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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Association of Social Workers Foundation (NASWF) is pleased to announce Pedro Navarro Aguilar is recipient of the 2024 International Rhoda G. Sarnat Award for taking part in the nationally televised documentary “Unseen,” which highlighted his journey to become a social worker while being blind and an undocumented migrant. 

The International Rhoda G. Sarnat Award is given to an individual, group, or organization that has significantly advanced the public image of professional social work. The prize is made possible through an endowment fund established by a contribution in 1996 from the late Rhoda G. Sarnat, LCSW, and her late spouse, Bernard Sarnat, MD. 

NASW is grateful to Aguilar for allowing his story to be shown to millions of people in the United States and abroad. The film ‘Unseen,’ shows the amazing, positive work that social workers do and how Aguilar, despite the odds, was able to fulfill his dream to help others.

Filmmaker Set Hernandez, who directed and produced “Unseen” wanted to chronicle the barriers Pedro faced in earning a master’s degree in social work, considering he is an undocumented migrant and blind. Hernandez and his crew followed Aguilar’s journey from 2016 to 2022. 

Despite the hurdles he faced, the film shows Aguilar not only earning his degree but providing mental health care to survivors of a mass shooting, facilitating trainings so adults living with vision loss can develop skills like using walking canes and reading Braille, and offering mental health services to the often-underserved migrant and blind communities. 

The film aired nationally on March 18 on PBS (coincidentally during National Social Work Month) and was featured at the NASW National Conference Film Festival in Washington, D.C. in June. Aguilar attended the conference, accepted the award in person, and spoke to the audience of hundreds of social workers from around the nation. 

“I am standing on the shoulders of many giants,” he said. “I usually say I fall though the cracks. But instead of downward - upward. I am a big believer that any seed has the ability to blossom, it only needs the right soil and the right nurturing.” 

Besides at the NASW Conference Film Festival, “Unseen” has  been screened at more than 25 film festivals on three continents and earned various honors, including the Independent Spirit Awards, Truer than Fiction Award: Independent Film and the Vijay Mohan Social Impact Award at the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival. 

"Through his humble efforts, Pedro has not only touched the lives of his clients, but also of audiences who have watched his story unfold as he becomes a social worker,” filmmaker Hernandez said. “I cannot think of a better person who encapsulates the spirt of Rhoda G. Sarnat.”