MA in Socially Responsible Business and Sustainable Communities Program
I see myself as a teacher/learner in all my work roles. The bulk of my work the past 20 years has been as a change agent in organizations. In addition to the many seminars and workshops I conducted within organizations, I have almost always taught at least one course per year. I began teaching, formally, at the University of Massachusetts when I was a graduate student and one of the founding members of the Social Justice Education program. I continued at UMass, post-doctoral degree, as a visiting lecturer and a faculty advisor serving on doctoral committees. I also taught at Antioch New England Graduate School in Keene, New Hampshire for about three years, in the Department of Organization and Management.
I have been a practitioner in the field of diversity and multicultural organizational development for over 25 years. I co-founded New Perspectives, Inc., a small consulting firm based in Amherst, Massachusetts, where I worked for 23 years. In 2003, I began work as an independent consultant, but continued my practice of working in many sectors: with for-profit organizations such as Microsoft and Merck; in higher education, including work with Michigan State University and numerous community colleges; and with third sector organizations such as Planned Parenthood of America and AIDS Action of Boston. I am also the co-creator of the Multicultural Organization Development Assessment tool, which is used to assess an organization’s stage of development on the path to diversity and equity. Prior to working as a consultant, I worked as a manager and staff development specialist in Corrections in Massachusetts and New York.
I have a particular interest in working in a variety of sectors with organizations engaged in developing culturally relevant prevention and intervention strategies to combat HIV/AIDS. In the spring of 2006, I began working with colleagues at the University of KwaZuluNatal in Durban, South Africa and with community-based peer education programs to work on HIV prevention with South African youth.
I am the mother of two college-age daughters and two adult step-sons. My interests include writing poetry, visiting archaeological sites, and riding Harleys.
Educational Background: I hold three degrees from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst: an Ed.D in Psychological Education, an M.Ed. in Organizational Development, and a B.A. in Education. I have published articles on multicultural organizations, managing diversity in the work place, collaborative approaches to organizational change in large systems, racial identity development, and facilitating dialogue groups on diversity.
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