As part of the Graduate School of Social Service’s “Class of 2025 Changemakers” series, we’re spotlighting graduating students transforming their professional paths through the Master of Social Work (MSW) program.
Meredith Outwater’s first day in the Master of Social Work (M.S.W) program at the Graduate School of Social Service was filled with nerves. Despite having an accomplished career, the classroom setting was intimidating.
“I literally had butterflies in my stomach,” she said. “I hadn’t written a research paper, listened to a lecture, or participated in a classroom discussion in almost 30 years.”
Those nerves quickly dissipated with one word: connection. As she looked around the room and spoke with her classmates, Outwater found she wasn’t the only career-changer. Far from it.
“It’s such a welcoming environment,” she said. “You instantly realize you’re not alone, and that a lot of the students are career changers. Since day one, I’ve never had another nerve again about my choice to return to school.”
After college, Outwater built an impressive career in financial services technology at a start-up, helping banks evaluate and deploy emerging technologies, earning tens of millions in revenue. She traveled globally for work. She spoke at conferences. She flexed her entrepreneurial muscles daily. It was exciting, but deep down, it wasn’t what she wanted.
“I wasn’t really feeling fulfilled,” she said. “I didn’t feel like I was helping people, and that’s important to me.”
It was time for a change.
A Career Shift Inspired by Her Children
Eventually, Outwater left financial services to be closer to home. However, as she spent more time with her young children, she wanted them to learn that the world was bigger than their little town in the suburbs. Outwater had experienced so much culture through her work and life travels, and she wanted to find a way to share that with them.
This led her to create “Gourmet Globetrotters,” an innovative children’s program where she took children on “imaginary travel” around the world. Together, they explored cultural activities and cooking experiences from different countries.
“We pretended each day we were going to a different country,” she said. “We might read a story, do a craft or a science experiment, or learn a dance, but we always cooked something from the country, expanding our palettes and stimulating our curiosity.”
The program was remarkably successful, expanding to include summer camps where they planted and harvested vegetables from the garden to prepare dishes and specialized curricula like “cooking through the ABCs.” Outwater expanded into working at local schools. The children came to class excited, wondering what part of the world they’d visit next, which, on occasion, even included outer space. Thrilled with the program’s success and the young minds she was opening, this was Outwater’s foray into a new world—one where she could flex her entrepreneurial spirit while doing rewarding work for the greater good.
Outwater’s focus broadened as her children got older. She worked at Global Citizens Initiative, collaborating with high school students from around the world who developed projects to help their local communities. The annual cohorts of students were from countries as diverse as Kenya, France, Brazil, and Japan, and the program fostered cross-cultural understanding while empowering them to make a difference.
“We started with a weeklong summit at Harvard University, where they learned about design thinking and how to put together and execute a plan in their home country,” she said. “Over the next year, we helped them deploy their projects, enabling them to realize you can make an impact and pay it forward.”
The Path to Social Work
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Outwater saw the negative impact it had on her family, especially her young daughter. With social distancing came a feeling of isolation as she was forced to miss school and its variety of social opportunities.
Luckily, Outwater and her daughter could discuss these feelings and struggles with a trusted therapist. The pandemic situation wasn’t getting much better, but this new guide brought a bounty of information they could use to make things manageable. It helped in a big way.
“I was really so impressed with the work and insights that this therapist provided,” Outwater said.
Soon, Outwater was taking what she’d learned from the therapy sessions and using them to help her own friends through their difficulties, most of which stemmed from their children’s similar COVID issues. That’s when she knew this was her next professional step.
“I just thought, ‘Wait, I really love this. Maybe this could be a career,'” she said.
Outwater could only learn so much through informal sessions. If she wanted to seriously pursue this path, she needed to explore higher education. As she researched, she discovered there are multiple ways to become a therapist. Outwater said the MSW degree’s versatility drew her to the field.
“You can pursue so many different paths with [an MSW degree],” she said. “You are not pigeonholed in any way into how you’re going to use this degree.”
This flexibility was important to someone with a history of career evolution. While social workers act as licensed clinicians, they also serve in schools, hospitals, government, and agencies, among many other settings. The skillset earned through the MSW education allows graduates to thrive in a variety of settings.
The Social Work Difference
Along with the classroom connections, Outwater’s field placement internships have confirmed she’s headed in the right direction. This year, she served as a Clinical Intern in the Office of Student Mental Health and Wellness at New York Medical College. In this position, Outwater provided weekly and bi-weekly therapeutic sessions to graduate students struggling with anxiety and panic disorders, depression, eating disorders, executive functioning, and other challenges.
“I truly feel like I’ve made a difference in people’s lives by just taking time to talk with them,” she said. “People want to be seen, heard, and understood, and offering simple validation and showing concern, curiosity, and empathy in an authentic way really makes a huge difference. Helping clients reframe unhelpful thoughts, learn new coping mechanisms, or practice self-compassion adds to the impact.”
Outwater said the experience has been both professionally and personally transformative. As she prepares to graduate, her current plan is to pursue clinical licensure, which typically takes three years of supervised practice after earning an MSW. Along the way, she’ll be making a daily difference and learning new therapeutic modalities.
“Anyone can change the course of someone’s day, and perhaps someone’s week or month, just by taking the time to slow down, connect on an interpersonal level, and express interest. People crave feeling seen and as though they belong and are valued,” she said. “Being able to authentically normalize feelings can help immensely.”
When asked to define what a “changemaker” means to her, Outwater focused on individual impact. The ability to show up for someone when they need it with consistency and understanding. To really hear them when they need to speak out.
“A changemaker embraces opportunities both big and small,” she said. “I admire those who go into advocacy work and pursue change on a much larger scale. But a changemaker may [also]impact one life at a time. That’s important, too.”
The Class of 2025 Changemakers series highlights Fordham Master of Social Work students who are transforming their careers and communities. For more information about Fordham’s MSW program, visit Fordham.edu/msw
