Anna DiStefano, Ed.D.
Provost, Fielding Graduate University
Santa Barbara, California

Dr. Anna DiStefano has served as the Provost for Fielding Graduate University since August, 1996. She has been a part of the Fielding community since 1983 serving in several senior executive capacities including Vice President of Academic Planning & Program Development, and Dean, Human and Organization Development (HOD).

Dr. DiStefano received her Ed.D. (1977) and her M.Ed. (1972), both in Counseling, from Boston University. Her undergraduate degree, A.B. (1969), was received from Trinity College, D.C. She was also selected as an American Council of Education Fellow, (1987 - 1988).

Dr. DiStefano's specialized areas of interest are planning and leadership in higher education, especially distributed education; feminism; public schooling; moral development; and conflict resolution. Her most recent publications include co-editing with Jody Veroff a special issue of The American Behavioral Scientist titled "Researching Across Difference," and co-editing with Kjell E. Rudestam, and Robert Silverman, the Encyclopedia of Distributed Learning.

Judith Green, Ph.D.
Professor
University of California, Santa Barbara

Dr. Judith Green, Professor, UCSB Gevirtz School of Education, received her M.A. in Educational Psychology from CSUN and her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. She has taught for over four decades from "grades" K-20. She is a founding member of the Santa Barbara Classroom Discourse Group, a collaborative community of teacher ethnographers, student ethnographers and university-based ethnographers, whose goal is to identify principles of practices that teachers (and others) use to support equity of access for all students. She is also co-director of LINC, the Center for Education Research for Literacy and Inquiry in Networking Communities, where she works with teachers and researchers to explore how new advanced technology networks support innovative learning opportunities. They have developed an approach to curriculum and technology in which teachers and students create a virtual and interactive community in which they plan collaborative research across city, state and national borders and share their local inquiry to make global connections.

"Empowering Underrepresented Women and Girls”

Dr. Michele R. Sanford-Dean is principal of Montalvo Elementary School in Ventura. She has been a bilingual educator and advocate for bilingual programs in Ventura County for nearly 30 years. Dr. Dean has also worked for three years as an educational consultant for Scholastic Incorporated Educational Publishing Group, Far West Region, serving the state of California and parts of Mexico, and has served as an adjunct faculty member at California Lutheran University, School of Education. She has a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts with a minor in Spanish; a master’s in Education Administration; and a doctorate in Educational Leadership from CLU. She is a frequent speaker on educational leadership and gender issues.

Michelle Sutherland is a bilingual facilitator and community liaison for Conejo Valley Unified School District. Prior to that, she worked with the Migrant Education and Outreach Program at SUNY, New Paltz, which offers in-school academic support at the middle school level, as well as in-home and in-camp academic support for migrant families. She has taught summer school programs, written curriculum, facilitated adolescent and parent outreach programs, and collaborated with many agencies (legal, Torch, Planned Parenthood, Literacy USA, Cornell Diversity Project) to educate and advocate for migrant workers on issues of language, violence, prejudice, education, relationships, and health, particularly for women and children. Ms. Sutherland has a Bachelor of Applied Sciences degree in Family and Community Services from the University of Puerto Rico.

"Gender, Educational Policy, and Reform"

Dr. Anna DiStefano, Fielding Graduate University (bio above)

Senator Dean Florez was born and raised in the Central Valley and has represented the lower half of that valley since 1998. He was first elected to the State Assembly in 1998, served two terms, and was elected to the and was elected to the California Senate in 2002 (SD 16). Florez has been a leader in the areas of clean air, farm worker safety, high-speed rail and government accountability. He has served as chairman of numerous committees with jurisdiction over agriculture; water, parks and wildlife; banking, commerce and international trade; and government oversight. He currently chairs the Senate Committee on Governmental Organization and the Senate Select Committees on Gender Discrimination and Title IX Implementation; Food-bourne Illness; and Air Quality. The grandson of farm laborers, Florez attended Bakersfield College, earned his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from UCLA, and MBA from Harvard Business School. Florez is a licensed investment banker and economic development specialist.

Dr. Tiina Itkonen is an Assistant Professor of Education at California State University Channel Islands. She received her Ph.D. in 2004 from the University of California at Santa Barbara in educational leadership with a political science emphasis, after years of service in K-12. Her research examines education policy and politics, particularly interest group and advocacy influence on national policy outcomes. She teaches in special education, single subject credential, and educational leadership programs, as well as in political science.

"Gender Equity in Math, Science, Engineering, and Technology"

Colleen Briner-Schmidt is a founding parent and teacher at the Conejo Elementary School Open Classroom program in Conejo Valley Unified School District. She is head of the STAR (Science Technologies Adventures and Research) after school program for fifth and six grade girls. Ms. Briner-Schmidt is also a member of the American Association of University Women and co-director of AAUW’s Tech Tech program at University of California at Santa Barbara.

Lekishia Moffett-White, Director of VCAC of Delta Sigma Theta’s Science & Everyday Experience Project, a national program of DST offered annually in Ventura County, to middle and high school students. She is also the co-director of the NAACP Saturday School and senior category manager in Global Strategic Sourcing at Amgen. She has a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Spelman College and a master’s in Business Administration from Pepperdine University.

Dr. Marie Panec is a Professor of Biology at Moorpark College where she has taught microbiology to health science students, many of whom are women returning to the workforce. She has been involved the college’s biotechnology program since its inception, both in its development and in teaching the classes, and most recently during its curricular reconfiguration. Dr. Panec is currently on sabbatical leave developing an online version of the non-majors introductory biology lecture and lab course to reach students who cannot come to the campus, such as women with young children or employees with variable work schedules.

"Sex Education"

Virginia Benson is currently the Director of Education for Planned Parenthood of Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo Counties, Inc. She received her undergraduate degree in art and art history from the University of California at Santa Barbara. She has a long history of working in the non-profit sector protecting the health and safety of women. She worked for the Santa Barbara Women’s Shelter and Santa Barbara Rape Crisis Center before joining the Planned Parenthood team where she has worked for the last 14 years. Virginia is committed to educating the community of the importance of sexual health and prevention methods.

Anna Lopez serves as the Community Health Educator for Planned Parenthood of Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo, Counties, Inc. In this capacity, Ms. Lopez is responsible for implementing comprehensive sex education curriculum via workshops and long and short term series. In addition, she trains Latino high school aged kids and monolingual Latina women to become peer educators in their communities. She also coordinates the Positively Speaking Program for Ventura County which brings HIV positive or HIV affected individuals into the classroom to share their stories before, during and after diagnosis. Ms. Lopez has a bachelor’s degree in Biology from California Lutheran University.

Dr. Adina Nack is an Associate Professor of Sociology and the Director of California Lutheran University’s Center for Equality and Justice. She was the Program Director for CLU’s Gender and Women’s Studies. Dr. Nack received her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado and joined CLU in 2003, after having been a member of the faculty at the University of Maine. She is a medical sociologist whose research has focused on sexual health, social inequality, social psychology, gender, and sexuality. An award-winning teacher, she has also won national research awards and published articles on sexuality and sexual health. Her work on women living with incurable sexually transmitted diseases will be published by Temple University Press in summer 2008. She has been involved with sexual health education for the past 12 years as an outreach worker, health educator, researcher, and professor of sexuality studies.

"Gender Equity and Educational Leadership" and "Teaching as a Gendered Profession"

Dr. Kay Faulconer Boger is Dean of Business, Economic and Community Development and Off-Campus Programs for Ventura College. She has 25 years of experience with the Ventura County Community College District at both Oxnard and Ventura Colleges. Her responsibilities include managing the Institute for Community and Professional Development, which provides training and services to employers in Ventura County and personal and professional development opportunities for individuals. Dr. Faulconer Boger has a doctorate in education from USC, a master’s in Business Administration and Communications from Pepperdine University and a bachelor’s degree in English from California State University, Northridge.

Dr. Joan Karp is Senior Associate Dean and Director of the School of Education at CSUCI. In her 35-year career in special education, she taught, conducted research and administered programs at University of Minnesota Duluth, University of Washington, University of California at Santa Barbara, and Rhode Island College. Most recently she published a chapter on Meaningful Organizational Change in Toward Digital Equity: Bridging the Divide in Education. Strongly committed to diversity issues, she co-authored a textbook on preparing educators who have disabilities entitled, Enhancing Diversity: Educators with Disabilities, published by Gallaudet University Press. She also conducts research on the inclusion of young children with disabilities into general education, the preparation of graduate level professionals who work with young children with disabilities and their families, and the facilitation of interagency teams. Dr. Karp holds a Ph.D. from University of Connecticut in special education, a master’s degree from Syracuse University, and a bachelor’s degree in Elementary and Special Education from Rhode Island College.

Dr. Irene Pinkard is president of the Oxnard Union High School District Board of Trustees and retired Associate Vice Chancellor of Human Resources at Ventura County Community College District. She has been an active member of Ventura County for many years. She is a member of the California School Board Association and Pacific Regional Vice President of the California Coalition of Black School Board Members. She is president of the local chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. An advocate for youth, she has been conducting college tours for youth for over 18 years. Dr. Pinkard earned her bachelor’s degree in Business and master’s degree in Counseling from California State University, Long Beach. Her Ph.D. is in Educational Psychology from Nova University.

Ellen Smith currently serves as Superintendent for Moorpark Unified School District. She spent 13 years as Assistant Superintendent for Personnel Services where she acted as the labor negotiator and managed all employment operations. As an elementary school principal, she opened two brand new schools during Moorpark’s rapid growth period in the 1980s. Her areas of instructional specialization include early childhood education and programs for English learners. Ms. Smith played a key leadership role in the multi-year development of local policy that places a priority on balanced diversity in the student population of all of the district’s schools.