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, Radmilla 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’s Pedagogy 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.

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 include Au 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.

                                   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 at Universidad 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.

                            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