TEAMWORK: The 2026 National Association of Social Workers Guam Chapter conference planning team. Photo courtesy of the University of Guam
Lovelle Baza
Lovelle Baza
TEAMWORK: The 2026 National Association of Social Workers Guam Chapter conference planning team. Photo courtesy of the University of Guam
What happens when a conference becomes more than just a conference?
The 2026 National Association of Social Workers Guam Annual Conference – Resisting the Rip Current: Culturally Grounded Social Work for Healing, Justice, and Wellness in the Pacific – was held on March 12-13 at the Hilton Resort Guam.
For months, this conference lived in planning meetings, late nights and moments of quiet uncertainty. There were details to finalize, people to coordinate and a vision we were trying to bring to life in a way that felt true to our community. But when it finally came together, what stood out to me wasn’t just that it happened-it was how everything aligned.
Not just in schedule.
But in spirit.
Across Day One, there was a kind of flow that you don’t get from coordination alone. Dr. Lisa Natividad grounded us first, reminding us that healing, especially of the spirit, is complex, heavy and necessary in the work we do. And from there, everything that followed felt connected.
The keynote, panels and breakout sessions weren’t just aligned-they were in conversation. Themes of identity, belonging, decolonization and returning to our spirit center surfaced through wayfinding, lived experience and systems-level dialogue, each building on the next. It didn’t feel planned.
It felt guided.
As if the knowledge being shared wasn’t just coming from what we’ve learned through research or training, but from something deeper – something carried through generations. There were moments where you could feel it in your body. An understanding that what we were witnessing was not just professional dialogue, but cultural remembering. It was as if the space itself held meaning, and we were being reminded of truths we already knew but needed to hear together.
The session on wayfinding spoke to returning to our spirit center. Stories of belonging grounded healing in lived experience. Conversations on decolonization challenged us to examine systems while reclaiming identity. Across all spaces, the same truth remained: healing is relational, cultural and deeply rooted in who we are.
That kind of alignment doesn’t happen by accident.
Yes, we planned. Yes, we coordinated. But what unfolded went beyond logistics. It felt like ta fanhita – a collective coming together where each piece supported the other, where no single voice stood alone, and where the whole became greater than the sum of its parts.
While day one grounded us in identity and collective truth, day two brought us into practice – into how healing moves through systems. Judge Maria Cenzon reminded us that even within the justice system, healing is possible – and that social workers are central to that work. They bridge systems, humanize care and help people find their way back to shore. It expanded how we understand the helping profession and where it shows up, challenging us to see that healing can exist even within systems we don’t always expect.
Sessions throughout the day reflected the complexity of our work – how healing intersects with systems, behavior, culture and accountability in ways that are not always straightforward but always necessary. We also held space for the NASW leadership panel, where I joined in honest dialogue on the future of our chapter and the responsibility we carry forward-with the courage to engage in difficult conversations.
What made this conference powerful was how everything came together – held in a space where our island’s leaders showed their support for the work we do. It strengthened the connection between cultural understanding and practice, making our work more responsive, more human and more effective within the context of our island communities.
Throughout both days, what stood out most was not just the content but the people.
The room was full. People standing along the walls. Conversations continued long after sessions ended. Moments unfolding in hallways, over meals and in quiet exchanges that didn’t need microphones to be meaningful.
More than 200 people showed up – but more importantly, they showed up fully.
And in those moments, you could feel something that is hard to describe unless you were there.
We were not alone in this work.
Even in the face of heavy systems, in times of uncertainty, and in difficult conversations, we are still grounded in something stronger than all of that. There was a shared understanding that while the work can feel overwhelming, coming together creates something steady, something that reminds us why we continue.
We often say our community is resilient. But what this conference reminded me is that resilience is not just about enduring.
It is about connection.
It is about choosing, again and again, to show up for one another. To listen. To hold space. To move together rather than against the current. It is about recognizing that even in the most challenging moments, there is strength in community.
Social work is love in action.
It is not just practice.
It is relationship.
It is culture.
It is inafa’maolek.
What we carry as social workers is heavy, but we were never meant to carry it alone.
And maybe that’s what happens when a conference becomes more than just a conference.
Lovelle Baza is a licensed clinical social worker, adjunct professor at the University of Guam, and president of the National Association of Social Workers Guam Chapter.
Lovelle Baza
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