The International Class

Meet the International Class 2023-24…

Christine Alexander (USA) is an actor and educator from Atlanta, Georgia with a decade of experience as a Teaching Artist in Washington, DC. She received her Bachelors in Theatre from George Washington University and an MA in Teacher Education and Professional Development from University of Maryland. She trained in applied improvisation at the Smithsonian and is studying Gestalt Theatre with the Association for Gestalt Theatre. Christine combines her passion and skills for education and theatre by applying improvisation in educational spaces.

Odunayo Aliu (Nigeria) is an Education Specialist and Development Practitioner with extensive experience in transforming the education landscape in rural and marginalized communities. She is the Founder of Bramble Network, a highly regarded nonprofit organization that provides equitable educational opportunities to children and youth in rural and marginalized communities. Through her leadership, Ms. Aliu has also been instrumental in the establishment and management of several EdTech and social enterprise initiatives, utilizing cutting-edge technology and community organizing to influence mindsets and cause societal change. Her aim is to leverage her diverse competencies across programmatic, research, and policy domains to democratize access to learning and transform education for millions of children across Africa.

Caren Crawford (USA) is a native New Yorker who has acted, danced, sung and played the flute on stage and in the streets of New York. She was part of the only public-school marching band. Caren first attended Union College in Schenectady, NY before transferring to Hunter College CUNY and graduating in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology. She has worked in an administrative capacity with several non-profit organizations throughout New York including a short stint at Bronx Community College CUNY. Caren is currently the Receptionist at Goodwill of NYNJ headquartered in downtown Brooklyn, NY.

Fatima Zahra El Boussaidi (Morocco) is an English Educator for more than eighteen years. Studied at Moulay Ismail University English Language and Literature in Meknes. She got a Master’s in Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language at Mohammed Fifth University, Rabat. Fatima is a member of different networks and a presenter at different conferences. She is a textbook designer. Her main interests are in sustainable educational issues, textbook design, and innovative creative teaching. Three of her papers are in the process of being published on these topics. Fatima is working on her Ph.D. and is the co-founder of Inventors Playground.

Laura Geiger (Sweden/USA) is a therapeutic theatre practitioner applying performing arts like mask, clown, and fool to the spaces of personal development and collective liberation. Since 2011, she has created and facilitated fifteen unique courses and over seventy-five live workshops and trainings, as well as hundreds of private sessions with clients around the globe. She is currently teaching Deep Puppetry, an applied puppetry approach she designed to help activists and artists alike divest from a learned orientation toward oppression, exploitation, and hierarchy. Originally from the US, Laura lives on the windy coast of southern Sweden via eleven years in Canada and one very special year in Paris.

Myung-Jin Kim (USA) is a lecturer in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York and the Department of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University. Her research interests center on using dramatic and dialogic inquiry pedagogy for transformative teaching and learning. She is passionate about supporting teachers in reflecting on their practices through dramatic inquiry and incorporating play and drama into their teaching.

Luciana Kool Modesto-Sarra (Brazil) has a master’s in applied linguistics from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo (PUC-SP). She has been working in education since 1995 and engages in educational practices that aim to transform those involved. Luciana is the author of articles and book chapters in education published in Brazil and abroad. The published works are based on voices of a diverse grouping of people and intend to combat the State’s neglect of education and promote reflection on different ways of living. Luciana is a member of the Language and Activities in School Contexts Research Group, and co-creator and researcher of the Brincadas Extension Project: the unviable heard in times of crisis. She offers technical support to Global Play Brigade, and East Side Institute playshops.

Vandrea Mendonça Apostolopulos (Brazil) started her career in public relations in a company based in the United States. After becoming a mother, she decided to shift her focus to education, despite the challenges that came with it. Vandrea is now head teacher at Rio Branco school and English teacher at Porto Seguro in São Paulo and wants to do more.

 

Liliana Rebolledo Vergara (Mexico) is a musician, educator, social entrepreneur, and activist. She is passionate about the incredible transforming power of music. Liliana plays the trumpet and holds a master’s from Georgia State University. Beyond her extensive and diverse career as a trumpet player, she has focused part of her work on developing creative and sensitive teaching methodologies. Her pedagogy emerged from 10 years of working with students at different ages, levels, and social context. As a social entrepreneur, Liliana and her team were awarded 2nd place at the “2021 Music Entrepreneurship Competition” – USA for the project PAXX aimed at promoting gender equity in music across Latin American countries such as Mexico, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. Last year she has created “Marae Sónica” a percussion circle in Aguascalientes, Mexico. This community and activism project aims to be a space for women and dissidents to explore and develop themselves through music and create tools to artistically claim their rights.

Alice Rydel (USA) is a founding member of the All Stars Project and longtime activist for social change. Her cartoons can be viewed in the homes of dear friends and her essays were recently published in The Write Treatment Anthology Volume 2. Alice illustrated the book cover of Talk Talk: Fred Newman and Jackie Salit Making (Non) Sense of an Irrational World. She recently retired as Administrative Coordinator from the Fashion Institute of Technology.

 

Chiharu Yuge (Japan) has been teaching English to early teenagers for 20 years, working at three junior high schools in Himeji city, four of those years as a special education teacher. Chiharu was selected as a member of a teacher training program in Denver, Colorado in 2018 and spent two months teacher training there, supported by the Ministry of Education Japan. Chiharu also worked as a member of the committee of effective teaching through ICT tools at her current school, presented the school’s practices online at conferences around the country and was selected one of the best performance teachers of Hyogo Prefecture in 2022.

 

Meet the International Class 2022-23…

Top Row: Alhassan Nuhu, Sonya Jendoubi, Louise McCulloch, Innocent Turyahikayo, Asikaralu Okafor
Middle Row: Stefanie Singer, Patrick Struebi, You Huiying, Luke Scaros, Karima Ouerjani, Dana
Bottom Row: Daniela Jaramillo Cardona, Sanjay Matadeen, Ružica Anja Tadić, Nobuko Fujii, Lorena Rodríguez Peña

Dana (USA) is currently working in the finance department at a Venture Capital firm in Philadelphia where she loves learning about startups seeking to find solutions to the world’s problems. Prior to that, Dana focused on improving social compliance in apparel factories around the globe. She also worked at a handcrafted leather company, which focused on ethical production and maintaining jobs for Americans in the fashion industry. Dana taught yoga in non-traditional settings prior to the pandemic and has loved being a part of the ESI community since 2020.

Nobuko Fujii (Japan) is a chief teacher at an elementary school (6-12) in Japan. She studied at the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire in an exchange program at Hyogo University of Teacher Education. In graduate school, she wrote a treatise about learning English through improvisation. Nobuko used conversation analysis to study the meaning created from the interaction of children and is trying to encourage children’s growth through improvisation in elementary school.

You Huiying (China/Canada) is a facilitator and professional trainer who has over 15 years of experience in retail management and leadership development. Over the course of 8 years, she has designed and facilitated organizational transformation initiatives, company-wide strategic planning, and many issues-based and program-related initiatives. She helps people in groups to understand each other – to deeply understand personal values and organizational values, and to motivate the group to transfer organizational culture to their daily behaviors.

Daniela Jaramillo Cardona (Colombia/USA) is a Psychology major and social justice activist with eleven years of work experience inside and outside the field of Psychology. Daniela has worked for schools and organizations in different socio-economic settings. She is passionate about learning and teaching and committed to working for justice and solidarity, and to building a life where she can develop herself holistically.

Sonya Jendoubi (USA) is a community builder, facilitator, and lifelong learner. In her work as a clinician, she uses somatic, feminist, and narrative approaches. Sonya’s experience as a multilingual and multicultural woman of color shapes the way she navigates and sees the world. She lives in San Francisco and enjoys reading about history and physics, cooking up a storm, and analyzing reality TV shows.

Sanjay Matadeen (Mauritius) is a senior lecturer with 20+ years of teaching and research experience in Business Strategy, Entrepreneurship, Social Entrepreneurship, and Leadership. Sanjay is also the chief innovation officer at SILLAB Africa – Social Innovation and Leadership Lab – a social enterprise engaged in empowering communities in systems and design thinking, social / business ventures, and the evolution of social innovation programs in Africa. Sanjay has a high interest and is working towards youth empowerment, social entrepreneurship, women empowerment through entrepreneurship, youth activism, and community development. Sanjay is a perpetual seeker in the field of spirituality, yoga, and performance with diverse interests and hobbies including reading, yoga, and trekking.

Louise McCulloch (Ireland) has worked in the field of community development in Dublin, Ireland for over 20 years. During this time, she has primarily focused on the area of addiction recovery and the development of person-centered services and networks of support. Her work experience ranges across frontline service provision, research, service development, and policy. More recently in 2020, she commenced a Ph.D. to “advance the system with mothers in addiction recovery.”

Alhassan Nuhu (Ghana) is the executive director and founder of Faith Dawah Foundation and a mental health officer. The goal of his organization is to promote maternal newborn and child health, and address adolescent sexual reproductive health and rights issues, promote mental health, advance women and girl’s rights, advocate against gender-based violence and improve education. Nuhu loves to network and learn across the globe and is joining the International Class to do just that!

Asikaralu Okafor (Nigeria) is a social entrepreneur, ICT enthusiast, and farmer. Asika designs systems and structures guided by ecological principles that enable emergent opportunities and create coherence. They develop programs that increase impact, facilitate collaboration, unleash collective wisdom, and catalyze change. Their vision is to create a thriving planet where all species are cared for, respected, and loved. Asika is a multipotentialite and specialized generalist and is open to collaboration with like-minded fellows.

Karima Ouerjani (Morocco) is an English teacher. She participated in ICSEI 2020, Marrakech. She is an active member of Africa Voices Dialogue for Promoting Education and Learning, a co-founder of Africa Voices Dialogue-Heritage & Equity Network. Karima is engaged with promoting equity practices and learners’ psychology and well-being. She has been, with AVD-HEN team thanks to AVD support, leading activities and projects to support young African talents in different fields, especially Arts, working to build their capacities. Karima is also a member of ICSEI Early Childhood Education and Care Network, ICSEI -Early Career Network as Early Childhood Education and Care Co-Coordinator. She is interested in research and action for children, especially the ones in vulnerable situations.

Lorena Rodríguez Peña (Colombia/USA) is a peacebuilding expert, researcher, and artist. She holds a master’s degree in Politics and International Studies from International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan, where she graduated with honors. Lorena has done peace building work at home in Colombia, where she worked for the Colombian High Commissioner for Peace during the 2016 Peace Dialogues and has a large experience working with indigenous and peasant communities on the revalorization of their bio-cultural resources. She co-founded “La Realidad – Experimental Station” a conservation and gastronomic peace lab based in the Amazon, Colombia. Lorena now lives in California, where she worked as a mitigation specialist at Community Resource Initiatives providing legal and social services to people impacted by the judicial system. Currently, Lorena is focused on relationality, culture, and art as tools to create new worlds for peace at the local level.

Luke Scaros (USA) grew up in a beach town in Connecticut, where he was raised on musicals and church plays. He received his bachelor’s degree from Ohio Wesleyan University in Theatre and his master’s degree in fine arts in Acting at Regent University. From there he spent the next four years teaching every group, from kindergarteners in Potomac Maryland to military veterans at Walter Reed Military Medical Center. Currently he works with Fairfax County Public Schools as a drama teacher for 7th and 8th graders. He currently lives in Alexandria with his partner of two years and her two cats that have accepted him as a glorified roommate.

Stefanie Singer (USA) is an artist and educator who has worked over the last 10 years in the field of education and professional development for early childhood educators and currently writes Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion curriculum with Eskalera. She is also an adjunct professor of Arts Integration at NYU and Community Arts in the Art Department at Mount Saint Mary College. She holds a master’s degree in Community Arts from Goldsmiths College in London.

Patrick Struebi (USA) is a serial social entrepreneur, humanitarian, thought leader, adjunct professor, and founder of the Fairtrasa Group, a pioneering social enterprise that lifts marginalized small-scale farmers out of poverty. Patrick has been selected as an Ashoka Fellow, an Endeavor high-impact entrepreneur, a Yale World Fellow, and a Gabelli Fellow. He has been named four times Social Entrepreneur of the Year by the Schwab Foundation, the ABC* Foundation, Univision, and Visionaris. Furthermore, the WEF named Patrick a New Champion in 2014.

Ružica Anja Tadić (Serbia) is a film director from Belgrade. She has a passion for film, sometimes also writes screenplays, and educates minors in film courses. Her main inspiration comes from traveling and meeting people and communities. So far, she has made around ten short films in diverse genres and created an audio-video installation that is now part of the permanent exhibition of the Danube Museum in Ulm. Now, she prepares her short film “Newbie”.

Innocent Turyahikayo (Uganda) is a community development practitioner, and social activist, with membership in the International Association for Community Development (IACD). Innocent is from the Midwestern region of Uganda and holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from the Islamic University in Uganda. For the past five years, they have been involved in community development work reflected in community organizing, training, and design of locally led campaigns for better social delivery. Their work has been significant in improving the socio-economic welfare of women, producing knowledge about the performance of government programs and barriers to achieving sustainable development in my community.

 

Meet the International Class 2021-22…

Harouna Abdoulaye is President of the Community Coalition for Peace and the Promotion of Living Together (COPAVE). He has more than 20 years of experience in development, humanitarian, governance, and social cohesion programming. Since 2014, he has been involved in efforts to confront and address the challenges that lead to violent extremism, and other destabilizing conflicts such as the stigmatization of ethnic groups. He is currently implementing the Voices for Peace (V4P) activity. V4P is a West African project designed to build local community resilience to violent extremism (VE) narratives by tapping into a vast array of local actors and resources, including community radio stations, civil society actors, young influencers, and community leaders from various ethnic and social backgrounds. Abdoulaye participated as a panelist at the General Assembly of the United Nations on ‘Rehabilitation and Reintegration of Formerly-Violent Extremist,’ participated actively in a virtual event on Civil Society Reflections on the 2021 Report of the UN Secretary-General on the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, served on a virtual panel discussion on Priorities for the Incoming U.S. Administration in Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism Domestically and Abroad, and participated in a virtual event on The Future of Multilateralism: Opportunities and Challenges in Counterterrorism Efforts. Abdoulaye is also a facilitator with the group UFacilitate on community mobilization and conflict management.

Elizabeth Adams is a primary school educator with over ten years experience and is presently the secretary general of the Street Project Foundation’s Youth Advisory Board. Adams has worked as a senior teacher in notable Primary schools in Nigeria. Her portfolio demonstrates her ability to actively engage every child she works with while encouraging the child to be the best versions of themselves as they explore life. She presently studies Educational Management in addition to graduating from a College Of Education. In addition to her work with young people, she is lending her voice to change the narrative of albinism in Africa through poetry, short stories, modelling and education.

Yvette Alcott is an actor, academic and founder of two businesses. She has performed in hundreds of live stage performances as well as television and film. Along the way she completed her Ph.D in Social Psychology and works as a casual academic at the University of New England. She has combined and utilised her knowledge of performance and psychology to found consulting firms Corporate Actors Australia and Performance Suite which provide actors and evidence based programs to individuals and industry for transformation in communication, creativity and wellbeing.

Etty Elise Dafni is at her core, a curious human most comfortable wandering through the philosophical and practical intricacies of what it means to be alive. Through the unfolding process of life, she is always observing how experiences inform self-image and augment awareness that leads to lasting personal development. As a disabled woman, who lives with chronic illness and its related challenges, she is a fierce advocate for the value of marginalized voices, including her own. Etty has studied and continues to explore modalities such as social therapeutics, somatics, and psychedelics as tools for navigating the impacts of trauma. She is an artist, writer, traveler, cook, and vinyl junkie who lives in New York with her sweet pup Norma.

Cinthia Duran Larrea – Cinthia is a passionate dancer and scholar with a decolonial vision and a commitment for social justice with a particular focus on mental and physical health. Being a truly kinesthetic spirit, she finished high school at United World College of the Adriatic (UWCAD) in Italy, earned a BA in International Affairs and Dance in the United States, and recently finished the international Erasmus Master Degree CHOREOMUNDUS in Dance Knowledge, Practice and Heritage which took her to Hungary, Norway, Austria, France and the United Kingdom in the course of the last two years. She is currently spending some time at home in Ecuador before starting her PhD in Dance Critical Studies at the University of California Riverside. Her current interests and hobbies (it would be more accurate to say her current loves) are salsa and bachata social dance events, yoga and embodied practices that help with trauma release and recovery.

Bernard Einsiedler was born 55 years ago, raised as the oldest brother of three, by a self-employed glazier and his wife. He loved school in the final years because he knew exactly how the system works and how to succeed in it. By the end of high school he had no clue which profession he should pursue. To keep possibilities open he learned banking. To keep possibilities open, he later studied business administration. At the age of 31 he met the love of his life. This changed everything.

Madhu Einseidler works as a leadership coach based in Vienna, Austria. She has 28 years of business consulting experience with international corporations, supporting development of leadership teams and individuals. The child of WWII refugees, she earned an MBA in organizational theory & design, radical constructivism, psychology at Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria; and an MBA in international business at Texas A&M University, U.S. and Japan. Madhu is trained in various therapeutic methods. She was diagnosed with depression in 2005. She’s been married to the love of her life, Bernhard, since 2000. Her other loves are writing and her dog Vernaccia, who passed away on March 10 2020.

Vanessa Hope-Daniels is a Filmmaker, Digital Strategist, Content Creator and an Applied Geophysicist with an outstanding record that includes high performance at notable industry events like the ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, Total and NNPC contests in the 2018 Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationist Conference. Vanessa’s passion for arts led her to an intensive acting workshop at the African International Film Festival where she emerged best among four others. Since then, she has been featured in the TV series ‘This is Lagos’ produced by NvivoTV and Mike Gouken’s ‘REHEARSAL‘. Vanessa has also written the short films ‘En-graved’, ‘Sekani’ and ‘Dead’. She has a knack for creating strategy backed integrated campaigns and has worked, interned and volunteered in various industries including the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, Black Card Africa, Fiore Limited, Next Face Africa and Street Project Foundation. Consistently excellent, She is an ambassador for the Street Project Foundation, served as President of the February Cohort 2021 of the Digital Amazons Program and currently sits as the Vice President of the Youth Advisory Board. She is the Creative Director of the For Him/Her Africa, an NGO that believes in collaborating with other NGOs to make the world a better place. Vanessa is a vibrant, passionate, focused, innovative and solution driven alpha female.

Louis Hinman has worked for forty-some years with Fred Newman, Lois Holzman, and many others, to use social therapeutics — what we’ve learned about power, creativity, development, building with diversity, and the practice of method — to challenge the political culture of post-modern America by creating a new one. He has joined the International Class because he feels that we live in a time of revolutionary change, that we must learn from and inspire one another, and that each of our nations is ultimately dependent on the revolutions of the others.

Chakradhar Iyyuni has been an engineer, applied mathematician, biomedical enthusiast, construction project management trainer/facilitator/faculty. Over the last dozen years, Chakri has dived into the Mariana trenches of human behavior – be it motivation, interpersonal relationships, groups/teams, networks, organizations, communities and societies – scanning at least 4-6 thousand books and tracking a dozen practitioner driven organizational theories. His influences are primarily western, from his 19-year stay in the United States. Over the last 15 years, Chakri has also had a chance to connect with the best of Indian spiritual traditions. Organization as a socio-technical entity has not paid sufficient attention to the social side of management. What matters to me is that humanity will be able to care for itself and the nature around it; that the warring nations would come to peaceful resolutions and that we will mitigate/manage/steer clear of the existential risks be it nuclear war, climate change or dystopian scenarios of AI and manage the 17 UN/SDGs and move to aspirational level of these goals. He is hoping to learn how to facilitate communication and partnerships across the world to establish peace and social justice and is working towards bringing an ecological perspective to social therapeutics.

Tamara Krneta was born and raised in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She graduated at University of Banja Luka, where she received a Bachelor degree in Psychology. She participated in a work/study program at the East Side Institute from 2006-2008 and was introduced to the social therapeutic approach. She liked the creativity she found in it. In 2009 she moved to Novi Sad (Serbia), where she currently lives and works. In 2011 she attended Scientific-professional conference “Current Trends in Psychology” in Novi Sad, Serbia. She was participating in the program of the conference with presentation of her research on the subject “Following of an early development of children who are growing up in homosexual family”. The essay of this research was published in the book „Knjiga rezimea Savremeni trendovi u psihologiji 2011”, published by the organizer of this conference – Faculty of Philosophy, University of Novi Sad. She has a lot of experience working with children and lately she is involved in volunteering in LGBT organization. She is member of Psychological Association of Serbia.

Morgane Masterman (she/her) is an intercultural youth worker and a founder of Associação Faísca Voadora, a non-profit organisation for radically inclusive, creative intercultural transformation. French and British by nationality, she is based in Portugal and has been working with intercultural learning since 2013. She mainly works with teens and young adults with difficult access to mobility and training, mixing creative tools (graphic facilitation and drawing, theater, radio), with more traditional non-formal and informal education methods. She is a passionate Language Animation practitioner and interpreter. Since March 2020, she has been exploring the creative and intercultural possibilities of online formats. Morgane is involved in feminist and queer activism as well as agro-ecology. She started studying Social Therapeutics at the East Side Institute in October

Kate McGlynn is excited to join the International Class as a multi-lingual, heartfelt, performance activist with experience ranging from traditional acting to professional clown, circus artist, mime, and improviser. Kate is a certified Laughter Yoga Practitioner, Life Coach, Neurolinguistic Programming and Mindset Coach, Aerial Yoga Instructor, Social Media Marketer, Forklift and Aerial Lift Navigator, and has a BFA in Performance Art. Coming Soon, RYT Certifications in Hatha and Children’s Yoga. She is seriously interested in the benefits of humor in education and team building, facilitation, and creating safe spaces for expression in any language. Last year Kate presented at Performing the World with the Michigan Warrior Clowns. She is a skilled presenter, instructor, and video editor. She is a member of the American Association of Therapeutic Humor, Global Play Brigade, and Clowns of America International. She creates live or pre-recorded interactive Zoom video-grams and storytelling with special effects for fun and therapeutic practices and is a member of a Developing Across Borders group since May 2019. In 2020, her work was published in the shape of a comic book about women’s rights, illustrations for a children’s book on the Portuguese anti-fascist revolution, and a playful beginner’s guide to learning Portuguese.

Eileen Moncoeur has dedicated her life to human development and community building. She is a long-term practitioner of social therapeutics and is studying with the East Side Institute to become a Life Performance Coach. As a non-profit leader over the last 23 years, Eileen has collaborated with local leaders in South Asia to carry out their own initiatives within their communities. These partnerships have produced significant outcomes: pathways to education for displaced children, corrective surgery and rehabilitation for poor disabled children, and social enterprises for refugee settlements. Eileen has a BA from Smith College, is Executive Director of Sabal Foundation, serves on the board of Mae Tao Clinic in Thailand and is mother to Marcos.

Eduvielawhe (Eduvie) Olutimayin is an ardent advocate of human and economic development. She has provided thought leadership and managed Pan Nigerian engagements/ studies. Eduvie has contributed to youth development initiatives in disadvantaged areas focusing on capacity building, empowerment, inclusiveness, advocacy and gender equality issues. She has also presented at the All Stars, Performing the World 2014 conference in New York on performing acts as a tool for social transformation. Eduvielawhe is currently a Partner/Director of Operations at the Street Project Foundation, a social enterprise aimed at raising transformational youth ambassadors for Nigeria through the performing arts.

Tony Perone is an improviser, a humanitarian clown, and a faculty member in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington Tacoma in the United States where he teaches courses in human development and life-span imaginative play. His research, teaching, and activism include the power of imaginative play, improvisational theater, performance activism, social therapeutics, humanitarian clowning, and socially-engaged arts to create revolutionary opportunities for learning, development, and community building. He received his doctorate in educational psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Sílvia Romero is a Costa Rican psychologist, who works in vulnerable communities. She has more than ten years’ experience working with children and teenagers in poverty, using a novel methodology that includes education, psychology and the creative arts. This methodology believes in the importance of the arts in involving kids and teenagers in prevention of violence and poverty. Sílvia is looking forward to learning new methodologies and ways to work together with the communities in order to make Costa Rica a better place.

Rochelle Schwartz is an administrative professional at Danone North America, a food company. She creates environments for teams to interact, to deepen relationships, and to play together, previously in person and currently in the virtual realm. She holds a Masters degree from Pratt Institute in Creativity Development and practiced as an Art Therapist in New York and in the Bay Area for 15 years prior to transitioning to business and marketing support roles in natural and organic food companies. She was a founding member of BACIC, the precursor to the All Stars program in the Bay Area. She currently resides in Boulder, Colorado with her husband, Dan, and teenage son, Avi and two adorable small dogs. She is an artist – a poet and a potter, creating custom poems and pots for practical every-day use and for special occasions.

Waqar Ul Hassan is from Pakistan. He obtained a Master’s from Punjab University and Linkoping University Sweden. Waqar has many years of experience as a fulltime psychology teacher in the public schools and also served in nongovernmental organizations on part time basis (e.g international human rights observer, PSA etc), where he primarily worked on human rights abuse issues especially children’s rights, women’s rights, child abuse complaints and underage labour issues. Waqar has volunteered as a relief and rehabilitation worker in natural calamities, a polio vaccinator during vaccination campaigns, and an advocate to raise human rights awareness.

 

Meet the International Class 2020-21…

Top Row: Janelle Sibauste Bermúdez, Karen McAllister, Roderick Borrie, Viviane Letícia Silva Carrijo, Allen Cox
Middle Row: Jamie Thomas, Maureen Kelly, Mariana Wilson, David Kawanuka
Bottom Row: Jeffrey Aron, Eve Vivian Namutebi, Kelly Fernandes, Andrea Del Valle Carro

Jeffrey Aron is a recent retiree from Fountain House, a community-based mental health organization in New York City. Under his leadership, Fountain House won the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, the world’s most prestigious humanitarian award; and created a partnership with the World Health Organization to develop guidelines and best practices for health practitioners working with people with serious mental illness. Jeff has been associated with All Stars Project since its inception and helped develop its community-building and fundraising model. He has served in various capacities as staff and volunteer. For more than 40 years he has been a creator and builder of the development community and its initiatives.

From the beginning, Roderick Borrie liked nothing more than sitting in a corner of his mind playing with a thought. Then he learned to play the trombone to express the feeling of those thoughts. Entering the world of language, Roderick became a psychologist because of his love and fascination for people. The struggle to blend music and psychology in a meaningful way to help others was really a desire for Roderick’s own wholeness. Now Roderick is learning that unity can develop through the activities of play and improvisation.

Viviane Letícia Silva Carrijo received her Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo in 2017. With an interest in teacher training, Viviane is a member of the LACE Research Group – Language and Activity in the School Context (LACE / PUCSP / CNPq), a socially engaged group in different intervention projects, such as the “Brincadas”project, which Viviane is involved in as a researcher. Currently, Viviane is a researcher in the Youth as Researchers Program at UNESCO, where she studies what strategies Brazilian youth have created to face the problems arising from the pandemic. She also works as a textbook author in several Brazilian publishers. Viviane’s main concerns are education, teacher training, youth engagement, decolonial perspectives, necroeducation.

Allen Cox has been a long-time grassroots leader of the independent political movement working closely with Dr. Lenora Fulani as an aid and security personnel, as well as supporting and building the performance activist community. Allen is currently working with the Covid-19 contract tracing outreach program and Co-Chair of the ETE steering committee (the committee formed by Governor Cuomo to end the HIV epidemic). Allen is also a member of the Committee for Independent Community Action, an organization opposing the privatization of public housing, as well as identifying and supporting grassroots leaders who want to take on this fight.

Andrea Del Valle Carro is a community educator with more than twenty years of experience. Andrea is a theater playwright, director, and clown finishing her degree in Anthropology. Andrea is a co-founder of Escuela Itinerante Cabuya in Costa Rica and founder of El Perro Amarillo (The Yellow Dog) A Space to Perform on the Logic of Things.

Kelly Fernandes is a mother, partner, cat lover, dreamer, artivist, art educator, actress, director, theatre and social psychology researcher, and psychoanalyst. Kelly holds a degree in Performing arts at the University of São Paulo. She studied and practiced for years at the Theatre of the Oppressed with Augusto Boal in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and New York. She studied acting at the Strasberg Institute (Actor’s Studio) in New York. Kelly directed and performed in dozens of pieces including works under the direction of Plinio Marcos, a renowned Brazilian playwright, and Judith Malina, the director of the Living Theater. She won grants in Brazil and New York to develop her work in communities using art as a tool for social change. She has worked as an art educator since 1996 in many projects as in mental health programs, public schools, and others.

Maureen Kelly made her father very proud by beginning her career in banking, with vice president roles at both Citibank and JPMorgan Chase. She joined POAL in the early days, after experiencing the power of performance to build bridges and transform communities in her philanthropic work with The All-Stars Project. Along the way she also earned her Master’s in organizational psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University, and completed her postgraduate studies and clinical work in psychology at the East Side Institute for Group and Short Term Psychotherapy. In her role as Chief Possibility Officer, Maureen leads the POAL team in breaking new ground in the use of play and performance as a catalyst for human development in the workplace. She thrives on innovating with our clients, whom she loves for their bravery, business savvy, and humanism. Trained in Social Therapeutics — a psychology of “becoming” that combines play, performance, practical philosophy, and group creativity to inspire human growth and community development — Maureen is committed to bringing this revolutionary approach to transformation and human development to all, including people without means. Through pro bono and low-fee leadership programs and POAL’s ongoing financial support to community-based nonprofits, our clients are contributing to making the world a better place.

David Kawanuka is a Ugandan native, working with a non-government and non-profit charity organization called Hope for Youth – Uganda. David is responsible for all the administration work of the organization. Hope for Youth – Uganda was started by its current director, Peter Nsubuga (and David’s brother) in 2008 with a mission of improving the quality of life for vulnerable children and the youth in our communities, by empowering them through the provision of free basic primary and vocational education skills, as well as access to health services, while restoring hope in them. David holds a certificate in Public Administration and Management, obtained from Makerere Centre for Business and Management Sciences with Integrated Efforts in Culture for Development and attended and completed the Basic Cadre development course of the National School of Political Education for the award of a certificate. The poverty David grew up in has inspired him a lot to join his brother Peter to make a positive difference in many lives of children and the youth in our community going through the same issues in which they grew up. David feels so privileged to be in this international class of world changers whom he believes are so important not only to Hope for Youth as an organization but to the entire community we represent.

Karen McAllister received her BA in Psychology from the University of Washington (UWT). Through her studies at UWT, she developed a passion for social therapeutics, play, and improvisation as powerful, revolutionary therapeutic tools for individual and community development. Karen has just been accepted and will begin her Master’s in Education program in April 2021.

Eve Vivian Namutebi is a teacher at Hope for Youth Uganda in Mukono District. Eve is a lower grade teacher with a certificate in Nursery Teaching. Besides teaching, Eve enjoys farming. Eve does outreach for the elderly with the All Stars Project youth group to clean their homes, bath them, and prepare meals to eat with them. Eve meets with young girls to share their experiences and support them to help each other in challenging times. Eve participates in health programs done at Hope for Youth, that involve giving children vitamins and deworming tablets, educating them about hygiene and nutrition, and teaching them the importance of sleeping with mosquito nets. Eve is trained by the Ministry of Health and Vitamin Angels USA. She is the mother of a 9-year-old and a Sunday school teacher at her church, where she loves playing and sharing with children.

Janelle Sibauste Bermúdez is a Panamanian dancer, educator, and cultural manager based in Panama City, Panama. Janelle is on the dance faculty at Universidad de Panamá teaching modern and contemporary dance techniques, theory and practice of dance, and dance pedagogy. Janelle is also a flamenco and Argentinian Tango instructor and creator of “Tango Sobre Materia”, a project that promotes tango dancing as a personal and collective creative practice based on the joy of movement, communication, and improvisation as means for personal and social transformation.

Jamie Thomas lives in western North Carolina, USA, in the Appalachian Mountains with her family and pets. She is a licensed clinical social worker who works as a therapist to help people in individual and family therapy. Her background includes working with hospice, at a skilled nursing facility, and in community mental health. Theater is her lifeblood though and being on stage is where she feels most alive! So far participating in an improv show is one of her best theater memories and proudest performance moments. Jamie is new to social therapy and activism, coming to the International Class following the recommendation of a social therapist who was a previous student. Learning about how a group can develop together through performance is her focus.

Mariana Wilson is an international theatre maker, facilitator, and creator. They hold a Master’s in Applied Theatre from Goldsmiths, University of London, where their dissertation concerned methods of racial justice education in queer communities. Mariana is at the beginning of their career with endless possibilities ahead and is participating in the International Class to aid in their “being” and “becoming!”

Meet the International Class 2019-20…

Back: Maria Jose Castrillo , Rita Ezenwa-Ogoro, Paloma Davila Torres, Kate McCoy, Katina Souilli, Steven Licardi, Jessica Marta. Front: Pei Yu Kuo, Weihsuan Lung, Mana Mukaiyachi, Elyse Mendel, Gwendolyn Dow-Chance.

Maria Jose Castrillo: Originally from Costa Rica, Maria Jose graduated from University of Costa Rica, where she studied psychology and contemporary dance. In her time facilitating educational robotics and dance expression courses for adolescents in Manual Chapui National Psychiatric Hospital, as well as learning more deeply about psychodrama, Maria found herself seeing connections between pain, development, movement, joy, and healing. She is motivated by ESI’s philosophies and looking forward to co-creating more human and performative ways of human change.

Gwendolyn Dow-Chance has a was by attending a previous International Class graduation, Gwendolyn is inspired by the thought of meeting with a large group of multicultural individuals and sharing ideas. As a teacher, she sees the value of play an incorporating play into lessons and learning. She is excited to be pushed outside of her comfort zone and learn how to connect with people in new and meaningful ways.

Rita Ezenwa-Okoro Rita founded the Street Project Foundation in 2008, an organization which utilizes performance arts to drive youth development and social transformation. Started in her city of Ikeja, Nigeria, Rita has grown her small community based organization to one with a nationalistic outlook, putting the organization in a position to be at the frontline of creating a cultural and performative framework of development in Nigeria. Rita is looking forward to joining a network of development practitioners from all over the world using their craft to build societies.

Peiyu Kuo: Pei Yu is a Taiwan based social worker, with an interest in holistic, community driven approaches towards changing the lives of those experiencing mental illness, focusing on relationship based rather than illness based treatment. Pei Yu has spent some time learning about the East Side Insitute and Fred Newman’s teachings in the last few years, organizing a group of disabled individuals in her community to participate in Performing The World 2014, and contributed to the Chinese translation of Psychological Investigations. She has entrenched herself in activism, currently working as an activist with COSWAS (Collective of Sex Workers and Supporters). Pei Yu is excited to deepen her understanding of East Side Institute and Fred Newman’s philosophy.

Kate McCoy is the founder and director of small performance adventures a company creating workshops, performances and events with people affected by life, currently working with people in recovery. In 2019 we toured “The Washing Up”, a participatory performance with songs and stories and also ran an accompanying workshop series. She was also a co-founder of The Men’s Room, an arts and social care charity working with men with experience of sex work and homelessness. She is committed to creating humanising conditions where people can be their connected playful selves.

Elyse Mendel: A New York native, Elyse has been a community organizer and a builder of the development community for 36 years. In this time, she has participated in creating the All Stars Project, in Fred Newman’s Social Therapy, and made history by helping Dr. Lenora Fulani’s presidential campaign. Elyse is excited to contribute to the group and the discussions as someone who has worked to create institutions for radical change, have new conversations, deepen her understanding of the Institute’s methodology.

Mana Mukaiyachi: Mana joins the International Class from Japan, where she works in musical theater. She is excited to deepen her knowledge and skill in her craft of performance, and learn how to take it to new heights and drive social change in combination with the East Side Institute and International Class’ teachings.

Nelson Ndayambaje: Nelson joins the International class from Rwanda, where he works as a mental health and trauma care consultant. Nelson participates directly to provide narrative therapy session, community therapy and train new people to become leaders in their communities and families. He is excited to learn more about the East Side Institutes methodology, including sharing experiences, working in groups, and using the body as a form of communication.

Steven T. Licardi (Virginia, USA) is a licensed social worker, spoken word poet, and performance activist whose work as a poet-clinician creates empathic dialogue around, explores the realities of, and collaborates alongside communities to dismantle the stigma surrounding mental illness. As a child, Steven was diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum, which deeply informs his practice and play. He received a B.A. in Psychology & Philosophy and a Master’s in Social Work from Stony Brook University in New York. A Queens-native, he is currently bringing his work as a clinician to rural communities in Southwest Virginia. His master’s thesis, Coup de Mot: Spoken Word as a Vehicle for Social Change, is an ever-evolving series of performance-lectures that directly reflect the ideals of Social Therapeutics. For examples of his work, explore his website: www.thesvenbo.com

Weihsuan Lung: Weihsuan studied social work in Taiwan, but found her passion in social activism. In her time working with COSWAS (Collective of Sex Works and Supporters), Weihsuan experienced culture performance as a way to create the possibility of social change. Weihsuan also participated in Performing The World 2016, and felt moved by the power, diversity, and potential of performance. After 12 years of social work, she is eager to study Social Therapy through the lens of the East Side Institute.

Jessica Marta: Jessica has been a member of the development community for nearly 35 years. She regards her mission in life as “To help people accept and embrace who they are”. In this pursuit, she works to critique and unpack shame and stigma in our development of self, and in her work as a psychiatric nurse practitioner with populations experiencing mental illness. She is excited to once again immerse herself in this community, to create something with a group of adults from all over the world, and see the institutions she helped to build through new collective eyes.

Katina Souilli (Greece) is the executive director for “I AM YOU” a nonprofit working with people who have fled war and persecution. Katina oversees all of I AM YOU’s programs and operations in Greece. Her focus is to ensure that I AM YOU becomes sustainable and has far reaching impact. Katina has extensive management experience within large communication firms in London and is a native of Greece. She studied anthropology and cultural politics at Goldsmith’s, University of London, and holds a law degree from Warwick University in the United Kingdom.

Paloma Torres-Dávila is joining the International Class from Puerto Rico, and is a self described social psychologist in a clinical psychologist’s body. In the past five years, she has worked to combine her interests and passions for applied research, community development, and transformative practices through her work with Third Mission Institute in Puerto Rico, the NGO Community Strengths in the US, and the social constructionist international Taos Institute. Through her projects, she uses narrative, dialogic, and participative practices to address issues of community violence, intimate partner violence, and trauma with high risk groups, particularly adolescents, and organizations. Having lived in Puerto Rico through the 2017 catastrophic hurricanes Irma and María, the political turmoil of 2019, and in 2020 the swarm of still ongoing earthquakes and now the pandemic, Paloma seeks to use restorative practices collaboratively work with communities in Puerto Rico rebuild and thrive in the face of adversity and austerity. Through the residency program with the East Side Institute, Paloma has begun to integrate play and more improv theory into the work she does with communities and individuals (in groups), aiming to co-create generative spaces for a more equitable and just Puerto Rico.

Meet the International Class 2018-19…

Back: Mayari Perez Arroyo , Mike Pickering, Bashiru Lasisi, Guillermo Terisotto, Francisco Estefogo, Laura Sonnino, Martha McCoy, Eva Brenner. Front: Andre Liberali, Mieke Lippstreu, Oscar Lozoya, Drazen Horvatic, Annie Rose Stathes.

Eva Brenner (Austria) Ma. Mag. Art., Ph.D., is a political theater artist with a focus on experimental theater, performance art, political and community theater. She is also a cultural reporter for independent magazines, and a long standing theater scholar trained in Vienna and New York (NYU, Ph.D. under R. Schechner). Since 1991 she has been running her own theater company Project Theater/Fleischerei in Vienna/Austria, and has directed widely as well as lectured and given workshop throughout Europe, Israel, the US and China.

Francisco Estefogo (Brazil) has a post-doctoral degree in Applied Linguistics from the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo, and works since 2017 as a Professor at Universidade de Taubaté. He has been been involved with teacher development for about 20 years, with his last research project focused on developing English teachers as transformative agents and creators of their own teaching culture. The core of the research was to intervene in school contexts, based on vulnerability, humility, crisis, mutuality, deliberation and creativity.

Drazen Horvatic (Serbia) currently studies towards his Master in Applied theater at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, Serbia, and holds a Bachelor in Scandinavian Studies. He is a drag performer and a performance activist, who co-founded the Wyrd Sisters in 2016, with the purpose of building a healthy drag community that can heal, inspire others and have social impact.

Bashiru Lasisi (Nigeria) holds a ph.D. in Theatre Arts/Media Studies from the University of Ibadan in Ibadan, Nigeria, and has worked as a Senior Arts Fellow at the same university since 2011. As a teacher producing graduates for the creative industry in Nigeria, a country with an unemployment rate above 40 %, he is concerned with the need to widen the scope of opportunity for his students, including knowledge of how you can use performance to impact positively on your own life and community.

Andre Liberali (Brazil) has an MBA with the concentration Business Ethics in Companies, as well as a Master’s in Mechanic Engineering. He has over fifteen years of experience as a director/manager within the corporate sector, and is currently undergoing a shift from business executive a usual to one of business advisor/board member/ consultant proposing activities that develop solidarity, connection and community sense among the participants.

Mieke Lippstreu (South Africa) has a BSc in Occupational Therapy from the University of Cape Town. She has a particular interest in the forensic mental health service user population with whom she has had the opportunity to work over the past two years. Her vision for occupational therapy focuses on mental health, the arts, and social transformation, embracing the potential of the ties that bind these three elements together for individual and collective healing and development.

Oscar Lozoya (Mexico) has a Master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Anthropology and a Bachelor’s in Music Theory and Composition, both from the University of Texas at El Paso. He currently works as a case worker with teenagers with a visual impairment and other disabilities, and also has fifteen years of experience as a professional percussionist playing Latin, Brazilian and Middle East rhythms. His vision is to develop a more holistic approach to the work with his customers, incorporating sound, verbal/non-verbal expression and movement.

Martha McCoy (CA, USA) has a Master’s of Education from Touro University in California, a Master of Health Sciences from Duke University, and a BA in Biology/Latin American Studies. She worked for 13 years in migrant health care, clinical research, and as a preceptor for family medicine residents. In 1996 she became a teacher, a career that has evolved into a critical study on pedagogy, institutional leadership and innovative transformational teaching. This included designing a play-based Transitional Kindergarten and taking on leadership roles in her school for transformative school change based on growth and development.

Mayari Perez Arroyo (Costa Rica) has Bachelor ́s degrees in Psychology and English from the University of Costa Rica, and works as an English teacher and psychologist at the Colegio Ilppal school. She has had an interest in alternative educational methodologies involving expression and transformation since 2013 when she discovered psycho drama. Since then, she has explored Participative Methodologies, Psychodrama and Art-therapy in different schools across Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Chile, with one of her most important interests being the psychology of the group as an enhancer of creativity and transformation.

Mike Pickering (GA, USA) is business professional who has been a part of the broad development community since 2002/2003. This engagement includes multiple independent theater productions, founding and building of the Atlanta All Stars Talent Show Network, organizing independent voters in Georgia, and participation in a social therapy group since 2001. He is interested in possibly pursuing either a therapist or coach role, as well as developing as a social entrepreneur and performance activist in Atlanta. He has a Bachelor’s in Biology from The State University of New York in Binghampton.

Laura Sonnino (Italy) has a Master ́s degree in art theater counseling from the European Theater Institute, and a Bachelor in Tourism. She has worked with theatrical counseling in prisons since 2017, with the dream to create relationships and different life choices through theater, music, art, and crafts.

Annie Rose Stathes (CA, USA) has 20 years’ experience of guided personal development work and leadership training in the nonprofit, public, and private sectors. Her experiences include designing curricula and teaching writing classes at Fort Lewis College Writing Program, working as a professional artist, teaching yoga, and coaching authors. In 2015 she founded Be Authentic, with the purpose of creating a safe, intentional space for healing, connecting, thinking critically, and effecting change. She has a BFA in International Affairs with an emphasis on Africa, culture, and economics, and an MA in Political Science with an emphasis on public policy.

Guillermo Terisotto (Argentina) is composer and lead singer of the band After the Storm, and the musical artistic director of Ecodanza of VIDA in Lima, Peru. His studies include audio perception, percussion and vocalization in the Crei of Santa Fe, Institute of Music for children and young people, as well as courses in the Superior Institute of Music. His engagements include participating as a musician in UN conferences in Istanbul and Johannesburg. He also works as a computer systems analyst and holds a Bachelor’s degree from ICOP in Santa Fe.

 

Meet the International Class 2017-18…

Back: Carrie Lobman, Carolina Ruesga , Nicola Pauling, Dubravka Radusinović, Sanja Popović, Melissa Meyer, Kristin Viggen. Center: Claudita Fanni Fertino, Aurélie Harp. Front: Marina Kovačević, Chris Helm.

Tresa Elguera (New York, US) has a Masters in Bilingual Education from Bank Street College of Education in New York City. She is a middle school Spanish teacher at the Academy of Arts & Letters and an alumna of the Institute’s Developing Teacher’s Fellowship Program.

Claudita Fanni Fertino (Italy) is a poet and actress. She played in the company of Isaac Alvarez from LeCoq School in many live street performances in the Festival of Avignon and other Commedia dell’Arte Festivals. An art theater counselor, Claudita trained with M.R. Hansen’s method and Gestalt approach at Istituto Teatrale Europeo of Rome practicing Theater of the Oppressed with Jordi Folcadas of Pa’tothom and Ritual Theater with Hector Aristizabal of Imaginaction. She also trained in Dragon Dreaming (DRDR) by Uri Noy Meir, and practices Circle Drums following the School of Lost Borders. Claudita also practices and teaches Iyengar Yoga, dances Argentine Tango and is currently writing a play about Maria Magdalena. She now resides in Greece where she is creating “Play4Life” a social experiment combining offline theatrical tools and online platform to connect activists from all over the world.

Ana Paula Faria (Brazil) has a PhD in Portuguese/English as a Second Language and Discourse Analysis from the University of Sao Paulo (USP). Ana is a professor at Instituto Singularidades and English teacher at Colegio Vital Busel.

Aurélie Harp (France / New York, US) is a founder of The Womanity Project, and an all-round producer, actress, filmmaker, mother and feminist. The Womanity Project is a multimedia platform around genders, identity and change. In a context of over exposition and information, what does it mean to be intimate with ourselves? How can we suspend judgement, reflect on what defines us as a woman or as a man? What divides us, what brings us together? The approach is to help individuals explore and define their own path to empowerment by establishing who they are and want to become within their organization or community. We facilitate a dialogue between women and men around the challenges and opportunities of gender equality and diversity. Through our conversations and performances, we want to inform and shape perspectives, find common ground and ultimately drive change for equal growth.

Solomon Iguanre (Nigeria) is an associate professor of Dramatic Literature Languages and Literary Studies at Babcock University. Solomon is committed to literary writings across genres with a special focus on stand-up comedy and other comedic forms. He co-founded a campus-based group, the Laffamania Organization, which focuses on comedy as a medium of education and entertainment. He went on to work in an NGO as the artistic director of Educate Trust Exhibition Centre where he, together with his team, engaged youth in many creative ventures to help them develop. He formed the Babcock University Literary Arts Society, a literary club, with membership drawn from several disciplines across the university.

Marina Kovačević (Serbia) is the executive director at the Center for Rehabilitation Through Imagination. Marina received her Masters in World Literature at Belgrade University.

Lainie Hodges (Colorado, US) is a development specialist and teaching artist who uses the power of improvisation to help people grow, learn and develop. Her work with schools, athletes, public agencies and communities allow them to leverage their unique assets to be more agile, creative and responsive.

Nicola Pauling (New Zealand) is an actor, improviser, director and group facilitator. She is the founder of Voice Arts, a not for profit trust that uses performance as a tool for personal and community development. She has led the development and delivery of project across the artistic mediums of theatre, film and radio. She works in closed and open community settings and is passionate about providing opportunities for people to participate in a creative process that gives them a voice.

Sanja Popović (Serbia) is an English language teacher at the Nikola Tesla School, a primary school in Lipar, Serbia. Sanja holds a BA in English Language & Literature from the University of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Dubravka Radusinović (Serbia) is a psychologist at Center for Rehabilitation Through Imagination in Belgrade. Dubravka received her Masters in Psychology at the University of Belgrade.

Carolina Ruesga (Mexico) is a researcher, consultant and capacity builder. The founder of Gestion Social y Cooperacion, an NGO in Mexico and the VSD dance project. Carolina is currently in the process of creating Práctica Social, a learning platform for development and social change. She holds a BA in Management from Tecnológico de Monterrey, and an Masters in Poverty Reduction and Development from the University of Birmingham (England) International Development Department.

Kristin Viggen (Norway) has a Masters in Social Work from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology where she now works as an associate professor in the Department of Social Work.

Meet the International Class 2016-17…

Back: Jitender, Jing-Wen Tseng (Rita) , Marian Rich, Mauricio Canuto Front: Fang-Ping Weng , Lois Holzman, Lebogang Disele

Mauricio Canuto (Brazil) has his MA in Applied Linguistics from Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo under the tutelage of friend and fellow Vygotskian, Fernanda Liberali. He has studied Newman/Holzman’s performatory-developmental methodology. He is currently the head teacher at a CEU, a community school serving poor children in São Paulo, Brazil.

Lebogang Disele (Botswana) is noticing an increased debilitating anxiety amongst young women in Botswana about how to be, where to go, what to do . Lebo is interested in exploring the potential of theatre as a tool to address mental health issues affecting young women, particularly with gender based violence and recovery from personal trauma. She holds an MA in Dramatic Arts from the University of Witswaterand, and is currently pursuing her PhD at the University of Alberta in Canada where she will undertake the study of theatre’s function as group therapy and a rehearsal space for taking power back.

Jing-Wen Tseng (Rita) (Taiwan) is inspired by the Theater of the Oppressed and has worked as a freelance practitioner of applied theater for a decade. She is interested in promoting critical awareness and reflection via theater and creative expression to connect the individual and society. Rita is co-founder of Amnesty International in Tainan City and works in a variety of community environments, including schools, NGOs and prisons.

Marian Rich (USA) is a performance activist, actress, comic educator and trainer. Through her company, Career Play Inc., she uses social therapeutics to help people grow through playful workshops and individual coaching. A theatrical collaborator of Dr. Fred Newman’s, she helped to found the Castillo Theatre, where she has performed in dozens of plays, often performing characters written with her in mind by Newman. She has performed improv comedy for 20 years and has been teaching improv for a decade. Marian teaches the popular Improv for Everyone, a core class at UX, the All Stars’ school for continued development. As an adjunct faculty member of the East Side Institute, Marian co-leads workshops on the relationship between humor, improvisation and human development. She is the resident performance and improvisation teacher and coach for the Institute’s International Class during their residencies in New York.

Fang-Ping Weng (Taiwan) has her PhD in Sociology from Renmin University of China and a PhD in Psychology from Fu Jen Catholic University in Taipei where she is currently a lecturer in the psychology department. Fang-Ping served as the Secretary General for Collective of Sex Workers and Supporters (COSWAS) from 2002-2014 and stands as an executive council member of the Taiwan Action Research Association.

Jitender (India) received his BA from the University of Delhi. He is currently an activist artist at Pandies Theatre Group, founded 15 years ago in which young middle class facilitators work with impoverished boys and girls who have run away from their families and are living on India’s railway platforms. These young people are rescued by NGOs and are studying at state sponso and put under the care of NGOs – to create theatre based upon their lives. The Institute’s methodology attracts him because he believes we need to save and change society and serve humanity…”we shall overcome…”.

Meet the International Class 2015-16…

Back: Armando Justo, Oluwagbemiga Oluwasegun Windapo, Anastasios Gaitanidis, Lenore T. Farrell, Mayra Stergiou Front: Lois Holzman, Yuan Sheng, Donna Males, Ursula Carrascal Vizarreta

L. Thecla Farrell (Trinidad/U.S.) hails from Santa Cruz, Trinidad and came to the United States to attend the University of Houston, where she received her B.S. in Business & Finance. More than 25 years ago, Thecla relocated to New York City where she met Fred Newman, Lois Holzman and the development community – and volunteers her talents as a producer at the All Stars Project, serves on its Board of Directors, and performs in plays at the Castillo Theatre. She is currently a project manager for a large global bank in New York City.

Dr. Anastasios Gaitanidis (U.K.) is a psychodynamic counselor and senior lecturer for the University of Roehampton. Anastasios strives to help individuals break away from questioning ‘what’s wrong with me?’ and, instead, question ‘what’s wrong with the world?’ He uses the works of Marx and other critical theorists (such as Adorno, Hegel, Benjamin, Derrida, among others) as a means to strengthen his research, teachings, and writings. He has a Ph.D. in Psychoanalytic Studies from the University of Kent, and a diploma in Counseling from the University of London.

Armando Justo (Mexico/U.S.) is a human developmentalist working at a multilateral development institution in Washington, D.C. Armando recently received his Ed.D. in Individual and Organizational Learning from George Washington University. He also holds a M.A. in Organizational Development and Human Resources from John Hopkins University-Carey Business School and a B.A. in Business Administration from Universidad Nacional Autonoma De Mexico in Mexico City. Growing up in Mexico, Armando paid close attention to the relations of his community and the development of Mexican youth. His doctoral dissertation analyzes the “NiNi” (neither study, nor work) phenomenon under a cultural and historical lens.

Donna Males (Wales) is a freelance performer and singer working on a project called “One Land Many Faces” on behalf of Volcano Theatre Company and in conjunction with La Transplanisphere (Paris)– a project that looks at European identity and toured Budapest, Berlin, Spain, and Swansea. Donna has worked with people from all backgrounds, including the homeless and the poor, and understands the hopelessness of people living in poverty. She also taught English to children at an ashram in Northern India where she used play and performance in the curriculum. She completed her B.A. (honors) in Performing Arts & Theatre at Swansea Metropolitan University, and a diploma in Business Administration at the University of Glamorgan in Wales.

Yuan Sheng (Tiffany) (Taiwan) received a B.A. in Psychology at the Fu Jen Catholic University in Taipei, Taiwan which fostered her interest in qualitative research and field study. She is currently the Head of Staff at Ludi Community University, a university which provides education to laborers and other professional workers in the community. Shocked and empowered by the vulnerable minority, she became a community activist for the rights of Lepers, sex workers, and immigrants, working with them through story telling and the creation of arts exhibitions. She has recently relocated to Mexico to start a new adventure exploring, studying and developing.

Mayra Stergiou (Maria) (Greece/U.K.) is a theatre worker and artistic director for Vertebra Theatre Company, and a Living Well Facilitator and part time dramatherapist for Jewish Care in London. Mayra works with children, teens, and adults with mental disabilities, coordinating recreational and therapeutic groups. She has also been working in prisons in the United Kingdom and facilitating drama therapy sessions for women with mental health issues and male offenders. Mayra received her B.Sc. in Educational and Social Policy, went on to get her M.A. in Dramatherapy from the University of Derby, and studied at Lecoq Based Devising Theatre and Performance at London International School of Performing Arts. She is researching puppetry for building communities internationally.

Ursula Carrascal Vizarreta (Peru) is the leader of the Cultural Association Minaq-Ecodanza, an initiative of community-based environmental/social education using the arts as a means of global transformation from environmental/developmental problems. As an environmental activist, educator, performer and journalist, she has extensive experience working and relating with youth, women, trade unionists, indigenous populations, and children in over 20 countries. These experiences have allowed her to understand that working collectively in a creative and participatory manner is the only way to help global communities achieve real change and rise above poverty, environmental pollution, and natural disaster. Ursula is currently a professor at UCSS University teaching leadership media and communication management, using therapeutic arts. She has a B.A. in Journalism from Universidad Jaime Bausate Y Meza in Peru, a three-year degree as a Professional Technician in Audiovisual Communication at Charles Chaplin Institute, and is currently finishing her M.A. in Gender, Society and Politics at Latin School of Social Sciences in (FIASCO).

Oluwagbemiga Oluwasegun Windapo (Gbenga) (Nigeria) is a theatre artist and lecturer at the Adeniran Oygunsanya College in Lagos, Nigeria. Gbenga has written and published several stage plays, which have received recognition in his country. He believes the relevance of the theatre is in its therapeutic qualities – theatre stimulates the community, its development and progress. He received his B.A. in Theatre Arts and an M.A. in African Studies, both from the University of Ibadan in Nigeria.

Meet the International Class 2014-15…

Left to right: Antonela Millote, Art Assoiants, Jim Martinez, Eliane Barbosa da Conceicão, Marija Nikolic, Milena Otasevic, Lois Holzman, Todd Cowdery, Diane Buscemi, Muhammad Ali Zaidi, Anna Caroline Toffanelli, Mogens Larsen Stenderup. (not pictured: Vanessa Almeida)

Vanessa Almeida (Sao Paulo, Brazil/ Detroit, MI) is a psychologist (UNIP), family therapist (Instituto Familiae), dancer and dance teacher. In Sao Paulo, Vanessa worked with homeless adults in a pioneer project that offered classes in different areas as well as art education and conversation groups. Later, she worked for the City of Sao Paulo, supervising projects not just focused on homeless, but for kids and youth on after school care programs. She was also part of the team that implemented and managed government Conditional Cash Transfer Program in the City of Sao Paulo (Renda Minima). She relocated to Detroit and is currently performing with Detroit based dance companies and teaching samba. Vanessa is a graduate of the Institute’s Social Therapeutics Online Certificate Program.

 

Art Assoiants (Toronto, Canada) is receiving his B.A. in Psychology at York University with honors. He is a certified life coach, fighting to empower and engage young males in his community. He is also a program worker at the Learning Disabilities Association of Toronto District, creating a developmental environment for becoming. For him, the practical-active, philosophically oriented movement facilitated by the East Side Institute reverberates the most –the practice of method is a lifestyle towards which he feels a strong connection. Being part of the International Class gives him the process-based psycho-philosophical foundation with which he can spur the creation of a developmental community in Toronto and beyond.

 

Eliane Barbosa da Conceicão (Sao Paolo, Brazil) has a Ph.D. in Management and Public Policy. Eliane has researched children and young adults from low-income families showing that formal education is not enough to help them to find new life paths. She is currently working as a researcher at the Research Center on Public Administration and Government of Getulio Vargas Foundation, a professor at Mackenzie University, and as a consultant for Intel American Development Bank. At the bank, she is responsible for designing a policy targeting the economic and social development of black people in the municipality.

 

Diane Buscemi (New York, NY) is an ESL teacher and activist with more than 30 years of working and community organizing experience. After graduating from the Bank Street College of Education and getting a TESOL certificate at the University of California at Berkeley, Diane worked as a lecturer and instructor at several universities including Columbia University and CUNY. After working abroad in Korea and Japan and building the development community for many years, she has come to understand the international nature of life in the 21st Century and the influence of the US. Buscemi is interested in gaining more insight into the philosophical underpinnings of Newman/Holzman’s social therapeutic approach, and will incorporate her experiences into her teaching and organizing.

 

 

Todd Cowdery (Brooklyn, NY) facilitates change. As an MD practicing for 20 years he’s helped individuals make personal changes. Todd received an M.S. in Public Health and has helped communities develop and implement health-planning changes. Drawn by his perception of the transformative power of playfulness and presence, he has been expanding his experience and knowledge of theatre and improvisation for the past 14 years. Applying science and pragmatism balanced with the principles of theatre — Todd trains, facilitates, and consults with individuals, groups and multi-national companies who want to escape “the box.”

 

Jim Martinez (Jersey City, NJ) has a Ph.D. in Urban Education from the CUNY Graduate Center in 2009. He is working as an assistant professor of Instructional Technology at the New York Institute of Technology. Jim is a long time supporter of the East Side Institute and the All Stars Project. He has recently engaged in service learning partnerships between the university and public schools and over the next 12 months he expects to launch a service learning and research initiative with public schools in Queens, New York City and graduate and undergraduate student at his university. Jim is hoping to deepen his understanding of the methodological approaches used by the Institute from a researcher/educator/activist perspective and receive support for shaping his research project and developing manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals. He is also looking forward to the opportunity of broadening his professional network and creating opportunities for international collaborations.

 

Antonela Millotte (Brussels, Belgium) She received an M.A. in European Integration and International Relations in her home country of Romania. She also attended other Executive Master programs, one in Business Administration (EMBA) and one in European Politics and Communications (IHECS – Brussels, Belgium). Since 2007, Antonela has freelanced as a management consultant, European expert and certified trainer. She believes that innovation in education and the creativity of social therapeutic approaches can better help people break out of their own limitations.

 

Marija Nikolic (Belgrade, Serbia) is interested in finding new ways to make a better balance between her work and her intention to contribute to her community. She received her B.A. in Education and now works as a program officer at World Learning Inc. Fascinated by human nature and psychology, Marija thinks that social therapeutics may be a good way for her to do more for her students, who struggle with the socially predetermined roles of Serbian society.

 

Milena Otasevic (Belgrade, Serbia) received a B.A. in English Language and Literature at the University of Belgrade in 2009. She believes that social therapy and performance oriented programs at the Institute, such as The International Class provide a good tool for evidence-based social intervention in any community throughout the world. Milena is interested in learning more about the application of methods and skills in education and community-based programs that she can use in her professional work, academic goals and volunteer work on gender and minority issues (Roma and LGBTQI) in Serbia.

 

Mogens Larsen Stenderup (Aalborg Denmark) is an assistant professor at University of Northern Denmark and the head of the Department at the Talent Academy for Visual Arts, Municipality of Aalborg. Mogens believes that listening as a position of creating developmental designs is very important – and one of the tools he is developing with his students. In the International Class, he wants to explore more the plasticity of identity, the challenges of building developmental groups, and how one can work with social change through performative methods, and teach art-based approaches.

 

Ana Caroline Toffanelli (Maringá, Brasil) is in the process of obtaining her Ph.D in Psychology/ Educational Processes and Social Practices at the Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Brasil. She dreams of theater and psychology being combined to achieve social transformation and perform gender, and is especially interested in Vygotsky’s discoveries. Carol is excited to bring what she learns in the International Class, particularly Marxist psychology, to the teachers in Maringá.

 

Muhammad Ali Zaidi (Lahore, Pakistan) finished his M.A. at the University of the Punjab in Sociology, and a joint M.A. in International Migration & Social Cohesion at University of Amsterdam, University of Deusto & University of Osnabrück, Germany. Ali is currently a volunteer at Mother Teresa and an orphanage in Pakistan. As a member of the Human Rights Commission in Pakistan (HRCP) and Consultant at Misereor (a German INGO) his working experiences are within a broad field but have a focus on Human Rights & Community Development. Discrimination and intolerance in society compelled him to join HRCP – so he can contribute actively for peace and tolerance.

 

Meet the International Class 2013-14…

Left to right: Jelena Aleksic, Ksenija Milic, Sarah Weiler, Lois Holzman, Pauline Warinaar, Helen Abel, Lea Cikos, Shaheen Akter, Nilton Mendes, Elena Boukouvala, Teresa Cavanaugh

Helen Abel (USA) has retired from her position as social worker at Alameda County Behavioral Health Care in outpatient mental health, day rehabilitation and casework. She is currently a social therapist and life coach at the West Coast Center for Social Therapy & Life Performance Coaching in San Francisco, and the outreach coordinator at All Stars Project in Oakland, California.

Shaheen Akter (Bangladesh) was a grassroots qualitative and quantitative researcher, and taught developmental psychology at the university level for nine years. She is currently a research fellow and faculty member at the Institute of Educational Development , BRAC University, where she facilitates courses, student activities, research, and group work. Shaheen wants to bring performance activities and social change to capacity building of administrators, supervisors, managers, trainers and teachers in the primary and elementary education.

Jelena Aleksic (Serbia) is currently a journalist for KulturKokoška an online Serbian newspaper and a performer’s assistant at ’STARA KAPETANIJA’’. During her personal experiences with transactional analysis and psychodrama she felt her freedom limited — and as an artist, her creativity constrained. In her search for new ways of doing therapy she found social therapy to create a space for development and progressive changes.

Elena Boukavala (UK) has worked in a variety of settings as a psychotherapist and drama therapist in schools, hospitals, mental health and rehabilitation wards, youth centres, refugee camps, community settings including LOGOS Rehabilitation Centre for people with history of addictions in Thessaloniki, Greece. She is currently a playworker with young people with disabilities at Westminster Society for People with Learning Disabilities. She also co-facilitates a project supporting people who work with children with autism in a Saharan refugee camp.

Teresa Cavanaugh (Canada) comes from a family with a long history of public service and volunteer work. They founded the Prince George Sexual Assault Centre (PGSAC), an organization for counselling and support of victims of childhood sexual abuse and rape, where Teresa volunteered as a group facilitator, computer services provider, and instructor for 13 years. She has trained with David Diamond and Headlines Theatre Company and is currently assistant director at Street Spirits Theatre Company, a youth driven social action theatre group which is therapeutic for all involved – actors and audience.

Lea Cikos (Serbia) is currently an executive board member, trainer, facilitator, programs coordinator, international exchange coordinator, volunteer and activist, Volunteers’ Centre of Vojvodina, Novi Sad. In 2004, her and a small group of friends developed an organization with the main focus on developing volunteerism in Serbia. She is currently pursuing an M.A. in Environmental Protection at the University of Novi Sad.

Nilton Mendes (Brazil) is an educator and educational researcher influenced by the ideas of Lev Vygotsky. He has been a grade school English teacher for 17 years, and has innovated his classroom teaching and testing using performance and improvisation activities.

Ksenija Milic (Serbia) is currently an education and development officer at Junior Achievement Serbia where she works with both elementary and high schools coordinating schools from all around the Serbia. At 19, she joined a volunteer service in Serbia which enabled her to travel to other countries and work on a myriad of community projects.

Pauline Warinaar (Netherlands) teaches academic writing, professional writing and drama to students at the academy for Social work, The Hague University College. Next year she will also be teaching Dutch language arts and literacy, a program for students who are no at the desired literacy level.

Sarah Weiler (Brazil) is the head teacher at Stance Dual Bilingual School where she works to develop a school-wide curriculum utilizing activity theory in order to face twenty-first century challenges. She has previous experience working as an Americorps volunteer in a youth development office.

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Meet the International Class 2012-13…

Back: Jaime Guiterrez Velez, Chris Reyman, Carrie Sackett, Ricardo Pinheiro, Nomsa Mazwai, Qazi Rahman, Jorge Burciaga-Montoya, Ana Iddings
Front: Bharati Bakshi, Ranjana Sengupta, Paola Lopez, Regiane Sbroion de Carvalho, Barbara Silverman, Carol Gorelick

Jorge Burciaga-Montoya helps to build the Fred Newman Social Therapy Center in Juarez, Mexico. He is participating in the International Class to deepen his ability to bring social therapy into new personal and professional spaces. Jorge holds an MEd from the Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez where he teaches education. He is also the State Coordinator for the Centro de Asesoria y Promocion Juvenil (CASA).

Ana Christina DaSilva Iddings is an Associate Professor at the University of Arizona, Tucson, and researches English language learning for young immigrant children. She also trains teachers and is interested in the development of alternatives to mainstream and traditional models of teaching and building community—specifically, alternatives that relate to people of all ages as social performers and agents of what they and their communities are becoming.

Carol Gorelick received her EdD from George Washington University after a 25-year corporate career and raising a family. She is the co-founder of ABC Connects, a non-profit school partnership between South African and Detroit, Michigan elementary schools. Carol is particularly interested in early childhood development and play.

Jaime Guitierrez Velez hails from Bogota, Columbia, but has studied in Belgium and the United Kingdom since 2001. He holds an MA in Social Anthropology from Brunel University in the UK and is currently pursuing a PhD in Performance Studies at the University of Roehampton where his thesis is “Narratives of Memory, Body and Identity: El Colegio del Cuerpo’s dance theater, Cartagena de Indias”.

Ricardo Lana Pinheiro is a researcher of social networks in the Brazilian health system who is looking to broaden his practice as a psychologist. He has translated Lois Holzman’s work into Portuguese and is eager to connect further with the Institute and its practice and method of building community. Ricardo is about to complete his MA in Psychology at the Universidade de Sao Paolo.

Nomsa Mazwai hails from Gauteng, South Africa where she is the Country Director of ABC Connects, a non-profit school partnership between South African and Detroit, Michigan elementary schools. A Fulbright scholar with an MA in International Political Economy and Development from Fordham University, Nomsa sought out the Institute in her search for alternative approaches to addressing local challenges through community.

Sandra Paola Lopez grew up in Colombia and is currently pursuing her MA in Aesthetic Education at the University of Illinois. Two years ago she attended the IDEA World Conference in Brazil where she got introduced to Newman and Holzman’s work. Sandra sees dance improvisation as a tool for social transformation and in her work has discovered a collective awareness and creativity that emerges out of the group.

Qazi Abdur Rahman is the Principal of ERA International School in Dhaka, Bangladesh, which he founded in 2003. With over 20 years in the field of education, Qazi went out on his own with the idea of creating the best educational and community environment for his students. Qazi considers finding and reading Vygotsky at Work and Play by Institute director Lois Holzman to be a definitive moment. Through participating in the International Class, he envisages new, growthful possibilities for himself and colleagues. He holds an MEd from Dhaka University.

Christopher Reyman coaches jazz ensembles and teaches improvisation, composition and music theory in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, where he earned an MM and a DMA in Music. He recently had his first collaborative improvisation experience between musicians and dancers. Christopher regards collaboration and play as essential activities for personal growth and necessary for human development. He is particularly interested to bring new approaches into the education system.

Carrie Sackett is a community organizer who has spent over 20 years building projects inspired by the human development discoveries of Fred Newman and Lois Holzman. She currently serves as Executive Director of Boys’ & Girls’ Towns of Italy, an international youth development program that empowers war refugee, migrant and at-risk youth. Carrie has lived in Italy and Namibia and resides in New York. She holds an MA in Strategic Communications from Columbia University.

Regiane Sbroion de Carvalho is pursuing her PhD in Psychology at the Universidade de Sao Paolo, Brazil, teaches at Centro Universitário UNIFAFIBE and volunteers at Rural Settlement Mario Lago. Assigned Newman and Holzman’s Lev Vygotsky: Revolutionary Scientist by her doctorate advisor, Regaine sees social therapy as a way to bring together science, psychology and politics in her studies and practice of empowering rural landless children.

Barbara Silverman is a pioneer social therapy practitioner with over 30 years experience building groups and developmental environments. She is nationally recognized for her work with teenagers and has created an array of innovative programs for community-based agencies, mental health centers and schools. She currently leads the Global Therapy Group and is on the faculty of the East Side Institute.

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Meet the International Class 2011-12…

From left to right: Andrew Burton, Jocelia Karlina De Daniel Salu, Sanjay Kumar, Jody Boston, David Belmont, Kim Svoboda

David Belmont (NYC) has been active in building the development community in New York City since 1979. He is currently director of research for IndependentVoting.Org; co-chair of the Castillo Theatre’s music department, and on the faculty of the East Side Institute. David studied philosophy at the University of Chicago before dropping out at age 18 to be a full-time musician (hippie).

Jody Boston (Canada) is an artist and a teacher in Hamilton, Ontario.. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Toronto: areas of concentration –theatre and drama studies, professional writing/ communications, English. Currently she is artist in residence with Under the Willows, a program for children who have experienced abuse, trauma, neglect and deprivation (founded by Ruth Pickering). Jody attended PTW 2010.

Andrew Burton (Canada) is a prevention coordinator with BC Northern Heath in Prince George, British Columbia. He holds a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Manitoba and a Masters of Education from Simon Fraser University; concentration in fine arts education. His work with young people and theatre led to the development of the Street Spirits theatre program. Street Spirits members take part in a process creating original plays that address issues in the world. Andrew and Street Spirits are regular PTW presenters. Andrew completed the Social Therapeutics Online program in 2011.

Jocelia Karlina De Daniel Salu (Mozambique/NYC) has a Masters of Arts in clinical psychology from Columbia University Teachers College, and Bachelor of Arts degree in clinical psychology from Richmond, the American International University in London. In 2009 Karlina worked as a teachers assistant at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and, later, interned at the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs, Maputo, Mozambiuque. Karlina interned with the Social Therapy Group/East Side Institute this past year.

Sanjay Kumar (India) is the founding president/artistic director/chief facilitator of Pandies’ Theatre, a New Delhi theatre of children, women, slum-dwellers, and the homeless. He holds a Masters of Philosophy from the University of Delhi (concentration, English/Theatre), where he is currently a professor of English at Hans Raj College, University of Delhi.

Ziaul Hague Sumon (Bangladesh) is a senior career counselor at the Career Development Center (CDC) at Daffodil International University in Dhaka, Bangladesh. In 2008 Ziaul received a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in marketing from Daffodil International University. He is Syed Rahman’s “right-hand man” and managed our schedule in Bangladesh.

Kim Svoboda (NYC) is an artist, organizer and producer who has been active in the development community in New York City since the mid-1980s. For the last 22 years, Kim worked as a personal assistant to Fred Newman, the founder of social therapy. She has a Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin, concentration in fine arts.

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Meet the International Class 2010-11…

Back Row: Arnob Chakraborty, Milovan Savic, Bojan Drmonjic
Middle Row: Tamara Nikolic Maksic , Tamara Borovica, Lois Holzman, Safida Begum, Uzma Hameed
Front Row: Rebecca Nerima, Raquell Holmes

As the first woman to attend and graduate college from the Hunza, Gojal area of northern Pakistan, Safida Begum has spent the last 20 years breaking through the barriers of traditional beliefs and male-dominated cultural practices, sometimes at great personal cost. Despite these difficulties, she has educated herself and her children, and created successful educational programs for people in the Gilgit-Baltistan area of Pakistan and Badakhshan, Afghanistan. In addition to creating a school improvement program and initiating an Early Childhood Education program for children ages 3 to 6 years, Safida has emerged as a key figure in developing the local capacity of teachers, school leaders and the Government Education Department in Pakistan and Afghanistan. She received a Master’s degree at the Professional Development Center North (AKU- PDCN) and Mountain Institute for Educational Development (MIED) in Islamabad, Pakistan. Safida has also been an international visiting scholar at the University of Kansas and American University.

As one of the first students to participate in youth development and leadership studies in the post-conflict Balkans, Tamara Borovica has worked as a youth and community worker in Novi Sad, Serbia for the last decade. In addition to participating in the development of a number of local, national and international youth initiatives, Tamara is on the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Novi Sad, teaching courses on educational pedagogy and didactics. She received her B.A. and M.A. in Education, and is currently working on her Ph.D. from the same university.

As a young postgraduate student working with communities in the Indian state of West Bengal, Arnab Chakraborty saw firsthand how women living in these communities were disproportionately affected by the extreme poverty under which they and their families lived. In response, he began organizing women into self-managed and self-governed collectives, which help members create a vision, explore the realities in which they live, and supports them to work together to change their conditions and rediscover hope. Arnab continues this effort sixteen years later as Programme Director with PRADAN, one of India’s most respected NGOs. He received his Masters in Agricultural Economics from G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology in India.

Currently the primary coordinator of the Centre for Drug Abuse Prevention (EMPRONA) in Novi Sad, Serbia, Bojan Drmonjic is a psychologist with experience as a trainer in several areas, including drug abuse prevention, assertive communication, group facilitation, health care and conflict resolution. While a student at the University of Novi Sad, where he received his Masters degree, Bojan participated in several programs around Europe dedicated to improving intercultural dialogue.

Currently a community education program manager in District Abbottabad, Uzma Hameed is an education professional who has developed and led a number of projects in Pakistan over the last seven years. Previously Uzma served as principal with the Al Muslim Education Network, teacher at a city school in Kasur, education coordinator with SOS (Sutlej Resource Center), and education coordinator of Community Uplift Program Pakistan (a national development organization in District Mansehra). Uzma has a M.A. in English Literature, a graduate degree in education planning and management and postgraduate diplomas in teaching English as a Foreign Language, project management, human resource management and computer science.

Raquell Holmes is a biologist currently working at the Center for Cell Analysis and Modeling at the University of Connecticut Health Center, where she leads education, outreach and training efforts in computational biology and interdisciplinary training in biology education. Her innovative approach uses performance and improvisation to help scientists grow and creatively develop new skills, ideas and practices that change, challenge and incorporate traditional research practice models. Raquell received her Ph.D. in Cell, Molecular, Developmental Biology from Tufts Sackler School of Biomedical Sciences in Boston, and has done postgraduate studies at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.

As an educator, trainer and researcher, Tamara Nikolić Maksić is interested in better understanding how people relate to themselves and others and exploring new approaches to learning for change and development. She lives and works in Belgrade, Serbia, where she is a teaching assistant at the Department for Pedagogy and Andragogy (Adult Education) at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade. Tamara completed her undergraduate studies in Andragogy and has a master degree in both Andragogy (Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade) and Human Relations (School of Education, University of Nottingham). Her work involves adult education and learning related to leisure, communication and media and, most recently, online learning.

Over the last seven years, Rebecca Nerima has been tireless in her efforts to educate, empower and advocate on behalf of Uganda’s most marginalized populations, including young people, commercial sex workers, women and people affected by and infected with HIV/AIDS. As a project officer for HIV/AIDS with the African Medical and Research Foundation, she is responsible for community education and training in HIV/AIDS. Becky has also pioneered a community advocacy group for people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, trained a national community of women living with HIV/AIDS in human rights advocacy, and volunteered with UNICEF/Rural Voices of Youth, where she mobilized and trained young people in some of the most rural areas of Uganda. She received her B.A. in Social Sciences from Makerere University in Kampala.

A professional youth worker and international trainer from Novi Sad, Serbia, Milovan Savic’s interest in different cultures and intercultural learning led him to live and volunteer in Sweden for a year as part of the European Voluntary Service program. Milovan is program coordinator for the Volunteers Center of Vojvodina (VCV), a peace organization that provides young people with volunteer opportunities in Serbia and around the world. VCV believes that volunteering is a fun way to meet new people, do something good, have new experiences and, in so doing, to learn and develop. Milovan has a joint B.S in Community Youth Work from Alpha University, Serbia and Jönköping University, Sweden.

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The International Class 2009-10

Back Row: Rick Kotowich and Murilo Moscheta, Middle Row: Sarra Hassan Ali and Saliha BavaFront Row: Babafemi Babatope, Lois Holzman, Hellen Nuwagaba, Ahmad Saeed Khan, Livia Daza-Paris

Sarra Hassan Ali is a public health physician from Sudan interested in advancing the health and human rights of marginalized peoples. Her drive to work with vulnerable communities stems from her experiences in conflict and post-conflict regions such as South Sudan and Darfur, where she was exposed to the legacy of war, the trauma that lingers, and the unique challenges facing these communities.

Toward this end, Sarra served as senior program officer at the Sudan IDS Association and program officer at the Blue Nile Health Project in Sudan, and program consultant at the NH Minority Health Coalition in New Hampshire. As a member of the Sisterhood for Peace strategic group, Sarra participates in organizing events to raise awareness about the crisis in Darfur. She also assists in building capacity for community leaders and grassroots organizations working to promote peace and human rights in Sudan. Sarra earned her Masters in International Health Policy and Management from the Heller School for Social Policy at Brandeis University.

Babafemi Babatope began his career as a lecturer in 1995, teaching in Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, Ondo State, Nigeria. He left for the Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos, in 2004 where he has been lecturing in the Department of Theatre Arts and Music ever since. He has attended many academic conferences and workshops within and outside Africa and published in academic journals. In addition to teaching and scholarly work, Babafemi has directed several plays, written a few, and acted on stage and screen.

Saliha Bava is interested in the performance of (complex) relationships among people, the systems we create, and the construction of our social lives and realities. As a social “actor” (“scientist”) she combines interdisciplinary ideas and methodologies to reflect, design and perform processes for transformational relational processes. She embraces living as processes of improvised inquiry. Originally from India, she is becoming a New Yorker after relocating from Houston for a sabbatical. Saliha is a consultant and designer of performative and dialogic processes within human systems—organizational, family/community, learning and research systems. She also performs as a couples and family therapist and coach for generative professional and personal relationships. Over the last seven years she has consulted on disaster preparedness and response to organizations in profit, non-profit and governmental sectors. She received a leadership award from the City of Houston’s Disaster Mental Health Crises Response Team for directing the Mental Health Services at the George R. Brown Katrina Shelter in 2005. She is one of 12 US trainers in the National Child Traumatic Stress Network on Psychological First Aid. Formerly the associate director of Houston Galveston Institute, Saliha is currently a researcher and consultant to the International Trauma Studies Program affiliated with Columbia University where she is researching the use of theater for community resiliency and psychosocial intervention among refugees of political violence. She is also an adjunct faculty member at Yeshiva University in NYC, an online faculty member at Massey University in New Zealand, and doctoral advisor at the Taos-Tilburg Social Sciences Program, Netherlands. Saliha received her PhD in Human Development with specialization in Marriage and Family Therapy from Virginia Tech.

Ahmad Saeed Khan started his professional career in the development sector while studying for a Masters of Public Administration at Punjab University Lahore in 2001. For the past seven years he has been engaged in Pakistan with leading development sector organizations, including USAID, CIDA, UNDP, the Ministry of Social Welfare and other national institutions. His work has involved event management, design and implementation of training programs, research studies, strategic management and policy making. Ahmad is also actively involved in forming community organizations at the grass roots level mostly in rural and disadvantaged communities through providing trainings on social activism, community empowerment, participatory management, human rights and gender mainstreaming in nation-building. He is a published author on the topics of democracy, peace, good governance, social inclusion, migration, minority rights, and development. Ahmad has been awarded scholarships from leading educational institutions, including EC, Austrian Ministry of Education, University of Espana, OSI, University of Helsinki, and Council of Europe. He is currently enrolled in a Joint European Master in Comparative Local Development with University of Trento (Italy), University of Regensburg (Germany), Corvinus University, (Budapest) and University of Ljubljana (Slovenia).

Rick Kotowich has lived most of his life in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. He holds a Bachelor of Administration degree from the University of Regina. Throughout his career, Rick has served as a community educator and community developer in First Nations and Metis communities in rural, reserve and urban settings; he has worked in various roles including youth recreation organizer, small business education instructor, program developer, inner-city community school coordinator, public health aboriginal community development coordinator, aboriginal health project manager, and indigenous consultant on social and cultural matters. , and a program developer. For the past five years, Rick has been a member for the National Aboriginal Council on HIV/AIDS (NACHA) and served as co-chair of the Metis Caucus that advises federal government departments on effective responses to the epidemic. Rick’s commitment to community development also extends to his community volunteer interests; presently he chairs the board of Common Weal Community Arts Inc., a provincial community arts organization that connects artists and communities for social change, and he serves on a steering committee for Creative Kids, an emerging charitable organization designed to help poor and marginalized children and youth advance in creative and artistic development. Rick is married to Patricia Erhardt, and together they parent four offspring who are themselves involved and growing in academics, music, dance, and community life.

Murilo Moscheta started his career as a clinical psychologist in Brazil. He has worked in a variety of institutional contexts, mostly with groups of people concerned with health issues such as breast cancer, anorexia and bulimia, diabetes and aging. As an educator he has taught undergraduate psychology courses and supervised practica. Murilo received his masters degree in psychology from the University of São Paulo – Brazil and is now working on his PhD with a fellowship from the University of New Hampshire. A founder of VIDEVERSO, a group that researches innovative ways of working for the development of GLBTs communities, he works in collaboration with a health care team in Brazil to develop a more effective health assistance to GLBT patients. Murilo is interested in qualitative research methods, community development, social constructionism, GLBT issues, music and arts.

Hellen Nuwagaba is a social worker and the project coordinator of the International Power Center Children and Youth Ministry, a non-governmental organization that aids orphaned and disabled children and youth in Kampala, Uganda. She has collaboratively written proposals seeking funds for the project’s construction and educational needs. She encourages play, music, drama and arts and crafts and teaches introduction to computers class to the youth. hence her interest in attending the developmental approach to child development and social therapy for more advancement in her field of work with the organisation.

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The International Class 2008-9

From the left: Prativa Sengupta, Lisa Dombrow, Esben Wilstrup, Simon DeAbreu, Armida (Midz) Aligada, Dikeledi (Maggie) Moremi, Celiane Camargo Borges, Peter Nsubuga

Armida (Midz) Aligada is from Quezon City, the Philippines and has a bachelor’s degree in Social Work from Centro Escolar University. For six years, Midz worked in a shelter for women and children sexually exploited in the trafficking industry. She is now in the US and plans to attend graduate school. Midz currently volunteers at the All Stars Project.

Celiane Camargo-Borges is a researcher and psychologist with a Ph.D. in Public Health. Celiane worked with communities and groups on issues of health care using social constructionism as a theoretical background. A native of Brazil, Celiane has experience working in the country’s national health care program. She is currently teaching classes in qualitative research at the Yan Ming University in Taipei, Taiwan where she was recently relocated. She also volunteers at a center for expatriates and their families in Taipei.

Simon DeAbreu is the founder and artistic director of the TLC (Theatre of Liberation Community Project) in Ontario, Canada. The TLC Project uses arts-based activities to help children and teenagers ages 7-17 develop a greater knowledge of themselves and a larger understanding of their environment locally and globally. Simon received a bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications, Theatre and Film from McMaster University and a master’s degree in Theatre Studies from York University.

Lisa Dombrow, a native New Yorker, has worked in the field of education for over twenty years. She was a nursery school and kindergarten teacher before moving into informal education, eventually becoming the coordinator of the Discovery Room, a hands-on science learning environment for all ages at the American Museum of Natural History. Today she continues her work in the Discovery Room while also serving as a development specialist for The Learning Stage. She has an undergraduate degree in psychology and masters in early childhood and elementary education from Bank Street College. Lisa loves to play and is excited about playing and learning with The International Class.

Dikeledi (Maggie) Moremi is a research psychologist and lecturer in the Department of Psychology (Medunsa Campus) at the University of Limpopo in Pretoria, South Africa. She currently works with a project called Children on the Move, an organization providing care for children orphaned by parents with HIV/AIDS and their caretakers and guardians. The project utilizes improvisational activities to develop a supportive environment with children and empower caretakers and guardians overwhelmed by childcare challenges.

Peter Nsubuga is a community worker in Kampala, Uganda. A trained accountant, Peter switched professions to respond to the need for help in communities suffering from disease, extreme poverty, and lack of clean water. Peter founded Hope for Youth, an organization that provides food, clothing and education for 120 children. He is looking to his experiences with The International Class to help him develop tools necessary to provide emotional support services to children as well.

Prativa Sengupta is chief psychologist and coordinator of SEVAC (Sane and Enthusiastic Volunteers Association in Calcutta), a mental health and human rights resource center and NGO in Calcutta (Kolkata), India. SEVAC recognizes the violation of human rights of people suffering from mental illness, and provides psychiatric, occupational, mental health education, outreach and human rights advocacy services. Prativa is one of only 3,500 mental health professionals for the 1.13 billion people in India. She practiced as a clinical psychologist before ending her private practice to join SEVAC. Prativa has a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Kolkata.

Esben Wilstrup is a postgraduate student of psychology at the University of Aarhus in Denmark. He is committed to figuring out the best way to facilitate profound learning and change on individual, group, and organizational levels. His experiences as a leisure-time teacher and as a facilitator of role playing games has made him a firm believer in the learning potential of play and performance. Esben studied educational psychology at the University of Aarhus (where he earned his bachelors in psychology) and at the University of Technology, in Sydney, Australia. He sees The International Class as an opportunity to become part of a community of learners who both discuss and theorize about learning and education and see social action as an inherent part of being an educator and a human being.

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The International Class 2007-8

Top Row: Svetlana Kijevcanin, Milena Lazic, Joe Spirito, Miguel Cortes Middle Row: Shoaib Iqbal, Ishita Sanyal, Kim Sabo, Jane Connor, Ignacio Dalton, Lupe Barahona Bottom Row: Itzel González, Emina Dervisevic, Lois Holzman, Radmila Zivanovic

Ana Guadalupe Barahona (El Salvador)

Jane Connor is Bartle Associate Professor of Human Development in the College of Community and Public Affairs, Binghamton University, New York. Her current teaching and scholarly interests include multicultural psychology, playback theatre, and compassionate communication (also known as nonviolent communication) — a process that supports better connections and understanding among people to meet the needs of all. She received an award from the NAACP in 2002 and the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2003. Jane is co-author of Connecting Across Differences: A Guide to Compassionate Nonviolent Communication. She attended several Performing the World conferences, where she became intrigued by the Institute’s work. “I am excited about exploring and developing ways in which performance and improvisation can support the sharing of nonviolent communication in under-served communities.”

Ignacio Dalton, from Buenos Aires, Argentina, works at the Universidad del Salvador, Secretaria de Investigaciones Educativas (Division of Research), Instituto de Capacitación Continua. With a Master’s degree in education and a specialization in clinical psychology for children, Ignacio is a member of several professional associations concerned with early childhood literacy and has researched the relationship between language learning, literacy and play. He is a member of the International Reading Association from which he received a research grant in 1993. He was attracted by the opportunities offered by The International Class to work with other professionals to “develop new understandings about the impact of culture on social, moral, and cognitive developmemt with a focus on Vygotskian theory.”

Emina Dervisevic– a citizen of the Balkans — was born in Croatia, moved to Serbia as a child, and for the last 20 years has lived in the capital city of Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Living in a post-war, nationalistically divided Balkans, Emina was drawn to postgraduate studies in human rights and democracy. After earning a Master’s degree in psychology, she worked in several mental health settings, including programs for women survivors of domestic violence. She currently works in Sarajevo as an evaluator for a mental health service and as a research assistant at a psychiatric clinic. Her greatest motivation for joining The International Class has come from her interest in challenging traditional models of psychology and psychotherapy and in sharing experiences with people coming from different backgrounds and cultures.

Kim Sabo Flores is an evaluation consultant and leader in the emerging field of youth participatory evaluation. With an undergraduate background in developmental psychology and philosophy, Kim received her Ph.D. in environmental psychology from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. As a consultant, she introduces adults and young people, their programs and their communities to the empowering impact of creative and sustained participation, reflection and evaluation. She has worked with numerous foundations to help build their evaluation capacities, supporting them to measure their “community” impacts and progress toward achieving their missions. Her approach – informed by a study of developmentalist, Lev Vygotsky – highlights the performatory nature of participatory evaluation and the contribution of performance to human learning and development. A founder and principal of the New York City-based Kim Sabo Consulting, Kim generates collaborative projects that educate program staff and funders about ways that participatory evaluation can help to build organizational capacity. She is the author of numerous articles on participatory evaluation and the author of the recently published, Youth Participatory Evaluaion: Creative Strategies for Involving Young People in Evaluation.

Diana Itzel González comes to The International Class from Ciudad Juárez in the State of Chihuahua México where she works with CASA Promoción Juvenil, a nonprofit organization that supports the leadership and development of young people in marginal communities. As a community organizer with CASA, she heads the Young Women’ s Program, which hosts self-help groups and community intervention to prevent acts of violence against women. Diana also participates in Mesa de Mujeres, a network of NGOs that lobbies and advocates on behalf of the rights of women. She holds a B.S. in psychology and has completed post-graduate studies in gender studies, sexuality and human rights. As a social activist she is interested in learning social therapeutic methodology to support her work as an innovator in building community.

Shoaib Iqbal is an arts educator from Lahore, Pakistan. He began his involvement with community theatre in 1986. He studied with Pakistan’s independent and volunteer political theatre group, Punjab Lok Rahs, while completing his degree in computer science. Intrigued by acting and performance, Shoaib gradually developed a passion for “pro-people art” and theatre education–“grabbing hold of theatre for the rest of my life.” He has come to believe that art and art education is important to social cohesion and vital to shaping the lives of ordinary people. Recently, Shoaib completed a fellowship at The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. He enters The International Class with an interest in complex models for arts education and progressive theatre.

Svetlana Kijevcanin joins The International Class from Belgrade, Serbia. With a Master’s degree in psychology, she is the co-founder of one of the first NGOs in Serbia. Through this work, she helped create and implement programs in constructive communication and conflict transformation. She has been a peace trainer for years and has conducted hundreds of trainings for many groups. In recent years, she has played a managerial role in several international NGOs. Svetlana has traveled extensively in the Balkans, Europe, and North America but always returned to Serbia…“no matter how difficult it was.” Svetlana has developed a global network through her travels and looks forward to expanding her circle of friends and colleagues in The International Class.

Milena Lazic is a psychotherapist from Belgrade, Serbia. She completed her undergraduate studies in psychology and personal construct psychotherapy at Belgrade University and is now pursuing a postgraduate program in Gestalt psychotherapy at the Gestalt Studio. Since 2001, she has worked as a trainer with young people and adults, teaching basic communications skills, active listening, conflict resolution and team-building. She also volunteers with a kindergarten program that supports the emotional development of young children. Milena was greatly impacted by the discoveries of Lev Vygotsky – and was especially intrigued by his concepts of lifelong development through joint activity and the zone of proximal development. She thinks that The International Class may help to bridge her professional interests as a psychotherapist and trainer. “It’s an opportunity to explore new psychologies and methodologies, create new insights, question traditional notions and then pose new questions all over again.”

Ishita Sanyal is a psychologist in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, where she makes her living working part-time as a psychotherapist and corporate consultant. Ishita is founder and secretary of Turning Point, an NGO whose mission is to rehabilitate victims of mental illness and fight stigma. She is also director of Disha, a child guidance and care center. In both contexts, she incorporates creative play and performance as an approach that inspires confidence and joy, as well as allowing participants to transform who and how they are. Ishita is a regular advice columnist for newspapers in Calcutta and has written books and chapters on mental illness. In 2003, she received the David Feinsilver Award for her research work on family empowerment and, in 2007, the Manthan Award. Ishita hopes that The International Class will enable students to share experience and become more able “to create a new world free from agonies.”

Joe Spirito (USA)

Miguel E. Cortés Vazquez lives in Ciudad Juarez in the State of Chihuahua, Mexico, near the US/Mexican border. As a doctoral student in experimental psychology at Washington State University, Miguel became deeply aware of his minority status and of how psychology’s core assumptions could not be addressed within the framework of cognitive psychology. He studied authors that questioned the premises of his course work and research – diving into critical psychology, socio-historical psychology, liberation psychology and Paulo Freire’sPedagogy of the Oppressed. After health concerns forced Miguel to return to Juarez, he eventually earned a Master’s degree in systemic family therapy, but then started his unofficial “postgraduate work” at a non-profit community group, CASA, working in one of Juarez’ most marginalized areas. This work inspired him to continue to develop and grow personally and professionally, which led him to The International Class. He is interested in exploring the impact of Lev Vygotsky on social therapy and in “revolutionizing” his work with young people. Miguel and his wife Mariana are the proud parents of Lila who is now 9 months old. Miguel plays percussion with the band, Cosas de Circo.

Radmila Zivanovic comes to The International Class from Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. She completed her undergraduate studies psychology, has a Master’s degree in communications, and completed a year of study in youth work. As a community psychologist and practitioner, she supports groups of young people in their personal and social development. She has worked as a project manager for community youth programs and as a drama workshop facilitator with young people – in both contexts, using art and performance as tools for social change. Radmila sees young people as responsible co-creators of their communities and, conversely, believes that communities are responsible for providing support to young people to grow as active citizens. She looks forward to learning and developing with her mentors and her colleagues in The International Class and in applying new practices in her community.

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The International Class 2006-7

Top Row: Ernesto Barahona, Halim Faisal, Loree Lawrence, Syed Mizanur Rahman, Dejan Dimitrov, Powpee Lee.
Bottom Row: Julie Vaudrin-Charette, Rebecca Widom, Lois Holzman, Synthia Borilekic.
Not Pictured: Diane Holliman, Pamela Ateka

Ernesto Barahona was born in El Salvador, and immigrated to the United States when he was seven. His family lived in a dangerous neighborhood in northeast Los Angeles, where his father was a fundamentalist preacher. Ernesto attended Occidental College on scholarship, and later received a B.A. from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. He worked for a short time as a fashion designer in L.A.’s garment industry, then left to enter the nonprofit sector. Ernesto joined the staff of St. John’s Well Child & Family Center, a network of free medical, dental and mental health clinics that provide services to over 70,000 patients a year who come from the poorest neighborhoods of LA. As its development director, he raises millions of dollars each year in grants and contracts, while also building a community fundraising committee. A community activist and organizer, Ernesto directs outreach and education for St. John’s and is director of the L.A. chapter of the All Stars Talent Show Network, a performance-based supplemental education program for young people.

Synthia Borilekic (Synthia Zbojilek)—Czechoslovakian, Spanish, Portuguese, and French Canadian—is a film director and writer based in Montreal. She is currently completing her graduate studies in drama therapy at Concordia University and works as director of business development for Voice Job, Inc. Synthia has worked as a drama and singing teacher and at numerous arts centers, community development organizations and youth organizations, including Carrefor Jeunesse Emploi, where she served as immigration counselor.Synthia’s latest project is Ça brime Sabrina, a short film on the theme of bullying that she wrote, directed and produced with a grouping of 27 Haitian, Central and South American drama students. Other collaborations with students includeAu Retour de l’Amour (about September 11th), and We Know Aliens. Synthia is currently writing her first documentary on the subject of freedom.

Dejan Dimitrov is from Glozan, a town in Vojvodina, Serbia. An activist and organizer, he works with the Roma Students Association, a 20-member grouping helping Roma (gypsy) and other marginalized people in Serbia lead more dignified lives. The Association has been effective in advancing the mainstreaming of Roma children into the public schools. Their practical assistance to Roma first-graders includes providing snacks, books and other materials that the children need for school. Dejan also contributes as facilitator, organizer and advisor to other social and educational inclusion-projects advocating on behalf of the Roma community. These include the League for the Decade of Roma; the Educational and Health Committees; the Roma School; and the “Happy Childhood” organization. All work to create public dialogue on inclusionary pre-school education policy. Recently, Dejan also served in the Roma Elderly Care Project and Roma Health Education Project.In his free time he likes going fishing!

Halim Faisal is a clinical social worker at the Odyssey Health Care and Home Care Hospice in Valdosta, Georgia. He came of age in New York City during the 1960s and was involved in a variety of counter-cultural experiences (social and political.) He left New York as a young man in his mid-20s. Presently, he works for a rural clinic, where he spends his days traveling from home to home meeting and interacting with people who are dying or are grieving the loss of a spouse, parent or friend. He also works with young people referred by the court system. “I am someone who works in the trenches, wherever I am,” says Halim. “I occasionally experience a connection with people who are so different from myself that I am able to see the world through their eyes. People who would have been strangers or enemies, or merely nondescript, teach me something I hadn’t expected to learn. They teach me what it means to be a human being, regardless of what my preconceptions may have been.“

Diane Holliman is an Associate Professor of Social Work at Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia. She completed her social work studies at the University of Georgia and her Ph.D. at the University of Alabama. A postmodern social worker, her research and teaching interests focus on social work and health care, hospice care, social work with the elderly, and social work policy/services in rural areas.

Loree Lawrence is an artist, educator and researcher whose work with community arts initiatives in Canada spans 20 years. Since being hired as the Theatre Director at KYTES (Kensington Youth Theatre and Employment Skills) in Toronto in 1995, she has worked primarily with homeless and street youth. Working in both Toronto and Vancouver, Loree organized “at-risk” young people to create collaborative multi-disciplinary performances combining theatre, video, music, movement and visual arts. In 2006, Loree completed her Masters degree in Arts Education, focusing her studies on the evaluation of community arts projects. Currently in Toronto, she is researching and developing The Junction Storefront Installation/Performance Project. She is the lead installation artist and the youth and evaluation consultant with the Jumblies Theatre, and has a developing consulting practice: Resonance Creative Consulting Partners.

Powpee Lee was born into a farming family in rural Taiwan. After graduating from college in 1991, where he was active in the student movement, Powpee became a community organizer – helping to build alliances among local trade union laborers and undocumented workers.Powpee served a compulsory two-year tour of duty in the Taiwan Army, then went back to his work in the labor movement, where he served as a labor education project organizer for the National Confederation of Trade Unions. In 1999, Powpee helped establish a community university for radical adult education, Lu-Di Community University. He has served as director of Lu-Di since 2002. Powpee received his Masters degree in psychology in 1995 and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Fu-Jen Catholic University,Taiwan.

Syed Mizanur Rahman is a youth worker and community theatre organizer from Bangladesh. He describes himself as someone who has come from poverty and, because of this, can relate to development / growth issues with an empathetic heart. For Syed, psychological poverty is a major contributor to financial poverty. While studying economics at Jahangirnagar University in Savar, Bangladesh, Syed developed a deep interest in theatre. Discovering the power of theatre to both entertain and motivate, he began to actively participate in theatre as an actor, director and producer. In addition to staging classics, he produced performances on drugs, tobacco, AIDS, and intolerance. Syed completed a second Masters in Drama (Direction) at Rabindra Bharati University, India and received a Diploma in film direction from the National Institute of Film and Fine Arts in India. Upon his return to Bangladesh, he joined an advertising firm as Executive Creative, and later Directorate of non-formal education for social mobilization. In 1999, Syed along with a grouping of dynamic young people, established the Theatre for Research Education and Empowerment (TREE) aiming to access the potential of theatre to teach and to empower audiences/participants.

Julie Vaudrin-Charette is a Montreal-based practitioner in Theater for Change. Over the last five years, she has led participatory drama and media workshops in Senegal, Peru and Malawi. She is particularly interested in exploring theatre as a language to build empathy and community, especially in communities affected by HIV / AIDS. Julie completed her masters degree in Communication at Universite du Quebec a Montreal. Her thesis focused on the use of clowning for health education. At home in Quebec, she is part of Vichama Collectif, a socially engaged multimedia art group. She is also working in the NGO sector as a communications specialist, integrating storytelling into development education. Julie’s areas of interest includes HIV/AIDS prevention and community supprt, intercultural communication and aboriginal issues. On a more personal note, Julie is a proud mother of baby Theo.

Rebecca Widom is a researcher, program evaluator, advocate and activist currently working on the Homelessness Outreach and Prevention Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York. In her work with the homeless, she advocates for improved access to public benefits. An innovator in finding new ways to use research for social change, Rebecca is involved in a number of research projects at the Urban Justice Center. Her research on the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Stamps Program has drawn attention from policy researchers across the country and has been cited in publications such as The New York Times. Rebecca earned her Masters degree in Sociology at the University of Arizona.

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The International Class 2005-6

Top Row: Kathleen Stauffer, Charlie Weinberg, Kitche Magak.
Bottom row: Betsi Pendry, Anna Gertruida Pistorius, Joan Mahon-Powell, Lois Holzman, Melina Lucila Baracco

Melina Lucila Baracco is a community psychologist from Rosario (Santa Fe) Argentina. She works at the Centro Unico de Donación, Abación e Implante de Organos (an organ donation center.) She volunteers with the Community Assistance Center at the Universidad Nacional De Rosario and with Volunteers Against AIDS. Melina completed her postgraduate studies in Clinical, Institutional and Community Psychology atUniversidad Nacional De Rosario.

Kitche Magak is a lecturer in Psychology at Maseno University in Kisumu, Kenya and a longtime community organizer and communications consultant in the area of reproductive rights. Kitche has a Masters in Literature from the University of Nairobi and a Diploma in Mass Communications from its School of Journalism. He is a published poet and short-story writer.

Joan Mahon-Powell is an educational consultant with 25 years experience in New York City public schools as a teacher, curriculum writer, staff developer, assistant principal, principal, community school district superintendent and local instructional superintendent.

Betsi Pendry is the founder and director of the Living Together Project in Johannesburg, South Africa, an organization dedicated to helping families and communities overcome the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS. Betsi completed her undergraduate studies in Dance and Psychology at Hampshire College and earned a Masters in Public Health from Columbia University. She is a graduate of the Institute’s therapist training program.

Anna Gertruida Pistorius is a licensed clinical and industrial psychologist with the Health Professions Council of South Africa in Pretoria and a senior lecturer in community psychology at the University of Limpopo. Annalie spearheaded the Youth Psychosocial Wellness Project in partnership with the Johannesburg-based Living Together Project.

Kathleen Stauffer is a specialist in early childhood education. She is a pre-school teacher at the Paoli Methodist Nursery School in Paoli, Pennsylvania, helps prepare new teachers as a faculty member at Montgomery County Community College, and is an instructor at Pennsylvania Pathways, a career development program for childcare workers. Kate has a Masters in Education from Cabrini College in Philadelphia.

Charlie Weinberg, originally from the U.K., has worked with young people in Managua, Nicaragua since 2001 as part of Puntos de Encuentro youth development program. Charlie is the script-writing coordinator for organization’s original TV “soap opera,” Sexto Sentido, which invites exploration of sexuality, family relationships, drug use and violence.

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The International Class 2004-5

Top Row: Deborah Forhan, Susan Massad, Ruben Reyes Jiron, Vera Erac, Tiffany Ebden
Bottom Row: Bibiana Cologne, Marjory Levitt, Lola Broomberg, Kerstin Gauffin-Holmberg, Lois Holzman

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