Dr. Marianne D'Emidio-Caston is an Executive Trainer at CERD and a Professor of
Education in the Master of Arts in Education and Teaching Credential Program, Antioch
University. Before these endeavors, she worked for nine years in the Graduate School of
Education at University of California, Santa Barbara where she was coordinator of the
elementary teacher education program, taught foundations and procedures courses, and
supervised administrative students, as well as conducted research. Dr. D'Emidio-Caston also
supervised the fieldwork of student teachers and taught supervision and instruction courses
for students pursuing an administrative credential. She has more than twenty-five years of
field experience as an educator, including classroom teaching and administration.
Her article "Making Meaning in Classrooms: An Investigation of Cognitive Processes in
Aspiring Teachers, Experienced Teachers and Their Peers," authored with four others
and published in the American Educational Research Journal, received the Association of
Teacher Educators' Distinguished Research in Teacher Education award in 1995.
Dr. D'Emidio-Caston earned both her M.A. in Educational Policy and Administration and
a Ph.D. in Confluent Education from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Kathleen R. Snavely has been involved with CERD for the past three years and 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, she 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. Snavely 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 25 years of experience working in
education, both public and private, 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 all day, 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.
