
Equity Consultant |
Social Worker | Educator | Author | Leader

2024 Recipient of the National Association of Social Workers “Social Policy and Change” Award
Kathy Lopes, LICSW
She/Her/Hers

Kathy Lopes is a social worker and educator with extensive administrative and clinical experience in education, mental health, government & non-profit sectors with a primary focus on race & gender equity, social welfare policy and advocacy.
She is the most recent Vice President of the National Association of Black Social Workers and the inaugural 1st Vice President of the Association of Massachusetts School Equity Leaders (AMSEL).
She currently serves as the Vice President of Health at the Boys and Girls Club of Boston and holds a longstanding adjunct faculty role at her alma mater, Simmons University School of Social Work.
Prior to this role, Lopes served as the inaugural Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Newton Public Schools and Assistant Commissioner at the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. She is the co-author, Change the Narrative: How to Foster an Antiracist Culture in Your School and a sought-after guest lecturer and public speaker on topics of culturally-responsive practices, racial identity and social justice.
Lopes received her MSW from Simmons College and her BA from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.



