2025- 2026 Editorial Board

Leadership 

Ezzie Perez - Editor in Chief, Amsterdam

• Ezzie is a second year MSW student on the Integrated Practice and Programming track. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in Philosophy and Government with a concentration in Political Theory. Her research interests include advocating for communities impacted by the criminal legal system, serving youth populations, and program management and evaluation.

Emily Carchia - Editor in Chief, Amsterdam

• Emily (she/her) is a dual degree MSW in integrated practice and programming in international social welfare, and MPA in international finance and economic policy. I joined the Amsterdam/Review because I wanted to be a part of creating a space for students to express themselves, and discuss timely topics within our field. I hope to inspire students to have hard conversations, and give them an outlet to learn and explore social work themes.

Sarah Thoman - Editor in Chief, Review

• Sarah (she/her/hers) is a clinical MSW student at Columbia School of Social Work. She’s excited to leverage her prior social science research and grief nonprofit support experiences, as well as her passion for social and environmental justice, to further the Columbia Social Work Review! In her spare time, she enjoys nature walks, creative pursuits, and traveling with her family and friends.

Editorial Staff

Nicole Jun-Yee Lai - Communications Lead; Editor, Review

• Nicole is a second-year student at Columbia School of Social Work in the Advanced Clinical Practice track. She graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Public Health and is passionate about the intersection of public health and social justice, particularly in Asian American health. Before CSSW, she worked in spinal cord injury research, where she became especially interested in patient mental health outcomes and support systems. As Communications Lead, Nicole hopes to make the CSWR more accessible and to uplift diverse student voices. She has previously served as a social media coordinator for various violence prevention programs and is currently a social work intern at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. In her free time, she enjoys reading and crocheting.

Tarangini Arunachalam - Editor, Review

• Tarangini is a first-year MSW student at the Columbia University School of Social Work in the clinical track, with a concentration in Advanced Clinical Practice. Her current practicum site is a middle school that places emphasis on restorative practices and socio-emotional supports. Tarangini is originally from Long Island, New York, and is enjoying getting to know the city! She is excited to work with her fellow editors and editorial board this year!

Michael Baranda (he/him/his) - Editor, Review

• Michael Baranda is a first-year student at the Columbia School of Social Work. After his lived experiences in mental health, Michael found himself pivoting into a career in clinical therapy from working in commercial real estate in Chicago, IL. Having a previous interest in pursuing medicine, his unique interdisciplinary experiences and education has shaped his framework and his understanding of human behavior. Currently residing in Tampa, FL, he plans on moving to New York, NY for in-person, full-time studies with hopes of fine-tuning his academic and career interests. Currently, the intersection of social welfare policy and social decision neuroscience has piqued his research interests, and is curious how these disciplines apply clinically. Michael enjoys visiting new coffee shops, finding the best sunset spots, and trying new restaurants. He is privileged to be a part of the Columbia Social Work Review this school year and looks forward to contributing to social justice through writing.

Abby Buonato - Editor, Review

• Abby is a first-year MSW student on the Advanced Clinical Practice track specializing in Health, Mental Health, and Disabilities, and a recent graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, with majors in Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology and Biochemistry. She is currently interning at School in the Square's  Bilingual Elementary, Dos Amigos, and on the leadership team for the Medical Social Work Caucus. She is looking forward to working with the Columbia Social Work Review this upcoming year! 

Briana Rodriguez Castillo (she/ella) - Creative Editor, Amsterdam

• Briana is a first year MSW/MPH dual degree student intending to specialize in Integrated Practice and Programming.  She is a Denver, Colorado native and has a BA in Political Science, Social Theory, and Human Rights Advocacy from Wesleyan University. She is currently interning at a pro se legal immigration clinic and is passionate about making the immigration process accessible regardless of ability to pay. As she pursues her degrees, she hopes to learn how best to support communities in New York City facing issues at the intersection of social work and public health.

Bryana Chavis-Johnson - Creative Editor, Amsterdam

• Bryana Chavis-Johnson is an online Part-Time to Full-Time MSW student within Columbia University's School of Social Work. Bryana plans to pursue the Advanced Clinical Track (ACP), with a concentration in Contemporary Social Issues, along with a minor in Criminal Legal Advocacy. Previously, she attended George Mason University, where she obtained her Bachelor's of Science in Psychology with a Concentration in Forensic Psychology with minors in Forensic Science and Intelligence Analysis. After obtaining her undergraduate degree, Bryana has worked in various settings, including Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) and Intensive In-Home Therapy, behavioral health inside carceral settings, and pre-trial/probation supervision. She has a strong desire to continue working in the field of forensics and to further her understanding of the systemic violence that plagues the criminal legal system. Bryana has a deep love of the arts, specifically music, written work, and visual art. One goal she hopes to achieve is to publish a fictional novel!

McKynzie (Kynzie) Clark - Creative Editor, Amsterdam

• Kynzie (she/her) is a second-year MSW student pursuing a combination of policy and clinical social work with a focus on contemporary social issues. As a Fisher-Cummings Fellow, Kynzie works with the Social Intervention Group’s AI for Social Good & Society Initiative (“AI4SGS”) and the Center for Intimacy Justice. With a background in human rights and political science, Kynzie is passionate about the burgeoning intersection between justice, technology, and networks of care. As Creative Editor for The Amsterdam, she looks forward to engaging with her peers and helping them effectively and authentically tell their stories.

Rachel Goldman - Editor, Review

• Rachel Goldman is a first-year Master of Social Work student at Columbia University’s School of Social Work, where she plans to pursue the Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Certification track. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from The New School and has engaged in academic research focused on trauma-informed care and community support. Rachel is deeply interested in the intersection of clinical practice and research and plans to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology after completing her MSW. In her free time, she enjoys long walks, reading, and sewing.

Max Fallon-Goodwin - Creative Editor, Amsterdam

• Max Fallon-Goodwin is a first-year MSSW online student at Columbia University, specializing in Advanced Clinical Practice. They serve as a co-leader of the Disability Justice Caucus, a co-facilitator for PDSA, and the student DEI liaison. Max holds a Bachelor’s degree in Women and Gender Studies and Africana Studies from Smith College. Their current practicum placement is with Black Men Heal, where they support mental health access and healing within Black communities. Max’s writing has been featured in Ms. Magazine and Whetstone Magazine, where they explore themes of intersectionality, feminism, autonomy, and empowerment. In addition to their academic and editorial work, Max teaches and manages social media for the Truth School, amplifying the voices of marginalized communities through education and advocacy.

Ella Kaplun - Creative Editor, Amsterdam

• Ella Kaplun is a first-year MSW student at the Columbia School of Social Work excited to pursue the Advanced Clinical Practice track. She graduated from NYU with a BA in English and American Literature and has a passion for storytelling. Her other interests include running, photography, and spending time with friends and family.

Tenzin Kunga - Creative Editor, Amsterdam

• Tenzin Kunga is a first-year MSSW student at Columbia University School of Social Work pursuing the Leadership, Management, and Entrepreneurship for Social Justice specialization. Her interests center on organizational psychology and culturally responsive mental health. She graduated from Denison University in May of 2025 with a degree in Psychology and a minor in English Literature. She is currently a creative editor on the Amsterdam.

Timothy D. Mercer - Editor, Review

• Timothy D. Mercer is a second year MSW student in the OYR Program. Tim lives in Bethesda, Maryland where his work focuses on substance abuse treatment, mental health, and homelessness services. Tim completed an MS in Forensic Psychology in 2005, is a licensed drug counselor in MD and VA, and works for Montgomery County, MD in the Mental Health Court. In his free time, Tim enjoys traveling the world to meet new people, eat great food, and after graduating, Tim will pursue a third Masters in Public Policy to further serve marginalized communities by developing programs designed to address poverty, homelessness and addiction.

Greiby Medina - Creative Editor, Amsterdam

• i’m greiby janáky medina (she/they), a lambda literary fellow and finalist, and an mfa dual-degree graduate who learned english by writing and reading before i ever felt fluent in speaking. i’ve been writing since i could walk or crawl, because language was the first bridge i built from rupture. through a disability lens, i see story as a site of repair: a garden, a nook, a view from inside a raindrop, where i can question and begin again without asking permission. as a creative editor and author, i’ve shaped and written multiple series with simon & schuster, always holding close the belief that children, and all of us, deserve stories that move like freedom. after seventeen years in storytelling, i’ve learned that truth is not always beautiful, that truth arrives messy, and that art is a kind of protest. my editorial lens is abolitionist; i don’t edit to contain, i edit to release, to witness, to walk alongside the author. language, for me, is the practice of becoming. this is where i know who i am, and who we could be, if we listened together.
• medina is a msw candidate at columbia university’s school of social work, specialising in leadership, management, and entrepreneurship, with a field of practice in contemporary social issues. her practicum is with the uzbekistan social work education project under dr. lyudmila kim, where she contributes to curriculum design and research on child protection, gender equity, and youth wellbeing. as a research assistant within the social intervention group (sig), she is honoured to contribute to the women initiating new goals for safety (wings) programme, an evidence-based, trauma-informed intervention that supports women affected by intimate partner violence in strengthening their safety, economic stability, and self-determination.
• medina’s social work practice and scholarship are informed by her lived experience as the daughter of a formerly incarcerated and unhoused parent in honduras and by the enduring impact of migration, displacement, and structural inequity. she is driven by a commitment to dismantling the interlocking forces of ableism, racialisation, and colourism that shape the social work profession and the academy itself, systems that too often undermine disabled, neurodivergent, and racialised scholars through epistemic exclusion and pathologisation. her work insists on the intellectual and moral necessity of abolitionist pedagogy and disability justice as central, not peripheral, to the future of care.
• beyond research, medina identifies as a biocultural cartographer and ethnographer of continuance, exploring how creativity, art, and language act as technologies of belonging and resistance for those exiled by colonialism and carcerality.
• for her, justice is not an aspiration but a remembering, a return to the body’s capacity for harmony, repair, and freedom.

QianZi Walker - Editor, Review

• Hi! I’m QianZi a Master of Social Work student at Columbia University on the Policy Track. I currently serve as both an Editor for the Columbia Social Work Review and the Online Student Representative in the CSSW Student Government. In these roles, I love connecting with our vibrant online community—so if you ever have questions about school resources, student life, or engagement opportunities, feel free to reach out!
• My academic interests focus on mental health policy, equity in service systems, and evidence-based policymaking I hope to pursue a PhD or work in a think tank or government agency as a policy analyst, advocating for systemic change that improves people’s lives.
• Outside of class, you’ll usually find me walking my dog , lifting weights , or watching anime—my current favorite is Dr. Stone which inspires me to keep rebuilding and reimagining the world with science, empathy, and hope. 

Allan Zheng - Editor, Review

• Allan Zheng is an Advanced Standing Master of Social Work student at Columbia University’s School of Social Work, specializing in Integrative Practice and Programming with concentrations in Contemporary Social Issues and Health, Mental Health, and Disabilities. He earned dual bachelor’s degrees in Social Work and Human Development & Family Sciences, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Syracuse University, where he was recognized with the Lottman Book Award, the Falk Service Award, and the Our Time Has Come Scholarship. Allan is also a nationally certified EMT-B.
• Allan currently serves as a Legal Social Work intern in the Victim Services Unit at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, where he supports survivors through trauma-informed advocacy, crisis intervention, and restorative approaches. His previous experience spans a range of interdisciplinary settings, including Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Kennedy Krieger Institute, Upstate Medical University Hospital, and Syracuse University Ambulance, where he contributed to therapeutic program development and implementation of evidence-based interventions. During his time at Upstate, he engaged in re-evaluating New York State’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) model by integrating data and various therapeutic modalities.
• Rooted in his interdisciplinary background, Allan’s work reflects a deep commitment to social justice, mental health equity, and culturally attuned practice. His interests center on bridging research, clinical practice, and policy to strengthen systems of care for marginalized and underrepresented populations.

 

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Many thanks to our 2024-2025 Editorial Board Members/Alums!

Board Leadership

• Halla Anderson - Editor in Chief
• Stephanie Cheng (she/her/hers) - Editor in Chief
• Delcine Hackley (she/her/hers) - Amsterdam Lead Creative Editor
• Jessie Mendoza (she/her/ella) - Amsterdam Lead Creative Editor

Editorial Board Staff

• Abigail C. Ross (she/her/hers) - Exec Editor, CSWR
• Danielle Lennon (she/her/hers) - Exec Editor, CSWR
• David Maly (he/him/his) - Exec Editor, CSWR
• Jacqueline Rosenbaum - Exec Editor, CSWR
• Megan Conrad - Exec Editor, CSWR
• Amanda Marshall-Kapp - Assoc Editor, CSWR
• Carisa Aguilera-Dupnik (she/her/hers) - Assoc Editor, CSWR
• Elizabeth Lico (she/her/hers) - Assoc Editor, CSWR
• Joshua Strom - Assoc Editor, CSWR
• Nicole Lai (she/her/hers) - Assoc Editor, CSWR
• Ruthnaomi Liquisa (she/her/hers) - Assoc Editor, CSWR
• Sarah Thoman (she/her/hers) - Assoc Editor, CSWR
• Shelly Karan (she/her/hers) - Assoc Editor, CSWR
• Timothy D. Mercer (he/him/his) - Assoc Editor, CSWR
• Emily Carchia (she/her/hers) - Creative Editor, Amsterdam
• Ezzie Perez (she/her/hers) - Creative Editor, Amsterdam
• Giseel Rodriguez - Creative Editor, Amsterdam
• Jaz Anastacio - Creative Editor, Amsterdam
• Anne-Marie Batista (she/her/hers)  - Social Media Support