Barbara DiGangi
University Settlement
Barbara DiGangi, LMSW, is a dedicated leader with 17 years of experience in community-based mental health, with a commitment to equity and social justice. She’s the founding Director of Families Thriving, an innovative home and community-based program in New York City providing family-centered mental health services. In 2022, Barbara expanded this initiative to a groundbreaking district-wide partnership with school District 1 in the Lower East Side.
Her work and advocacy focus on democratizing mental health, comprehensively filling gaps in support within ecosystems at youth development sites, schools, and community places. In response to the pandemic and social unrest, she co-created Connection Circles, a group processing model for healing and community building. Barbara has served on the Trinity Church Wall Street Neighborhood Council, District 1 Leadership Team, and Deputy Mayor Williams-Isom’s Child and Family Mental Health Taskforce. As a Practicum Instructor, she guides the next generation of social workers to adopt a community-driven and abolitionist lens.
Barbara’s experience and approach to community well-being have established her as a thought leader on mental health, speaking on the issue locally and internationally. She holds a master's degree in social work with a concentration in advanced social policy from New York University.
