Kudos is back and we are excited to share some of our members’ accomplishments over the past few months. This edition’s list is small but mighty with news of certifications, elections, publications, interviews, Hall of Fame inductions and promotions. For those of you who have not read a KUDOS column before, this is a space where we celebrate our members and all the challenging, creative, professional growing things we are doing. We honor our members’ hard work and inspire others to continue to promote excellence within the oncology social work profession.

Join me in congratulating and being inspired by the news from these members…

• Daria Borrousch, LMSW, OSW-C; Michelle Eggenberger, LMSW, OSW-C; Brenda Kuchta, LMSW, OSW-C; Mary Ellen McBride, LMSW, OSW-C; and Erin Mulvihill, LMSW, OSW-C (Michigan), have reason to celebrate! All five oncology social workers within the St. Joseph Mercy Health System Cancer Centers now have their Board of Oncology Social Work Certification. If you would like to join them as an OSW-C, please check out http://oswcert.org/.
• Harold Dean, LCSW, OSW-C (Arkansas), was elected to the Board of Directors for the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB). This association includes the social work regulatory boards and colleges of all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and all 10 Canadian provinces. ASWB is the only nonprofit organization dedicated to social work regulation. Its mission is to strengthen protection of the public by providing support and services to its member boards. 
• Katherine Easton, LCSW, OSW-C (Georgia), was elected to the Georgia Social Work Oncology Group’s 2017 Board of Directors (Director-at-Large). Katherine also had an article published in the February 2017 issue of CONQUER™ magazine, “Resilience: Personality or Practice?.” This magazine is the premier forum for patients with cancer and was initiated by the Academy of Oncology Nurse & Patient Navigators. CONQUER features articles written by and for patients with cancer, survivors, nurse navigators and other oncology team members. This magazine addresses the issues that patients, their family members and caregivers face every day in an easy-to-read format. Issues include interviews with patients with cancer, information on access to care, and articles on lifestyle topics such as nutrition, stress management, personal finance, and legal and employer issues. You can read Katherine’s article here. 
• Alison Mayer Sachs, MSW, CSW, OSW-C (California), was interviewed for the October 2016 issue of the ONS magazine, Connect. The article, “How Do You Support Individual Expertise in a Coordinated Cancer Team Setting?,” is available here.
• Amanda Musser, MSW, LCSW (Pennsylvania), passed her LCSW exam in February 2017. She will be inducted into the 2017 Lebanon County Commission for Women’s Hall of Fame (Lebanon, PA) in March. Amada was recognized for the Women Promoting Healthy Lifestyles Category for her work both personally and professionally in advocacy, education and her family’s fundraising efforts for breast cancer patients in Central Pennsylvania. According to the Lebanon County Commission for Women, all of the women selected are “role models whose community contributions encourage us all to think larger and bolder by challenging stereotypes and social assumptions.”
• Beth Perlmutter, LCSW, OSW-C (Georgia), was recently promoted to Manager of Social Services for the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. This new position in their department is evidence of social workers’ growth within their institutions.