Share Last year, Sherisse Laud-Hammond was named the new director of the Penn Women’s Center (PWC), a position in which she is the first Black woman and woman of color to serve. A 2005 graduate of the Master of Social Work program at Penn’s School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2), Laud-Hammond’s prior social work education and career, as well as her ongoing dedication to social justice and change, are unmistakably evident when she describes her goals and vision for PWC. Repositioning the Center as a more inclusive, diverse, and representative space for the Penn community was high on Laud-Hammond’s priority list—and in her first year as director alone, she has led highly successful rebranding and fundraising efforts to this end, in addition to overseeing a timely and well-received roster of virtual programming, all during a period of unprecedented challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.