Alumni

After earning a doctoral degree in neurobiology from the University at California Berkeley and working for 11 years as a research associate in the Section of Neurobiology and Behavior at Cornell University, Bodnar made a career change in 2001. She enrolled in the master of social work program at UB in 2002, and during much of that time, she worked as a substance use disorder counselor and served as treatment liaison for Family Treatment Court. 

After completing her MSW, she became the program development specialist for Tompkins County Department of Social Services (DSS) where her work focused on grant writing, data collection and analysis, program implementation and evaluation. Primary areas of focus were Emergency Housing Services (EHS) and Family Treatment Court (FTC) where she helped introduce Solution-Focused Trauma Informed Care (SFTIC). 

For the past six years, she has served as deputy commissioner continuing to work with EHS and FTC in a more administrative role while still providing training and support in the SFTIC Model. Since 2020, her work as deputy has also included enhancing training and leading discussions on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility within DSS. 

Bodnar serves as vice-president of the Board of Namgyal Monastery Institute of Buddhist Studies where she has taught classes including the neurobiology of meditation. Current work with the monastery focuses on supporting interfaith dialogues at the Dalai Lama Library and Learning Center to foster greater understanding and appreciation of differences in views through staying rooted in our shared values of loving-kindness and compassion.