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.

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She is the current 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 Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for Newton Public Schools in Massachusetts and holds a longstanding adjunct faculty role at her alma mater, Simmons University School of Social Work.

Prior to this role, Lopes was appointed as the Assistant Commissioner at the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families and co-author of her first published book, Change the Narrative: How to Foster an Antiracist Culture in Your School. She is a sought-after guest lecturer and public speaker on topics of cultural humility, racial identity and social justice.

Lopes received her MSW from Simmons College and her BA from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.