Pia Raymond Hargrove, LMSW

Pia Raymond Hargrove earned a B.A. in psychology from Boston University and an MSW from New York University as an honors graduate, Lucretia Jett Phillips fellow and Nia Award recipient.  Her NYU Social Work Study in Puerto Rico especially equipped her for practice within diverse Spanish speaking communities.

 

Exercising with cultural humility, Pia has deeply engaged children and families through social work practice at the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services and the New York City Mission Society.  As a community and political activist, Pia ran for NYC Council in 2017 and continued community organizing through leadership in several civic organizations.

 

A champion for literacy with an emphasis on social emotional learning, Pia’s notable children’s book, Celebrate Smiles teaches self-esteem, love and thankfulness.  She founded Creating Legacies, a nonprofit organization inspiring community building through nurturing entrepreneurs and offering families diverse social and educational experiences.  In the educational sector, Pia served as the 2018-2019 co-chair of the Diversity Committee at the Packer Collegiate Institute in New York City.  Her experience as an alumna of the Oliver Scholars Program, allows Pia a unique opportunity to render her service to the Oliver Scholars student and parent body through educating about mental health, particularly during the pandemic.

 

As a speaker, Pia engages diverse audiences around race and cultural humility, political agency, collective trauma and healing, and the importance of self-care.  She continues to share her expertise as a professor of social work at NYU Silver with a particular emphasis on the needs of immigrant communities and those reflective of the African Diaspora.