Patrick Mulkern.
Patrick Mulkern, a fourth-year doctoral student at the Boston College School of Social Work, has served as president of the California Association of School Social Workers. He鈥檚 run a wellness center for high school students in San Francisco, coordinating therapists, nurses, and community health outreach workers. And he鈥檚 managed a team of undergraduate and graduate research assistants in 情色空间SSW鈥檚 , which conducts research to improve therapy for stigmatized youth.
Now Mulkern has been recognized for those contributions, receiving the 2026 Student Award for Leadership & Service in Social Work from the ,聽an organization of social work doctoral program directors at more than 100 member institutions.聽
鈥淚 think fundamentally, at my core, it鈥檚 important to give back to your community,鈥� says Mulkern, who will receive a certificate and a $1,500 prize at the Annual Program Meeting in Atlanta on Friday.
Mulkern鈥檚 commitment to leadership and service dates back to his undergraduate years at 情色空间, when he earned a degree in English in 2011 and received the Congressman John Joseph Moakley Award for demonstrating a 鈥減assion for faith and a desire to see that faith enflesh itself in justice in the world.鈥�
He later spent a year with the , working in an emergency shelter for youth in San Diego. That experience led to a leadership role at the shelter, where he handled scheduling, grant reporting, and budget planning while continuing to work with young people in crisis.
鈥淚 was 22, responding to 17-year-olds who wanted to die or who were using meth,鈥� Mulkern recalls. 鈥淓arly on, I was able to self-regulate and know how to navigate challenging situations.鈥�
I think I definitely have learned more from the people I鈥檝e worked with than I think I鈥檝e imparted. I鈥檓 really just using my voice and my positionality to raise awareness, raise money, and make change.
Maggi Price, the founding director of the Affirm Lab and Mulkern鈥檚 doctoral advisor, describes him as 鈥渁mong the most impressive doctoral students鈥� she has mentored and says his record of professional service is 鈥渦nprecedented as a junior scholar.鈥�
In nominating Mulkern for the award, Price highlighted his leadership at both the national and university levels. As secretary of the , Mulkern helped craft a response to anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation that provided guidance to school social workers supporting marginalized students. He also co-authored the organization鈥檚 School Reopening Priorities and Guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic, which addressed student well-being.
At 情色空间SSW, he served as co-chair of the Doctoral Student Group in 2024鈥�25, helping foster community and amplify doctoral students鈥� voices. And his work with student researchers in the Affirm Lab led to the development of an online, asynchronous training intervention for school staff to better support transgender students.聽
鈥淲ithin my lab, Patrick is adored,鈥� says Price, an associate professor who studies the mental health of youth who are stigmatized because of their race, gender, or sexual identity. 鈥淗e鈥檚 the go-to person for when you need emotional support in your work, but also actual concrete guidance.鈥�
Mulkern says his leadership roles have underscored the value of collaborating with the community to solve complex social problems. At the Affirm Lab, for example, he works with community advisory boards to inform interventions. His approach is straightforward: Learn from the community, understand what people need, and then work to get the funding to make it happen.聽
As he looks toward a career in academia, Mulkern hopes to maintain strong ties to schools, nonprofits, and community organizations. He sees himself using research to help community partners solve their most pressing challenges.聽
鈥淚 think I definitely have learned more from the people I鈥檝e worked with than I think I鈥檝e imparted,鈥� says Mulkern. 鈥淚鈥檓 really just using my voice and my positionality to raise awareness, raise money, and make change.鈥�