Ana Cecilia Pérez, is the Executive Director of the Central American Resource Center in San Francisco. Ms. Perez is also a multicultural and organizational change consultant with VISIONS Inc. Ms. Perez has long been involved in struggles for human and immigrant rights, as well as economic justice in Latin American and the US. Ms. Perez and her family fled the Salvadoran civil war in the early-1980s and she grew up in the Central American community in Los Angeles. Ms. Pérez has extensive experience working in Latin America and spent almost four years in Guatemala and elsewhere in Central America doing research with UNICEF and other organizations on the impacts of economic adjustment programs on women in the region. After returning to the U.S. and completing her graduate work at UC Berkeley, Ms. Pérez led the Cuba and Latin America Program at Global Exchange, where helped to build national grassroots efforts to shift U.S. policy toward the region. She is in the steering committee of National Alliance for Latin American and Caribbean Communities(NALACC) and the Salvadoran American National Network (SANN).
Mayra Rodriguez-Howard, MSW, is a VISIONS consultant and Diversity Trainer certified by the Human Resources Division of Massachusetts and the National Multicultural Institute. In addition, she is Director of the Public Health Institute at the South Boston Community Health Center. Having emigrated from Puerto Rico, issues of racism and racial and ethnic disparities are of particular interest. Ms. Rodriguez-Howard did her graduate work at Boston College and has taught "Implications of Institutional Racism" at both Boston College and Boston University. Governor Jane Swift appointed her to the team that developed the Diversity Initiative in Massachusetts. Ms. Rodriguez-Howard has served on boards of directors of numerous nonprofit organizations.
Emily Schatzow, MEd, is a psychotherapist and trainer who cofounded a local women's mental health center. She, together with her colleagues, developed theory and practice that challenged existing paradigms by seeing mental health as a byproduct of economic, social, political, and cultural realities. Ms. Schatzow has a graduate degree in counselor education from Boston University. Currently, she is Clinical Supervisor at the Victims of Violence Program at Cambridge Health Alliance and is a lecturer in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. As a lead consultant for VISIONS, she has worked both nationally and internationally to create group models and interventions that facilitate individual and organizational change.
Joan Schoenhals, Ph.D., has worked with VISIONS since 1987, serving as both Associate Director of Programs and as Lead Consultant. She emigrated from Canada in the early 1980s for her graduate study in counseling psychology at Ohio State University.
Dr. Schoenhals has provided training and consultation in the areas of diversity and multiculturalism to a wide range of groups and organizations. By helping others to see the nuances of difference from a North American, non-US perspective, she has been an invaluable resource throughout the VISIONS organization. She is drawn to exploring the intersection of the dynamics of oppression and internalized oppression with faith, spirituality, and healing--for the benefit of self, others, and organizations.
Additionally, Dr. Schoenhals is project Director for ACCESS: A Multicultural Approach to End of Life Care, offering workshops and consultation to providers on end of life care from a multicultural perspective.
Adelaide Simpson, Ph.D., is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in private practice in Richmond, VA. She has also been a consultant with VISIONS for many years and has worked in educational, corporate, government, and clinical settings. Her background also includes teaching and faculty development work. In addition to her analytical and clinical skills; she brings a strong communications perspective, along with a keen interest in problem solving at the interpersonal and organizational levels.
Julian Sonn, Ph.D., is a Counseling Psychology Resident, born in Capetown, South Africa. Julian was educated as a teacher there. His early training specialized in teaching children within the context of an oppressed society. He brings this perspective to his consultation and training with those who work on issues facing adolescents.
Francois Spaulding-Keller, is a VISIONS consultant specializing in providing concrete, organizational development strategies for working in a multicultural society. In 2005 she also was the Program Coordinator for ACCESS to End of Life Care, providing cultural competency training to providers of EOL care.
As a multicultural consultant, trainer , and cross-cultural mediator, Ms. Spaulding-Keller brings over 15 years of administrative management experience at the University of California, Berkeley. She has an extensive background in human resource and financial management career she has demonstrated proven skills for effectively supporting positive change in organizations as they address issues of diversity.
Ms. Spaulding-Keller has a wide range of experiences in developing and facilitating trainings for community-based organizations in the areas of multicultural awareness, organizational team-building, culturally competent service delivery, cross-cultural communication and conflict resolution. She is dedicated to improving the effectiveness and long-term sustainability of organizations by addressing issues of difference, awareness and skills around diversity, cross-cultural conflict resolution, and alliance building.
Sarah Stearns, PhD., is a licensed clinical psychologist and Senior Consultant with VISIONS. She has led trainings and workshops with diverse participant groups-schools, religious groups, nonprofits, and corporations. Dr. Stearns has been a practicing psychotherapist, faculty member, and organizational consultant for the past 25 years. Currently, she focuses on gender theory, family structures, and the integration of cultural analysis into our understanding of changing human systems.
Raised in rural New England, she spent 23 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, and now resides in New Jersey with her partner and two stepchildren. Dr. Stearns uses the social context of her life as a white, middle-class woman to compassionately challenge the unexamined elements of power and privilege. She believes in multiculturalism as a way of developing all our capacities to create healthy and sustainable relationships and communities.
Joe Steele, M.B.A., consults to international corporations on managing their changing needs in developing a diverse workforce in today's global economy. He designs and facilitates workshops for management and non-management dealing with the challenges of communicating and interacting as diverse individuals in the workplace. His programs are offered to both U.S. and international staff. He also does executive coaching for senior and middle management focusing on leadership, career development, and performance. For organizational development purposes, Joe conducts climate surveys of the work environment. He advises senior management and diversity councils about how to make systemic changes to better leverage the opportunities arising fro the diverse strengths of the changing workforce and customer base. Joe also offers diversity workshops to teachers and students, in both public and private schools. The primary objectives are to build more trusting multicultural relationships by strengthening self-confidence, nurturing interpersonal skills, and shaping effective effort to foster personal and community development.
Amy Stickles, BS, is a multicultural training consultant and program coordinator for VISIONS. She holds a degree in Health, K-12 Physical Education, and Exercise Physiology from Howard University. Her commitment is to building bridges between cultures and to developing awareness about the traditional and nontraditional options in health care. As a black, transracially adopted woman, who is the parent of a black son, she enjoys working with youth on cross-cultural issues in independent schools. Ms. Stickles is the founder and chair of FOCUS (Families of Color United for Success) at the Fessenden School, serves on the school's Executive Diversity Steering Committee, and sits on the YSFJ (Young Sisters for Justice) Program Committee of the Boston Women's Fund.
Cooper Thompson, MS, is a lead consultant for VISIONS, who consults, organizes, and writes about sexism, homophobia, and racism. He did his graduate work at Minnesota State University in experiential education. He has worked with hundreds of corporate, educational, spiritual, community-based, and social justice organizations across the country. Mr. Thompson helped found The Campaign to End Homophobia. In addition, he coauthored White Men Challenging Racism: 35 Personal Stories and has written articles for The Diversity Factor and Cultural Diversity at Work. Finding Our Way is an unique video on men and sexuality, coproduced by Mr. Thompson.
Jim Turner, Ph.D., is an African-American man who consults locally and nationally on multicultural and cultural competence challenges in groups and organizations. He is a professor of Psychology at John F. Kennedy University in Pleasant Hill, CA, a specialist in chemical dependency and addictions, and a member of the American Psychological Association. He also serves on the Ethics Committee of VISIONS, Inc.
Dr. Turner has several years of experience in community consultation, focusing on the challenges of nonprofit organizations serving oppressed and undeserved communities. In fact, in 2000 he was voted one of the 50 most influential members of the Oakland/San Francisco Bay Area for his support of community projects.
In addition, Dr. Turner chairs the Annual Black Mystery Writers Contest, promoting literacy in adults and high school students. Dr. turner consulted to the Board of Psychology on the development of the Jurisprudence Examination for Licensure in California and was and oral examiner for more that ten years.
Deborah J. Walker, Ph.D., is a senior consultant with VISIONS. She has provided multicultural consultation and training to a variety of nonprofit and educational institutions, as well as to public and private corporations and municipalities since 1986. She has an extensive background in higher education. Business and corporate leaders and managers, union representatives, community groups, legal professionals, educators, and healthcare providers are among those who have experienced her organizational development skills.
Dr. Walker's primary foci are empowerment, conflict resolution, team building, and interpersonal problem solving from a multicultural perspective. Her personal goal is to help organizations effectively create environments that recognize, understand, appreciate, and utilize cultural differences. Dr. Walker has a special interest in generational differences. Dr. walker has a special interest in genXers, and millennials in the workplace. Ways to Celebrate Multiculturalism and Racism and Heart Disease are her most recent articles.
S. Gene Washington, has 30 years of experience in Leadership and Management in major corporations. He is skilled as a Team Development and Change Management facilitator and has developed and conducted multicultural educational processes for over ten years. Gene is a military veteran and actively supports numerous community organizations. As a corporate manager, Gene was a key leader in corporate change and transition projects. He brings a wealth of first-hand organizational development and business management experience. Gene has an interest in understanding cultural world views and their influence on the relationships between people in organizations and teams. Gene's interest in African and African-American history and the African-centered world view has played a major role in his development of networks for his own cultural group within organizations; e.g., Black Employee Leadership Teams, and for other groups, e.g. Women's, Hispanic, and Asian Support Networks.
Mark Wise, Psy.D., is a Licensed Psychotherapist who began providing clinical services to a wide variety of populations in 1976. He has consulted to hospitals, clinics, and chemical dependency treatment centers, with a specialty in training and supervising mental health professionals. For several years, he has been conducting workshops on multicultural issues in the workplace.
Doug Weinstock, MEd, is a VISIONS consultant with 30 years’ prior experience in public schools as teacher and administrator. As a multicultural consultant, teacher, and trainer, he has worked in educational settings as well as with folks in corporate, non-profit, and social service organizations. His particular interest is in understanding and changing the historical impact and present-day manifestations of white, male, heterosexual, moneyed influences on institutions, groups, and individuals.
Donna L. Yee, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Asian Community Center in Sacramento, CA., which includes the Asian Community Nursing Home, a 99 bed skilled nursing facility and a community center for lifelong learning, wellness, and information for older adults. She was previously Director for Policy and Research at the National Asian Pacific Center on Aging in Seattle, WA., where her projects produced and disseminated bilingual materials in seven Asian and Pacific Islander languages to address information and health care access issues. She also conducted health services research for almost 10 years at the Institute for Health Policy (Heller School, Brandeis University), and for 14 years was a health administrator and clinician in varied long-term care settings. Dr. Yee received her M.S.W. from the University of Washington and her Ph.D. in Social Policy at the Heller School, Brandeis University. She has been a resource consultant with VISIONS for more than ten years.
Tina Tong Yee, Ph.D., is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist with a specialty in multiculturalism and Asian American issues. Since 1976, she has been engaged in clinical practice, community mental health and substance abuse administration and management, teaching and consulting on cultural competency, cross cultural psychology, and workplace diversity in community, government and corporate environments.
They are experienced professionals who are in the process of learning the style and approach to be modeled by consultants for VISIONS. As part of their consulting education, they participate in training opportunities with selected clients. Through these experiences, prospective consultants learn to work with organizations in a process- and results-oriented approach to multiculturalism on individual, interpersonal, institutional, and cultural levels.
Printer Friendly Version
Send to a Friend
Back to Top