Careers in Social Work: A Focus on Macro Practice, with Nancy Wackstein

Nancy Wackstein was the director of community engagement and partnerships at the Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service (GSS) from February 2016 to July 2021, following a long career in the New York City nonprofit sector. Along with her duties as a director, she also acted as the adviser for the GSS Student Congress and supervised macro students placed in the NYC mayor’s office.

From 2002 to 2015, Wackstein served as the executive director of United Neighborhood Houses of New York (UNH), the federation of New York City’s 38 settlement houses and community centers. Prior to UNH, she was the executive director of Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, a Manhattan settlement house, for 11 years.

From 1990to 1991, Wackstein acted as director of homelessness and SRO housing under Mayor David N. Dinkins, and she was senior policy advisor for human services in the Manhattan Borough President’s Office from 1986 to1989. Over the course of her career, Wackstein has also served on many nonprofit boards and NYC government task forces and commissions.

She received a bachelor’s degree from Binghamton University, SUNY, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and a master’s degree from the Columbia University School of Social Work (CUSSW). In 2009, Wackstein was inducted into the CUSSW Hall of Fame. In 2013, she was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Binghamton University.