Our My Brilliant Colleague series invites you to celebrate anyone who has inspired you in your career. It is part of Community Care’s ongoing Choose Social Work campaign, which aims to champion the brilliant work social workers do every day and inspire the next generation of practitioners.
In this entry, independent social work manager Grace Easie Edgar celebrates her friend and colleague, director of children's services Sarah Nardone.
She praises Sarah for being a constant source of support throughout her career, offering guidance, helping her find the right opportunities and standing by her during personal challenges.
I would like to nominate a professional and friend who has worked her way up the social work ladder and is now a director of children's services!
I have followed Sarah’s career throughout different challenging roles. From being the head of service to assistant director and, now, this new role, she continues to be inclusive, empowering and supportive of change.
She has always been a source of support, identifying roles I could apply for, encouraging me to take up senior duties and supporting my management and leadership style as a Black woman.
Over the years, she has remained accessible - personally and professionally. When my family needed support, she offered sound advice and guidance for my daughter and her triplets, who were born during Covid.
She is an inspiration, with a drive for excellence, a no-fluff leadership style and an approachable attitude. Throughout our careers, she has never left me behind. She's always aware of where my strengths and work experience could be used to support different social work teams and services.
Even when my husband and I retired to another country, she kept in touch. Each year, she brought me back to work with her on short-term roles or found me other online opportunities.
She has a huge wealth of knowledge that she continually shares with colleagues and manages to connect and resonate with so many people, both in and out of work.
Thanks to you, Sarah, I am still in social work. Every time I start a new role, I have the same commitment and dedication to be the point of strength for someone else as you have been for me.
Keep flying the flag for excellence, my colleague and friend. We all need a champ, and you are one.
How to nominate a colleague
You can nominate anyone who has inspired you in your career – whether current or former colleagues, managers, students, lecturers, mentors or prominent past or present sector figures whom you have admired from afar.Nominate your colleague or social work inspiration by filling in our nominations form with a letter or a few paragraphs (100-250 words) explaining how and why the person has inspired you.
*Despite the need to provide your name and role, you or the nominee can be anonymous in the published entry.*
If you have any questions, email our community journalist, Anastasia Koutsounia, at anastasia.koutsounia@markallengroup.com.
