Pia J. Hargrove

Educator, Activist, Speaker, and Author

Pia Hargrove is an award-winning educator, activist, speaker, and author with more than two decades of experience engaging and cultivating community with cultural humility, relevance, and responsiveness with joy in the process. She is a licensed master social worker (LSMW) and professor at New York University’s Silver Graduate School of Social Work. Every month over 800,000 listeners tune into her segment “Mental Health First Fridays” on Caribbean Power Jam’s radio show, “The Reset” as she brings awareness to the power of mental health, healing from social trauma, restorative justice, self-care and more. Championing literacy and emotional learning in youth, her book Celebrate Smiles teaches self-esteem, love, and thankfulness to children.

Hargrove earned a bachelor’s in psychology from Boston University and a master’s in social work from New York University as an honors graduate, Lucretia Jett Phillips fellow, and Nia Award recipient. Her graduate work study program in Puerto Rico equipped her for helping diverse Spanish speaking communities in the future. Previous social work engagements include the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services and the New York City Mission Society. In 2017 she ran for city council and continued community organizing through leadership in several civic organizations. She is also the founder of the non-profit Creating Legacies which inspires community building by nurturing entrepreneurs and offering families diverse social and educational experiences.