Dr. Joel H. Brown is both the Executive Director of CERD and a Professor of Education
at San Diego State University. He developed CERD out of a desire to create a
process that would focus on people’s strengths, interests, and infinite
possibilities of life. Dr. Brown is a nationally recognized social science researcher
and three-time author with rare and significant experience in blending program
development with research, policy consultation, training and implementation. His
work has
been featured in a wide array of media outlets, from ABC’s 20/20 to the New York Times,
from National Public Radio to Rolling Stone.
With Corwin Press/Sage Publications he has recently co-authored his third book in four
years, Resilience Education, describing the research and application of Resilience in educational
process. He is currently under contract with Corwin Press/Sage Publications for the
upcoming volume, The Resilient Leader.
His clients have included many local, state and federal agencies, including the U.S. General
Accounting Office and the National Institutes of Health. His areas of expertise, all within
Educational/Psychological and Social Welfare contexts, include the study of educational
policy/leadership/change and its translation into program development and training in
educational systems.
Dr. Brown earned an M.S.W. from the University of California, Berkeley and
has performed several clinical social work internships. Before earning his doctorate
in Education at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1991, he was
a visiting scholar at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Dr. Gaetane Jean-Marie is a CERDified Trainer as well as an Associate Professor
at the University of Oklahoma in the Department of Educational Leadership and
Policy Studies. Her research interests include authentic teaching and learning,
issues of equity and justice, and women and educational leadership.
Dr. Jean-Marie’s work in CERD and Resilience Education involves special
populations of students (e.g. economically disadvantaged students and individuals
of limited English proficiency) who have been traditionally under-represented
in educational practices. Her involvement is four-fold: (1) Facilitate Resilience
Education workshops for educators and community members who work with young
people and their families; (2) Provide curricular modifications for educators
to cultivate Resilience in the learning process and arrange opportunities within
the curriculum for young people to engage in cooperative learning; (3) Conduct
evaluations of programs/services that build on the Resilience approach to meet
the academic, social and emotional needs of young people and increase opportunities
that provide choices for adolescents and; (4) Engage and collaborate in empirically
ground Resilience research to serve as a basis for future educational policies
and disseminate findings in scholarly writing.
Dr. Jean-Marie earned her doctorate in Curriculum and Teaching with a certificate
of concentration from the Women’s Studies Program at the University of
North Carolina, Greensboro.
Kathleen R. Snavely-Lester is a certified trainer in the Resilience model.
She is also the Director of Training for the University of Maryland's Bureau
of Governmental Research. Previously, as the Director of Research for the National
Drug Court Institute (NDCI), she was responsible for coordinating research and
evaluation for the drug court movement, including the development and implementation
of research and evaluation workshops. As Managing Editor for NDCI, Lester was
responsible for juvenile and family drug court projects for both NDCI and the
National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP). She worked as a Senior
Research Associate with the District of Columbia Courts and as Project Manager
with the Criminal Justice Coordinating Commission in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Ms. Lester was primarily responsible for the planning, design and implementation
of the District of Columbia's Juvenile Drug Court Program. She also developed
the DC Superior Court's Child Protection Mediation Program. She earned an M.S.
in Justice from American University.
Dr. Judith Brown is an Executive Trainer at CERD and has helped with training
the CERDified trainers. She has authored numerous books on communication and
relationships, including her most recent title, The I in Science: Training
to Utilize Subjectivity in Research. She has also trained and consulted
with a variety of clients, including but not limited to: IBM; The Royal Norwegian
Air Force; School of Medicine, University of Southern California; Louisville
Public Schools; World Health Organization; S.P.A.N. (Special Project Alcohol
and Narcotics), California Polytechnic, Pomona; California Commission on Crime
Control and Violence Prevention; Executive Training Research Project, University
of California, Santa Barbara; Joint Effort for Foster Families, Santa Barbara;
Sexual Abuse Treatment Program, Santa Barbara; as well as over 250 training
workshops in the United States, England, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Norway,
Sweden, Holland, and Russia.
Dr. Geni Cowan is a CERDified Trainer and an Associate Professor of Educational
Leadership and Policy Studies at California State University, Sacramento. She
is also an adjunct professor of Indigenous Studies at D-Q University in Davis,
California. Dr. Cowan's background in education is multi-faceted, and includes
professional training and development of administrators, social workers, teachers,
and paraprofessional teachers. Her work in multicultural counseling, education
and research lead to her interest in working with CERD. Additionally, Dr. Cowan
is experienced in the areas of substance abuse counseling and prevention, HIV/AIDS
counseling and prevention, and multicultural education. She is the author of
the textbook, Understanding Educational Research: A User-Friendly Approach,
and a contributor to the book, Surviving Academia. Dr. Cowan earned her
Master's degree in Counseling Psychology from the Professional School for Psychological
Studies and her doctorate in Confluent Education from the University of California,
Santa Barbara.
Mrs. Ellen Crocker is a bilingual CERDified Trainer with more than 25 years
of experience working in education, both public and private, both in the United
States and abroad. She is currently an educator in the Napa Valley and brings
to CERD her dedication to putting theory into practice every day to achieve
the greatest academic progress. Mrs. Crocker has considerable skills in education,
facilitation, and leadership. Her work also includes acting as a Student Advocate
for students grades K-6. She spearheaded a Healthy Start grant to create access
to needed services and is a Steering Committee participant for the state-funded
Family Resource Center in Napa County. Mrs. Crocker earned her m.ed. in Confluent
Education at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
