Students

PhD Students in Higher Education and Social Change

As part of her PhD studies at WISR, Judy Andreas planned and carried out two conferences on Anti-Semitism as a concern in coalition and anti-oppression work. She is also involved with holistic healing in trauma recovery and understanding Asperger’s Syndrome.

Che Kum Clement is Cameroonian, and full Professor and Chairman of the Department of Technical Education, Islamic University of Technology (IUT), in Board Bazar, Gazipur, Bangladesh. IUT is a subsidiary organ of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) comprising 57 countries. He was recently appointed a member of the newly created Monitoring and Advisory Committee (MAC) of the OIC Vocational Education and Training (OIC-VET) programme.

Before joining IUT in 2002, Che Kum had been working for the Cameroon’s Ministry of National Education as senior management staff in charge of Vocational schools in Cameroon. He is a Board member, and also African regional representative of (UNIP), United Network on Innovation and Professional Development in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) working in collaboration with UNESCO-UNEVOC. He is also the president of Cameroon Association for Technical Education and Vocational Training (CATEVOT). Che Kum’s research interest is in the development of the capacity of teachers of technical and vocational education and also in developing the capacity of youth in the area of TVET as a means of social change. Che Kum has published many papers in international conferences in USA, UK, Russia, Israel, China, Malaysia, Thailand, to name a few, and has also published many papers in refereed journals in the area of Technical and Vocational Education and Training.

Taylor Fischer is a retired school teacher and administrator with a MA from San Jose State and further post –graduate study at Clark University in Atlanta. She articulates her primary goals for her PhD studies as follows: “1) to use the research and writing process as a partial but significant experience in an exorcism to extract the oppressor from my mind and soul, allowing this human being, me, to come closer to the self she would have been without the American oppressor experience; and 2) to better understand why the Europeans and the nation which developed from Europe tend to be colonizing, oppressing, exploiting societies—that is to better understand societies which seem to believe whatever is mine is theirs.” Taylor also conducts, from time to time, a community-based film series, sharing black films interested participants, and having a focus group discussion on how the films personally affected them and what they got out of the film.

Steven Fletcher is an educator, author and musician who is currently teaching at Guzhou University in China. He integrates his music and the stories from his two anthologies into his teaching. Recently he created an approach to second language learning called HILL (Holistic Integrated Language Learning) which he has implemented in China. At WISR he has written about a number of theories and educational methods that he has either developed or expanded. One aspect of his future work at WISR is to understand and document what is the essence of WISR’s philosophy and methods.

Amber Gray is a dance therapist with 10 years experience working with torture and trauma survivors in the US and Haiti, and 20 years working internationally. Amber practices somatic psychology, and balances theory with experiential learning, integrating somatic psychology and dance movement therapy into the restorative process. Previously, she was a Director of Program for Survivors of Organized Violence and Torture, Port au Prince, Haiti and also the Clinical Director of the Rocky Mountain Survivor Center (RMSC) in Denver. RMSC is a nonprofit agency which provides mental health support and services for survivors of political torture and war trauma. She has an MPH and an MA, and is a Registered Dance Therapist (DTR) as well as a Board Eligible Nationally Certified Counselor (BENCC). As a result of her work with traumatized children, she has given presentations to other professionals, nationally and internationally. One of her PhD projects was published in a professional journal in Argentina: “El Cuerpo Roto” (The Broken Body), co-authored with Eric Harper, in Psicoanalisis y El Hospital (Psychoanalysis and the Hospital). Another one of her PhD projects was an article in the American Journal of Dance Therapy on “Healing the Relational Wounds of Torture: Dance Movement Therapy with an Adult Survivor.” Her WISR dissertation is an action-research pilot project to develop a training model and training materials to provide support for international humanitarian aid workers in such areas as the Sudan and Darfur, who are at great risk for burnout and traumatization.

Vlad Huber is Chilean, and makes his home in Chile, pursuing his PhD studies at WISR from afar. His studies at WSR are aimed to create a very innovative school–an Integrated Nursery, Day Care Center and School that will be based on multicultural ideals that are currently not a part of Chilean society or the societies of most other countries around the world. One of these principles is the integration of indigenous cultures and races from the American continent, including the Mapuche, Aymara, Rapa Nui, Selknam, and Ona peoples, as well as other peoples from our continental and island lands of Chile as the philosophical and practical basis for the teaching in the planned school. This will provide integration of originary peoples among themselves, as well as with the people of mixed and European descent who live in Chile. Until now, these cultural groups have remained separate in several aspects of their daily lives. The Nursery and the Day Care Center will accept three-month¬-old babies to four-year-old children in order for their mothers to have the time and space to carry on with their work or academic activities. The concepts will be mostly based on the culture and world-view of the indigenous people of Chile and the rest of the continent, in conjunction with the European culture present in the country. The School will accept children from kindergarten through high school and will feature the same concepts and practices as the Day Care Center, adapting them to the age of the students at each level. Education will be personalized, paying attention to the learning needs of each student, so that each child will have his or her own learning pace, with the guidance of teachers who will promote the integration of children of different ages with different personal histories. This diversity of knowledge and communication will prepare them well for the academic, working and social worlds. Furthermore, the buildings and campus design will follow the principles of sustainable architecture and environmentally conscious design techniques in the field of architecture. Children will therefore have the daily experience of learning and caring about the environment.

Mohammed Ibrahim, advisor and member of the Presidential Committee on Energy Policy in Nigeria, is pursuing PhD studies at WISR concerned with the interconnected issues of environmental justice, sustainability, public health, and redirecting wealth from Nigerian oil to the most impoverished communities of Nigeria. Mohammed is actively involved in many domains of community economic development in Nigeria and other West African countries. He is the only non-cabinet member appointed to Nigeria’s National Oil and Gas Reform Committee, whose purpose is to make sure that Nigeria’s natural resources are distributed to better conditions in impoverished communities throughout Nigeria. One of Mohammed’s PhD projects at WISR is an anthropological study of the peoples of the Gulf of Guinea, to try to find the common strand that binds them in spite of the tribal, ethnic and long-standing sentiments which have led to suspicion, disharmony and disunity, often resulting in inter-tribal wars, civil strife, internecine conflict. He is goal is to find ways to unify these peoples so that they can more fully take advantage of the immense human and natural resources of that region for the benefit of all the people living there. His very important dissertation research-action is to affect constructive (just and sustainable) changes in Nigerian Oil and Energy Policy, in his role as a key official in the Nigerian government.

Juanita Johnson is retired and pursing PhD studies at WISR that revolve around her primary interest of Cuban Women and Music.

Kathy Kain has been practicing and teaching bodywork and trauma recovery skills for nearly 30 years. She teaches in Europe, Australia, Canada, and throughout the U.S., and maintains a private practice in Albany, California. She is a senior trainer in the Somatic Experiencing training program and is currently Director of Training and Education for the Foundation for Human Enrichment. Kathy is also an adjunct faculty member of the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute and was a senior trainer for 12 years in the Somatic Psychotherapy training program based in Sydney Australia, where she developed the Touch Training for Psychotherapists that she now teaches in the U.S. She co-authored the book Ortho-Bionomy; A Practical Manual (North Atlantic Books). Kathy earned her MA at WISR in the 1990s. Her WISR PhD studies focus on the training work that she does throughout the US, and in other countries, for psychotherapists and body workers, on such matters as the practical and ethical issues involved in the use of touch in these professions.

Sherri Kimbell is a Licensed Professional counselor in Colorado. She graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a B.S. in Conservation Resource Sciences in 1984. She worked in the San Francisco Bay Area as a social justice environmental activist for Communities for A Better Environment, and later Greenpeace U.S.A., directing their national/international campaign on climate change & global warming out of their San Francisco Regional headquarters. After 10 years of working for change on the macro level Sherri became interested in exploring what is most effective in helping individuals make change toward greater health from within. Then, Sherri graduated from Naropa University’s Master’s in Contemplative Psychotherapy: Buddhist Psychology (MACP) program in Boulder, Colorado in 200. She went on to become Core Faculty and Co-Chair of Naropa’s MACP department for the next 8 years, enjoying teaching and learning from students mutually. During her years in academia, Sherri worked clinically as a Senior Clinician and Intensive Psychotherapist with Windhorse Community Services in Boulder, Colorado, helping individuals recover from psychosis in home environments with the support of therapeutic teams. She also worked as a private practice Contemplative Psychotherapist, with a special interest in people struggling with diversity dynamics in social systems. As a practitioner of Buddhist meditation for over 30 years, Sherri finds Buddhist practices, teachings and views to be invaluable in informing her work and supporting her personal development and compassionate relationship to the world. Read and comment on Sherri’s Wisrville blog: http://sherrikimbell.wisrville.org

Larry Loebig was born in Brooklyn New York and studied theater and broadcasting. He later worked with the New Games Foundation and The Black Scholar Journal. He founded his own businesses and eventually was awarded special recognition from the US House of Representatives and the California State Senate for his efforts developing innovative virtual collaboration and the social and community contributions of California.com and The Socially Responsible Internet Company. He is a Master Coach [ www.mastercoach.com ], Certified Mediator and Master Trainer with Guerrilla Marketing International. Larry is also a member of WISR’s core faculty, where he is using his very valuable expertise in coaching and in developing online collaboration. He has played an instrumental role in the founding and development of Wisrville.

Ronald Mah has two decades’ experience as a California licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT). He received his MA at WISR on the path to the MFT license. He is now serving his second term on the Board of the California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists(CAMFT). He is a frequent speaker and workshop presenter for professional and community groups, and is a prolific author of articles and books on parenting and early childhood development [ www.RonaldMah.com ]. He is also a former member of the Board of the California Kindergarten Association. He has served as a core faculty member for WISR’s MFT program for many years, and is using his PhD studies at WISR to write books and articles on couples therapy, cross-cultural counseling, and other, related topics that draw on his many years’ of experience and research in the field.

Roger Mason is Manager of the Kaiser Permanente Health Education Center located in the Fremont, Union City, and Hayward medical facilities. Previously, he was Program Director for Tissue Transplant Education for the University of California at San Francisco Tissue Bank. He has served as educational liaison between two tissue banks to promote tissue donation for 19 Bay Area hospitals. His ultimate goals include doing more college teaching and organizational consultation. Academically, he is building on his interdisciplinary experience at the University of Chicago, and seven years of postgraduate studies in the fields of sociology, philosophy, psychology and theology. He is nearing completion of his program at WISR which has included studies of American Shakers, institutional altruism, and generational differences in contemporary U.S. society.

Eric Mauer does substitute teaching in pre-K and child care classrooms on a regular basis in the San Francisco Public Schools child care program. His PhD dissertation is on early childhood education. His strong interests include working with young children; poetry; and working with very poor and homeless persons as well as with people with disabilities. He is also concerned with landlord-tenant and constitutional law; progressive politics; writing; the sociology and politics of schooling and of psychiatry, psychotherapy, and mental health; and finding ways to work for greater social justice and a more humane world.

Agnes Morton is a veteran Community Health Nurse, Health Educator and Health Consultant. She holds a Master’s in Nursing from University of California, San Francisco, and a Master’s in Public Health from the University of California at Berkeley. She was a Lecturer at San Francisco State University’s School of Ethnic Studies for 16 years where she taught two courses, “Health, Medicine and Nutrition in the Black Community”, and “ Black Issues in Gerontology.” Retired from the San Francisco Department of Public Health since 1998, Agnes relocated from San Francisco to her hometown, Miami, Florida where she is active in the movement for social change and improved health outcomes for Overtown, the historically black, disenfranchised community where she was born. Since returning to Miami, she has become active in a number of partnerships dedicated to improving the quality of life for Overtown residents, and her PhD studies have revolved around her action-research involvements in Overtown. She has participated in the development of the “Overtown Cookbook,” a high school service-learning collaborative project, that has become a national model for community-based participatory research in the public health arena. Agnes is active in the Power U Center for Social Change, a grassroots community organization founded in 1999 to address social change and social justice issues in Overtown. She was a principal organizer of Power U’s first “Overtown Health and Justice Fair,” in March of 2008, that addressed the unmet health and social justice needs of underserved residents in Overtown. Her current work is focused upon the social determinants of health, health disparities, health literacy, health promotion and disease prevention in Overtown and other black diaspora communities; and grassroots organizing for social change. Her dissertation is on “Community Organizing for Social Change and Improved Health Outcomes in Miami’s Overtown Community”.

Chris Peck, Sr. is a social worker for Santa Clara County. His PhD studies grow out of his interests in such varied areas as the 1959 Cuban Revolution and how it has affected feminism and machismo, as well as democracy in the U.S.A., writing Haiku poetry and open mike poetry readings. His dissertation is a study and examination of the more recent developments in the Cuban government, and the implications for Cuba and other societies.

Michael Ratner runs an independent news distribution agency, serving media outlets since 1979. He specializes in niche news outreach covering the wide GREEN ECO media spectrum [ http://www.Greenpresswire.com ]. Michael runs a small virtual PR agency and lives most of the year in Shanghai, China with his wife Yanju and two young daughters Elsa (4) and Elyn (2). His research at WISR centers on starting a “Self Liberation” movement by awakening consciousness

Cynthia Rothschild is Chief Program Officer of Catholic Charities of the East Bay. She is the founder of Gather Well: Experiment in Well-Being [ www.gatherwell.com ]. At Gather Well, she provides innovative on/offline workshops and courses that help participants to thrive through personal lifestyle choices, relationship with media, alternative economic models , and social alternatives. Also, programs in alternative and complementary medicine are under development.

Monika Scott received her MA in Psychology toward the MFT license from WISR, and has now completed doing her 3,000 hours of supervised practice for the license. Her MA thesis focused on the issues and unmet needs of foster youth as they “age out of the system.” For her PhD studies at WISR, she continues to work on that important, needed area of concern, and is also studying gerontology.

Shyaam Shabaka, MPH, founder and CEO of Eco-Village farm [ www.ecovillagefarm.org ] in Richmond, California, has developed an urban farm as a model of sustainability and social activism aimed at educating and involving disenfranchised youth and other low-income citizens in addressing both local and larger societal problems. His PhD studies are focused on his many years’ of creative involvement as a public health professional in addressing such areas as violence prevention and health disparities and health promotion in disenfranchised communities of color. Indeed, in he was named the 2010 State of California Community Champion by the California Center for Public Health Advocacy. Shyaam is former Supervisor of Health Planning, Education, and Promotion for the City of Berkeley’s Office of Community Services. He holds a Master’s in Public Health from the University of California at Berkeley. He founded Global Vision 20/20, a nonprofit organization helping to empower low-income people in the Americas, Africa, and other developing parts of the world, through self-help programs in health, education, economic development, and sustainable agriculture. He has been developing a program with the International Children’s Resource Institute to use traditional healers in Africa to help educate people about HIV and AIDS prevention.

For decades, Jake Sloan has been a leader in promoting equal employment opportunities in construction in Oakland and neighboring communities. In his PhD studies at WISR, Jake is studying the history of the civil rights movement in the area of employment opportunities, and is compiling oral histories which draw on the wisdom of people engaged in this struggle during the past 50 years. Recently, Jake articulated his goals and his study plan, by stating, in part: “I want to get a good education that will allow me to understand how the world got to where it is and how it currently operates/functions, so that I can map a strategy to help make the world better for the African American community, for the wider society, for my family and for myself. The result will be that five years from now, I will be an activist scholar, writer and teacher. The overall purpose of my proposed approach, then, is to analyze each period of my study plan for general and specific lessons learned, to be used as building blocks to develop strategies for the present and the future for community and human capacity building, with the view that a stronger African American society will make for a stronger society at large. Once the program is completed, I will work as an activist scholar, writer and teacher, in collaboration with WISR, San Francisco State University and my own non profit organization, the African American development Institute (AADI). To that end, I propose to research and write papers on the periods 1940-1961; the 60s and 70s; the 80s and 90s; 2000 to 2010. ”

Andrea Turner is Program Director for Senior Volunteer Services, City of Oakland. She is Co-Director of the Vukani Mawethu South African choir. She is former President of the Board of “A Safe Place” (which is a shelter for battered women), and serves on the Board of East Bay Peace Action. Her PhD dissertation studies the involvement of elders in cultural and social change movements. As part of her ongoing involvement in many facets of community arts, she has developed and organized art exhibits to display works created by elders and youth on topics of peace and justice.

MA Students working toward the MFT License

Nasira Sabria Abdul-Aleem is nearing the completion of her MA at WISR. Here’s what Nasira wants to tell about herself: “In 1952, a Socialist/atheist mom and a dancer/folksinger/agnostic dad began molding my life to their ideals. In rejection of their beliefs, I became a Quaker after 5 years of folk-school education, and ultimately a Muslim at age 18. On the path of wife and mother, I soon learned that, when a man won’t ‘provide,’ I have to. So, I got a degree in English from UCB, and am loving learning about counseling-psychology at WISR. I want to change the prisons from the inside out –by meeting the challenge of reaching those who are afraid of relationships–both the oppressed and the oppressors–even if it is by removing the power from the hands of the oppressor based on their failure to ‘provide.’”

Na Limopasmanee is originally from Thailand, and entered WISR with an MA in Education. She works at Community Health for Asian Americans in Richmond, and is pursuing her MA at WISR toward the MFT License.

Suzanne Quijano received her BA from Stanford University and her MBA from UCLA. Over the past 15 years, Suzanne has worked with families and children in a variety of settings. Most recently, in her practicum, she worked for the City of Fremont doing clinical and school-based counseling with at-risk youth and their families. Suzanne is concentrating her work on helping people of all ages navigate the gifts and challenges of anxiety and highly reactive temperaments. She has also combined her expertise from studies in psychology at WISR with her knowledge from previous degrees to offer seminars on career development tools for the professional counselor.

Suzie Rudloff is currently working on her MA at WISR, with an emphasis on LGBTQ teens and couples, and looking forward to getting her MFT license in California. She is the Crisis Services Manager for The Trevor Project, the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ youth. With this inspirational and much needed work, Suzie has found her calling.

Carole Suazo is originally from Peru, where she was a licensed psychologist; she has just begun her MA at WISR toward the MFT license. Her current job involves managing a housing program for elders, in conjunction with the Over 60 Health Clinic in Berkeley.

Lydell Willis is the Transitional Students and Families Specialist for the Oakland Unified School District. Lydell’s role in that program is to support the academic success of students who are homeless or who reside in out-of-home foster care placements. Lydell is a long way toward his MA at WISR, with goal of eventually obtaining the California MFT license.

Interdisciplinary MA Students

Jill Arrington is employed at Berkeley Youth Alternatives full-time as the Program Coordinator of their S.A.F.E. Haven Youth Shelter for youth ages 13-17. She is also Self-Employed as the passionate CEO of “Beyond Your Horizons and Anger Management and Beyond[ www.beyondyourhorizons.com and http://angermanagementandbeyond.com/ ],” an inspired speaking and empowerment coaching company for the “success ready” woman of color and teens. Currently, she holds a credential in Career and Technical Education (CTE), and is a Certified Professional Coach; Youth, Parent and Family Coach and Certified Anger Management Facilitator. She received her BA from WISR and is now working on her MA in Psychology. Her work at WISR includes collaborating on youth community projects, writing papers and pursuing action-research with other WISR students and community stakeholders. Her thesis is on “Coaching Across Cultures: A Universal Model,” where she is exploring a resiliency coaching framework to understand and uncover methodologies and resources that women from different cultures have developed to move through crisis, trauma and hardship. Read and comment on Jill’s Wisrville blog: http://jillarrington.wisrville.org

Alex Martinez is employed full time at EMQ Families First in Campbell, where he is a Family Specialist in the System of Care program. Alex works with kids from ages 3 to 18, providing rehabilitation and case management services. The mental health issues he works with include, among many others: depression, anxiety, ADHD, adjustment disorder, trauma, sexual abuse, neglect, and obsessive compulsive disorder. He also has had experience volunteering with the Health Trust’s Meals on Wheels program, where he provided wellness checks for the elderly and physically disabled population for 2 years. Alex has also volunteered his time at Sacred Heart Community Services, where he worked in the food pantry, distributing food to the homeless and low-income population of San Jose. He is certified in Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach (ACRA), and is trained in Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) and several other behavioral models. Alex’s work at WISR, on his MA in Social Sciences, includes research projects on identity, sports spectatorship, and mass media thought control. He collaborates with other WISR students in exploring Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed, as well as in the Youth Development Action-Study Group that is being actively developed. Alex is interested in exploring youth gang affiliation, and prevention strategies, which will be the focus of his Master’s thesis at WISR. He plans to eventually pursue his PhD at WISR. Read and comment on Alex’s Wisrville blog: http://alexmartinez.wisrville.org

Mark Snaer is a WISR MA student in Human Services and Community Development who lives in Sacramento. He has a long history of working in positions of major responsibility in private non-profit social service agencies and in public agencies there, and his experience spans work with youth as well as with elders. His experiences and observations of some of the important challenges facing social service agencies led him to create and evaluate as a pilot project, a Sacramento-based Community Action Think Tank. He recruited and involved a few Sacramento residents and professionals who committed to discussing and inquiring into the challenges with and needs for developing greater community involvement among community residents. The pursuit and evaluation of this effort has been part of his MA studies at WISR. Born and raised in Oakland, California, Mark left the Bay Area to attend California State University at Sacramento where he earned a baccalaureate degree in Psychology. Mark began his professional career working with severely emotionally disturbed youth in foster care. From there, he moved on to work in employment development on a project to standardize program assessments across various program operators in the greater Sacramento region. This experience led to an opportunity for Mark to become an analyst developing youth employment programs in the Sacramento region. Subsequently, Mark worked for the Sacramento’s Meals on Wheels program where he was responsible for program marketing, volunteer recruitment and fundraising. Mark is also a self-taught, accomplished amateur photographer.

Arturo Warmoth lives in Seattle, and his MA studies at WISR focus on helping community service agencies and groups to learn about and participate in extensive and appropriate uses of technology and the internet.

BA Students

Rev. Jeanelyse Doran Adams is nearing the completion of her BA at WISR, and is Director of Congregational Services for the Pacific Central District of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations. Jeanelyse is responsible for consulting with the thirty-eight UU congregations in the District, youth and young adult ministries, and for providing support for religious educators. Jeanelyse was ordained as a Unitarian Universalist minister in 2010 by the Mt. Diablo Unitarian Universalist Church. She received her Master of Divinity degree from Starr King School for the Ministry, of the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California. She took a leave of absence from her BA studies at WISR while working on and completing her Master’s of Divinity degree.

Ana Mercedes Aguilar Hernandez has enrolled at WISR to complete her BA, having previously done undergraduate work in Mexico and at New College of California. She plans to go on and then pursue her MA at WISR toward the State MFT license. She currently works in the area of financial services and advising.

Kelly Marable lives in Stockton and has a history of many areas of community involvement and public agency social service work. She has worked with the hearing disabled, with youth, and those facing housing challenges, among others. She has also operated a family day care center. Her current goal is to soon complete her BA at WISR and then go onto pursue a BS in Nursing.

William Poehner is a personal growth facilitator/trainer who has a passion for sharing Nonviolent Communication [ http://wpoehner.com/ ]. He grew up in a bilingual (Spanish/English) family, living his early childhood in a working class neighborhood in Cali, Colombia. He migrated to New York City as a young child, and then moved to the metropolitan area of Los Angeles, where he became familiar with the struggles of disadvantaged adolescents in compacted neighborhoods. William and his colleagues help prisoners develop a deeper personal awareness of their own life, while providing skills needed for living peacefully with themselves, their co-inmates and the society to which they will return. The goal is to develop a population of aware prisoners who are involved in development of a peaceful paradigm for living within the prison. The vision is also to see this same paradigm transferred upon their release into a more peaceful, humane world for all of us. Read and comment on William’s Wisrville Blog at: http://wpoehner.wisrville.org