KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Dr. Isaac Prilleltensky
Isaac Prilleltensky is a true agent of change. Throughout his prolific career as a psychologist, educator, and scholar, he has broken new ground in developing community-based approaches to psychological and social health. He is a renowned authority on the prevention of child abuse and has written several seminal texts that strengthen the important link between psychology and social justice. Isaac Prilleltensky transcends the Ivory Tower with a personal mission to bring evidence-based strategies into practice, where they have a profound impact on the quality of people’s lives.
Born in Argentina, Prilleltensky also has lived in Israel, Canada, Australia, and the United States. A citizen of the world, he is fluent in English, Spanish, and Hebrew and conversational in Italian and Portuguese. The climate of political repression that colored his early youth in Argentina, and its dramatic contrast to the communalism he experienced in Israel and other parts of the world, played a key role in his choice of a career that confronts and reinvents social institutions.
Prilleltensky completed a B.A. in psychology at Bar Ilan University in Israel, a master’s degree in clinical child psychology at Tel Aviv University, and a Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Manitoba in western Canada. Following several years as a school psychologist in Winnipeg, Manitoba, he became disenchanted with reactive, individualistic approaches to psychosocial problems and decided to explore a different tack as a community psychologist.
This career shift began in 1991 at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada, where Prilleltensky was an associate professor and director of the Community Psychology Program. Nine years later he moved to Australia to become professor and research chair in psychology at Victoria University in Melbourne. There he established the Wellness Promotion Unit, which partnered with community organizations to promote child and family well-being through prevention, empowerment, and social action.
Isaac Prilleltensky has lived in the United States since 2003, when he became director of the Doctoral Program in Community Research and Action at Vanderbilt University. He was appointed dean of the University of Miami School of Education in 2006 and recently was named the inaugural Erwin and Barbara Mautner Chair in Community Well-Being.
Prilleltensky has a clearly defined vision for the School of Education to be a center of excellence in the study, promotion, and integration of educational, psychological, and physical well-being in multicultural communities. He applies a holistic view to the structure and function of communities, and to the educational system that he considers their foundation. Under his leadership, the School of Education operates more than $8 million in funded projects in areas such as special education, language development, math and science education, positive youth development, organizational capacity development, and disease prevention.
A fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Educational Research Association, and the Society for Community Research and Action. Prilleltensky has published seven books and more than 100 articles and book chapters. He has received 25 external grants in Canada, Australia, and the United States, and has presented keynote addresses in international conferences in 16 countries. His recent book, Promoting Well-Being: Linking Personal, Organizational, and Community Change, co-authored with his wife and School of Education clinical Assistant Professor Ora Prilleltensky, sets the foundation for a new research and training project designed to optimize the interaction between psychological wellness and organizational and community health.
- Curriculum Vitae
- Relevant Publications
Dr. Scott Evans
Dr. Evans joined the EPS faculty at the University of Miami in August, 2008. He received his Ph.D. in Community Research and Action at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University in 2005. He has a master¹s degree in Human Development Counseling also from Vanderbilt. Dr. Evans also has extensive practical experience in community-based organizations as a youth development worker, crisis worker, family counselor, youth program developer, program evaluator, and organizational consultant.
Dr. Evans’ current work and interests include promoting the role of community-based human service organizations in the promotion of wellbeing, social change, and social justice. He is co-investigator on the Miami SPECs project with organizational partners in the Miami area. This three-year project is promoting strength-based practice, prevention, empowerment, and community change while researching the process of organizational transformation in these settings.
- Relevant Publications
Evans, S.D., (2007). Youth sense of community: Voice and power in community contexts. Journal of Community Psychology, 35 (6), 693-709.
Evans, S.D., Prilleltensky, I. (2007). Youth and democracy: Participation for personal, relational, and collective well-being (Introduction to Special Issue of Journal of Community Psychology), 35 (6), 681-692.
Evans, S.D. & Loomis, C. Organizational and community change. (2009). Book Chapter for I. Prilleltensky, D. Fox, & S. Austin (eds.) Critical psychology: An introduction (2nd ed.).
Evans, S.D, Prilleltensky, I. (2005). Youth civic engagement: Promise and peril. In M. Ungar (Ed.) Handbook for working with children & youth: Pathways to resilience across cultures and contexts in adolescents (pp. 405-415). Thousand Oaks, Ca: Sage
Evans, S.D., Prilleltensky, I., (In Press). Literacy for wellness, oppression and liberation (for chapter in Encyclopedia of Educational Psychology, edited by J. Kincheloe & R. Horn)
Dr. Ora Prilleltensky
Dr. Ora Prilleltensky has relocated to Miami in August 2006 to join the Department of Educational and Psychological Studies. She coordinates the EPS Major in Human and Social Development and teaches various graduate and undergraduate classes.
Dr. Prilleltensky was born in Israel and has lived and worked in Canada and Australia before relocating to the USA in 2003. She earned a Masters in School Psychology from the University of Manitoba and a doctorate (Ed.D) in Counseling Psychology from the University of Toronto. Prior to entering academia, Dr. Prilleltensky has worked in a variety of settings as a school psychologist, counselor, behavior consultant, and counseling psychologist.
Prilleltensky’s research interests include disability studies and the promotion of well-being. As a person with a disability and a wheelchair user, she has a personal and a professional interest in disability issues and disability identity. She has authored a book and several articles on motherhood and disability and has co-authored a number of articles and book chapters on promoting well-being. Along with Isaac Prilleltensky, Ora Prilleltensky is the co-author of Promoting well-being: Linking personal, organizational and community change (2006, John Wiley & Sons). Ora Prilleltensky is one of the researchers on the Miami SPEC Project.
Dr. Adrine McKenzie
Dr. Adrine McKenzie joined the University of Miami in 2008 as a Senior Research Associate in the School of Education where she serves as the Research Director for the Miami SPEC (Strengths, Prevention, Empowerment and Community Change) project. This innovative project, funded by The Children’s Trust aims to transform service delivery towards enhancing the well-being of children and families in the Miami-Dade County.
Dr. McKenzie earned her Master’s degree in Community Psychology from Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada and she holds a Ph.D. in School and Child Clinical Psychology from the University of Toronto. She has over 12 years of experience in the areas of community-based research, primary prevention and early intervention programs for minority and low-income children and families. Much of her research has focused on risk and protective factors and their impact on the academic and behavioral outcomes of immigrant and refugee children. As a research coordinator, McKenzie was involved in a study examining the efficacy of an evidence-based program in a non-clinic setting on families of children diagnosed with a disruptive disorder. As a research consultant for the City of Toronto, she has worked on several projects to evaluate and to review school-based nutrition and community-based parenting programs.
In addition to her research experience, Dr. McKenzie is a licensed school and clinical psychologist in Ontario, Canada and in Florida who has worked directly with children, adolescents and their families in both hospital clinics and school settings.
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ADULT WORKSHOP PRESENTERS
Dr. Janet E. Helms
Dr. Helms is the Augustus Long Professor in the Department of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology and Director of the Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture at Boston College. She is President of the Society of Counseling Psychology (Division 17 of the American Psychological Association [APA]). Dr. Helms is a Fellow in Division 17 (Counseling Psychology) and Division 45 (Ethnic Diversity) of APA. In addition, she is a member of the Association of Black Psychologists.
Dr. Helms serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Psychological Assessment and the Journal of Counseling Psychology and is on the Counsel of Research Elders of the Journal of Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology. She has written over sixty empirical and theoretical articles and four books on the topics of racial identity and cultural influences on assessment and counseling practice.
Her Books include A Race Is a Nice Thing To Have (Microtraining Associates) and (with Donelda Cook) Using Race and Culture in Counseling and Psychotherapy: Theory and Process (MA: Allyn & Bacon).
Dr. Helms' work has been acknowledged with awards that include an engraved brick in Iowa State University's Plaza of Heroines, and the "Distinguished Career Contributions to Research" award from the Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues, awarded at the APA convention. In 1991, she was the first annual recipient of the "Janet E. Helms Award for Mentoring and Scholarship in Professional Psychology." This award was inaugurated in her honor by Columbia University Teachers College. Dr. Helms was the recipient of the 2002 Leona Tyler Award awarded by Division 17 in recognition of an outstanding research career, the American Psychological Association's Awards for "Distinguished Contributions to Education and Training in Psychology" (2006) and the Award for "Distinguished Contributions to Research in Public Policy" (2008). She was a recipient of the Association of Black Psychologists' 2007 Award for Distinguished Psychologist.
Dr. Guerda Nicolas
Dr. Guerda Nicolas is an Associate Professor, and the Chairperson at the Department of Educational and Psychological Studies at the University of Miami. She joined the University in August, 2008. Previously, she was an Associate Professor at Boston College in the Department of Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology. She obtained her doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Boston University in 1997. She completed her predoctoral training at Columbia University Medical Center and her postdoctoral training the New York State Psychiatric Institute/Columbia University, Department of Child Psychiatry. As a multicultural (Haitian American) and multilingual psychologist (Spanish, French, and Haitian Creole), her research is reflective of her background and interests. She is a licensed psychologist and was the Assistant Director of the Institute for the Study and Promotion of Race and Culture (ISPRC) along with Dr. Janet E. Helms.
Her current research projects focus on developing spirituality across the life span among ethnic minorities, culturally effective mental health intervention for ethnic minority adolescents, with a specific focus on immigrant children, adolescents, and families. In addition, she conducts research on social support networks of Caribbeans with a specific focus on Haitians. She has published several articles and book chapters and delivered numerous invited presentations at the national and international conferences in the areas of women issues, depression and intervention among Haitians, social support networks of ethnic minorities, and spirituality.
Dr. Etiony Aldarondo
Dr. Aldarondo is an Associate Professor at the Department of Educational and Psychological Studies, and the Associate Dean for Research at the University of Miami School of Education.
A native of Puerto Rico, Etiony Aldarondo earned his Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Massachusetts (Amherst). His research and clinical interests include wife assault, Latino mental health, family therapy, and individual and social change.
Aldarondo’s publications include articles on wife assault cessation and psychological aggression, risk markers for the cessation and persistence of wife assault, ethnicity and wife assault, and motivation for change in abusive men. He is the author of Advancing Social Justice Through Clinical Practice (Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc) and, with with Dr. Fernando Mederos, the author of Programs for Men Who Batter: Intervention and Prevention Strategies in a Diverse Society (Civic Research Institute).
Dr. Aldarondo came to UM from Boston College, where he was tenured faculty in the counseling psychology program. He also worked at Harvard Medical School’s Cambridge Hospital and at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Center.
Dr. Aldarondo co-chairs the steering committee of the National Latino Alliance for the Elimination of Domestic Violence funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He is a member of the National Advisory Board of the National Violence Against Women Prevention Research Center funded by the Center for Disease Control, and a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Batterer Intervention and Prevention Programs Evidence-Based Review Expert Panel.
Dr. Diem is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Department of Teaching and Learning at the University of Miami. Dr. Diem joined the University of Miami in 2004 after receiving his Ph.D. in education from the University of North Carolina. Dr. Diem’s research interests primarily focus on qualitative research methods and theories, and social theory praxis. Some of his particular research interests include race/racism in public schools, education for social justice, immigration, community-based research, multicultural education, gender and sexuality, homelessness and education, urban education, and popular culture and youth identity formation.
Dr. Diem’s teaching focuses on providing students a framework that allows them to take a critical examination of the historical, cultural and political underpinnings of public schooling in the United States. He wants his students to understand how and why schools currently look the way they do, whose interests they do and do not serve, and how we can work for changes that make schools more just and equitable systems. He teaches courses in the Social and Cultural Foundations of Education and Qualitative Research Methods.
Currently Dr. Diem is primarily engaged in two research and service projects. The Immigrant Children Affirmative Network (ICAN) is a faculty-student collaboration serving undocumented unaccompanied immigrant youth housed in Miami-area shelters. Services include the provision of weekly positive youth development groups, staff development trainings, and coordinating special events. The ICAN program is a member of The Immigrant Children’s Legal And Service Partnership (ICLASP), formed in 2006 to protect the human rights and promote the physical and psychological well-being of unaccompanied immigrant youth in South Florida shelters. The program, which brings together findings from the empirical literature in youth development and insights from theoretical writings on individual empowerment, uses visual art as stimulus for group conversations and activities, resulting in the children creating individual and group narratives.
Dr. Diem’s second main project is a Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) collaborative that seeks to understand and address cancer health disparities in the Little Haiti area of Miami. CBPR is a methodology that engages community members in the research process to ensure that study findings are culturally relevant and amenable to change.
Prior to completing his Ph.D. in education, Diem was a social worker. He received his B.S.W. from the University of Texas and his M.S.W. from the University of North Carolina. His social work experiences focused primarily on issues related to poverty, low-income housing, and homelessness. He spent time in Texas, Georgia, and North Carolina as a practitioner, activist, lobbyist, and program administrator.
Omari W.Keeles is a second year doctoral student in the counseling psychology program at the University of Miami. He received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Howard University, a master’s of Public Health from The George Washington University, a master’s of art and a master’s of education in Psychological Counseling from Teachers College Columbia University. Omari has also completed studies at the Université de Bourgogne in Dijon, France. Omari has worked on various projects which include research on relationship violence amongst African American/Black adolescents, breast cancer amongst Black women, racism in education and microaggressions.
Omari has worked as a Public Health Analyst at The American Public Health Association and as a Research and Health Policy Analyst at The American Society for Radiation Oncology. Omari’s current work and interests include the effects of microaggressions on the educational development of Black males; classism in the African American community; the depiction of Blacks in the media beginning with the Cosby Show to the present; and the psychological well-being of minorities who attend elite schools via programs like Prep-for-Prep., A Better Chance, etc.
YOUTH WORKSHOP PRESENTERS
Emily Winakur received her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of Washington (Seattle) in 2001. An active writer, she is a published poet and, before seeking a graduate degree in psychology, taught English literature and creative writing to college students at the University of Washington and to high school students at Moravian Academy (Bethlehem, PA) and Ransom Everglades School (Coconut Grove, FL). While attending the University of Miami as a master’s and doctoral student, Emily has provided therapy to children and family of diverse backgrounds and will soon begin a new clinical practicum at Family Counseling Services of Greater Miami.
Shanna Dulen is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Miami. Her research interests include coping mechanisms employed, trauma, immigration, policy reform, education for social justice, urban youth education, psychodynamic theory, and art therapy. Currently, Shanna works with the Immigrant Children Affirmative Network (ICAN), a faculty-student collaboration serving undocumented, unaccompanied immigrant housed in shelters in the Miami area. Shanna has experience as a therapist, working with youth in various contexts, including individual and group therapy using talk therapy, art therapy, and other creative ventures.
Shanna is also an artist, who dual majored in Psychology and Painting from Syracuse University. She has used her unique training as an artist and therapist in various intervention programs in Boston, New York, and Miami.
Billie Schwartz is a first-year doctoral student studying Counseling Psychology at the University of Miami. Her research interests include prevention and intervention work with ethnic minority and immigrant youth with a focus on social justice. She also has a passion for art and art therapy, specifically with children. Currently, Billie is the project coordinator for the Kulula Project, a youth mentoring program for at-risk kids ages 6-13 in West Coconut Grove, Fl. Billie has recently worked as a therapist, in schools and within communities conducting both individual and group therapy, while striving to focus on creative modalities.
Courtney Whitt is a second-year doctoral student in the Counseling Psychology program at the University of Miami. She completed both her Bachelor's and Master's degrees at the University of Miami, in the areas of psychology and women's studies (B.A., 2005) and mental health counseling (M.S.Ed., 2008). Courtney's clinical and research interests involve many aspects of the emotional, cognitive, and developmental experiences of diverse populations of women in U.S. society and internationally. She is specifically interested in the social and cultural influences of intra- and interpersonal difficulties in girls and women, factors relating to women's health and wellbeing, and prevention efforts. Additionally, Courtney is interested in the interplay of oppression, social dominance, and the development of virtuous characters.
Currently, she works within the University of Miami Institute for Individual and Family Counseling and the Thelma Gibson Health Initiative, developing a satellite counseling program within the West Coconut Grove community. Additionally, she provides direct individual, family, and group counseling services to children within the West Coconut Grove community for a multitude of presenting concerns, with the overall aim of violence reduction and prevention. In her counseling work within this community, as well as in her previous work, Courtney utilizes art and other expressive activities to resolve difficulties and facilitate growth, and hopes to continue this in her work within the J.R.E. Lee Opportunity School for Girls this upcoming Fall.
Judelysse Gomez is a doctoral student in the Counseling Psychology program in the University of Miami Department of Education and Psychological Services. She was born and raised in New York City, where she received both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Psychology from Hunter College at The City University of New York. Her academic interests encompass issues of race and ethnicity, discrimination, racism and oppression, the immigrant experience, and the psychological well-being and cultural strengths of individuals of ethno-cultural background. Currently, she is involved with Dr. Etiony Aldarondo’s Immigrant Children Affirmative Network (ICAN) research team working with unaccompanied immigrant children. In her free time she enjoys reading, watching the food network and HGTV, taking photographs, and practicing yoga and Capoeira.
