Leading Educator and Columbia Trustee Wanda Holland Greene to Give Keynote Address at 2022 Graduation
The Columbia School of Social Work is excited to announce that Wanda Holland Greene will be the keynote speaker at this year’s Graduation Ceremony, to take place on Saturday, May 14.
Ms. Holland Greene is Head of School at The Hamlin School in San Francisco, a mission-driven institution dedicated to best practices and innovation in the education of girls and young women, as well the Vice Chair of Columbia University’s Board of Trustees. Her work has focused on a wide range of issues in education: mental health and emotional well-being; anti-racism and cultural competency; neurodiversity and learning differences; gender inequity and stereotype threat in the classroom; and global citizenship.
In sharing the news with the School community, Dean Melissa Begg said, “Wanda Holland Greene fully embraces and lives the social work ethos. Her commitment to a wide range of pressing educational issues resonates strongly with CSSW’s mission to promote social and racial justice. She is a truly inspirational speaker, believes in our School and its mission, and knows and supports our community in myriad ways. We look forward to her bringing a fresh perspective that will further enrich our community and expand our horizons.”
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Ms. Holland Greene attended The Chapin School before receiving her BA from Columbia College (1989) and her MA (1991) and EdM (2021) from Teachers College. (To learn more about her undergraduate experience at Columbia, read this interview in Columbia College Today.) She began her career as an educator at The Columbia Greenhouse Nursery School before returning to Chapin as a teacher and the school’s first Director of Student Life. Prior to joining Hamlin in 2008, she served for eleven years as a senior administrator at The Park School in Brookline, Massachusetts.
A former faculty member of the National Association of Independent Schools’ Aspiring Heads Fellowship, Ms. Holland Greene is a nationally recognized mentor, advocate, and executive coach for new and aspiring heads of school. Among her awards and honors, she has received an Alumna Achievement Award from Columbia College Women and the University’s John Jay Award, an honor bestowed annually to Columbia College alumni for distinguished professional achievement. She has been named one of San Francisco’s Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business and was presented a Women Making History Award by the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women.
This year’s Graduation, the first in-person ceremony since 2019, will take place on the Morningside Campus South Lawn at 4:00 p.m. For more details on this event please see this page.
