that children with an attorney have a 70 percent chance of being allowed to stay, whereas 90 percent of those without representation are deported.

She also decried current immigration policies of enforcement and deportation and the limitations of guest worker programs.

“Any true solution must come from addressing this exodus at its source: Central America,” she said, adding later, “Walls don’t work.”

A century of service

Immigrants who arrive in the Los Angeles region have benefited for decades from the services offered by the International Institute of Los Angeles. The organization, founded in 1914, helps newcomers integrate into their new lives by offering child care, nutrition support, assistance with asylum and citizenship proceedings, and numerous other resources.

As president and CEO of the institute since 1993, Voss oversaw a four-fold increase in its budget until the economic collapse of 2008 cut its revenue by a third. However, institute officials credited Voss with bringing the organization back from the brink and expanding its programs in recent years.

After accepting his award, Voss deflected much of the recognition for his contributions, stating that “any honor for anything is a small symbol of a lot of work by a lot of other people.” He cited his caring and giving mother; ethical and principled father; and wife, whom he described as “the best social worker in our house,” as major contributors to his success.

Voss closed his remarks by noting the turbulent political climate and calling on attendees to use this opportunity to rally for justice, in addition to encouraging them to reach out to those with different perspectives and find common ground.

Positively upbeat

A clinical professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, Nair has delighted students and fellow faculty members for years with his vibrant and warm personality.

In addition to mentoring dozens of students—encouraging them to present their research findings at international conferences and nominating them for academic awards—he has focused his research on holistic health practices among older adults, undoubtedly influencing his own joyful approach to life.

“Each day when I get up, I think of something new,” he said.

He began his acceptance speech by engaging the audience in a short mindfulness exercise and proceeded to call out his students in attendance, noting their achievements. Then he shifted his attention to his family members, citing their strengths and accomplishments. Nair concluded by exhorting members of the audience to strive to learn something new each day.

“We all have something to learn,” he said, describing how his grandchildren are teaching him to use new technology like smart phones and tablet computers. “Learning is a lifelong endeavor.”

Two of Nair’s students, Jessica Booker and Erica Nellessen, also received honors at the awards ceremony — namely the Madeleine Stoner and Ralph Fertig CSWA Social Work Scholar Award — for their research on the surge in migration of unaccompanied children to the United States from a dangerous area of Central America.

For the record

For more than 35 years, the California Social Welfare Archives has documented the development of social welfare in California for educators, scholars and researchers by preserving and making available materials of historical significance and publishing oral history interviews with social work pioneers. Its California Social Work Hall of Distinction honors exceptional contributors to social welfare and the social work profession and supports curricula in social work programs throughout the state. Visit https://www.youtube.com/USCSocialWork to see a video of the keynote address and award presentation.