Steve Gelb, Associate Dean in USD’s School of Leadership and Education Sciences, holds joint appointments faculty appointments in the Department of Learning and Teaching, and the Department of Leadership Studies. He earned his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology (Learning and Development) at the University of Washington as a Title VII (Spanish) Bilingual Fellow. Since coming to USD in 1989 as the founding director of the Manchester Family Child Development Center, he has been involved in partnerships with San Diego City Schools, Bayside Community House, Linda Vista Head Start, San Diego Parents as Teachers Consortium, San Diego Child Care Coalition, Catholic Charities East County Immigration Services, and the Keiller Leadership Academy. He is the Director of Research for the Leadership Institute in SOLES. His current research interests include peace education, leadership development, action research, public-school university partnerships, and disability studies.

Peggy Hetherington, Born and raised in the Chicago area, attended Indiana University and got a BS in Education with a Special Education Major. Then moved to Ann Arbor where her soon to be husband was a student and she taught in a child’s psychiatry hospital and juvenile detention center. They moved to San Diego, where she has been an educator for over 30 years, first as a special education teacher and then as a school counselor, district grant coordinator and now as the Director of Field Experiences here at University of San Diego. She had always incorporate peace education in her work especially as a school counselor when she helped students and families to have a peaceful life and also supporting schools in creating cultures of peace on campus. Peggy loves the outdoors and being active especially kayaking, traveling, hiking and biking that why she considers Costa Rica as a great place to be.

Joi Spencer, is assistant professor in the School of Leadership and Education Sciences at University of San Diego, having earned a B.A. and M.A. at Stanford University, and a doctorate in education, with an emphasis in mathematics education, at UCLA. She received an AERA dissertation year fellowship for her doctoral thesis, “Balancing the Equation: African American Students’ Opportunities to Learn Mathematics with Understanding in Two Central City Middle Schools.” This study documented the mathematics learning opportunities of African American students in two large, urban middle schools in Southern California. While a doctoral student, Spencer was a fellow of the National Science Foundation's Diversity in Mathematics Education (DiME) Center for Teaching and Learning, a collaboration with University of Wisconsin, Madison, U.C. Berkeley and UCLA. Dr. Spencer recently began a 3-year longitudinal study of a newly converted charter middle school in San Diego. This study’s major focus is to track the development of academic and mathematics identity of African American and Latino students over the course of their crucial middle school years. Joi’s research interests include but are not limited to mathematics equity, teaching mathematics for understanding, African American achievement and identity, effective schools for African American students, and improving the methodologies used to understand these issues.

Angela Chiarenza, Has two passions: group dynamics and athletics, and she enjoys working with athletic teams, particularly around their dynamics and challenges, she is working on turning these passions into her career. She is currently finishing her Masters of Arts in Leadership Studies at University of San Diego.

Justine Dujardin, Is in the Curriculum and Teaching program in School of Leadership and Education Sciences, from the University of San Diego. She is and Art teacher and is very interested in peace and leadership studies for educators to be involved and familiar with, in order to apply it in the classroom, whether it is setting an example for the students or mediating an argument. In her personal interest yoga takes a very special place.

Erika Fagerlund, Is an 24 years old who was born in New York and lived the first 21 years of her life on Long Island, she moved to San Diego in 2005 and have been there ever since. She began attending University of San Diego in the fall of 2006 in the Master’s program of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. And the course in Costa Rica will be her last course to compete her degree. Erika had the opportunity to studied abroad in Spain and also Cuba, and in her own words both experiences were “unique and unforgettable”, especially Cuba where she learned a lot about the struggles they face there that sometimes people in the United States take for granted, such as simply luxuries that are available everywhere that they may never have on their own. She is looking forward to bring the ideas from the course on Peace because to her English students from all over the world. She really wants to help making a difference and this course is the first step for her experience in education and leadership for peace. She currently teaches Special Education Preschool and it has been a great experience for her, and now she would like to branch out and see what other options are available for her in education.

Heather Hagen, is 26 years old, and she is going into her fourth year of teaching this August 2008. She teaches special education to 1st though 3rd graders in San Diego, and have completed her undergraduate degree in liberal studies at University of San Diego, she also has a general education and special education teaching credentials. Heather is working on completing the Masters Degree in special education at University of San Diego, and only has two classes to go including the course on Educational Leadership for Peace and Sustainability.

Breyn Hibbs, Holds a degree in Religious Studies and Asian Studies as a minor, and is an undergraduate Philosophy major and Leadership/Theology; she will obtain her degree in spring 2009. As part of her future plans she includes as a possibility enrolling in University of San Diego´s doctorate in leadership program. Peace and sustainability are two issues she had recently become more aware of and passionate about and therefore, she is very excited to become more educated about them.

Jenny Kressel, Is an graduate student at San Diego State University, studying Postsecondary Educational Leadership with an emphasis in Student Affairs. She works at San Diego State University as well as UC San Diego, within the student affairs departments. Jenny is originally from Portland, Oregon where sustainability, social responsibility and overall "green" issues are very prevalent. She is currently training for an Olympic distance triathlon as a member of Team in Training- while training for 3 months, she´s simultaneously raising $3,000 for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. When she is not working, studying or training, she enjoys salsa dancing, photography and organizing social outings for friends. Jenny hopes to be able to utilize the knowledge gained from this course to educate the future leaders on how to create sustainable educational and environmental programs within higher education.

Cristina Pacheco, Is beginning her Masters of Leadership Studies in the University of San Diego. In the past year Cristina had the opportunity to go to Argentina twice and she loved the experience in Latin America, she loves being in a Spanish- speaking environment and would like to live in Central and/or South America for a period of her life and so she tries and takes any opportunity to go to a new place and experience a new culture.

Pressley Robinson Rankin, I.V. Was born in North Carolina but he have lived in San Diego since 2003 and graduated last year from San Diego State with a Master’s of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy. During his program, he worked for the San Diego Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (GSDBA) as the Operations Administrator. He did two internships during the masters program, one at San Diego Hospice and the other at the San Diego State Clinic. His masters showed him that he has a strong passion for relationships and group dynamics. His undergraduate degree was in English with a concentration in Creative Writing, and he believes the writing helps him to express his creative side. Rob has written a novel which is in the editing process and he also has published two academic papers in the field of counseling. Rob research interests involve faculty mentoring, the increased use of technology on university campuses and how that affects traditionally disenfranchised and under-served groups, the application of developmental psychology to leadership within the university, and world peace.

Brian St. Clair, is currently completing his master’s degree in Peace and Justice Studies at the University of San Diego. At present, he is conducting research on nuclear negotiations between the United States and North Korea. He holds a B.S.F.S. in International Politics with a concentration in U.S. Foreign Policy from Georgetown University. While at Georgetown, he tutored prison inmates to pass the math portion of the GED exam at a nearby penitentiary in Virginia. During one summer, he volunteered with Catholic Charities to teach English and life skills to refugees from Sudan, Somalia and Afghanistan. He studied global politics and ethics at ITESO in Guadalajara, México through USD during another summer, and upon returning to Georgetown was a founding member of the John Main Center for Meditation and Interreligious Dialogue. Last year, Brian worked for Bank of America while simultaneously pursuing a career as a professional actor. Brian has performed on stage and screen in Los Angeles, New York, Washington D.C. and Virginia.

Laura Stoia, Is an 46 year old mother of three children, who grew up in Rhode Island. After completing her undergraduate education at New Hampshire College in Manchester, NH in 1984, moved to California and went to work for Toyota Motor Sales corporate headquarters in Torrance, CA. She worked for Toyota for about five years in the mid 1980’s, ending her career as a District Parts Manager in the Portland region covering Idaho, Montana, Eastern Oregon and Alaska Toyota dealer parts accounts. She describes the work at Toyota as “very rewarding and as one of the greatest experiences of her life”. She is now a student at University of San Diego in the Leadership Studies Program, and that keeps her life very busy, she is also a private investor, and mother/life manager to her three children. Laura is also quite involved with volunteer work at their school including work as a Girl Scout as a troop leader.

Kim Stubbe, Finished the credential program at USD in February and now started the Masters in Teaching Social Science. She has an interest in peace education since high school because Kim went to a private Catholic school that focused on social justice. There, she did a lot of community service, mainly in education, eventually the passion She acquired from high school led her into teaching. She is currently writing a research proposal to put sustainability objectives into a social science curriculum and see how students attain the learning objectives, and is hoping to do the actual research project in a year.

Don Trinh, is from Los Angeles and earned undergraduate degrees in Philosophy and Theology at Saint John’s Seminary College in Camarillo, California. He obtained Bachelor’s (S.T.B), Licentiate (S.T.L.) and Master’s degrees (M.A., M.A.S.) in Theology and Religious Studies at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium. His thesis was titled: Deacons and Diakonia: The Spirituality and Ministry of Service – A Critical Study of the Permanent Diaconate. Don has worked for the international student magazine of Leuven and was the billing manager of Myrient Inc., an internet-DSL company in Aliso Viejo, CA. He joined the University of San Diego and the SOLES Development Office in January 2006 and is currently the dean’s assistant at the Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies. Don began the Leadership Studies doctoral program in September 2007 and his interests include higher education, Catholic universities and administration, history of leadership, city government, urban planning, and public service. Don is attending the University of Peace training program to become better informed of peace education and the field of peace studies to assist the School’s strategic planning and future growth.

Katie Zanoni, BS in environmental science with an emphasis in Biology, Northern Arizona University (1997, M. A. Peace and Justice Studies (2007, USD. Katie was a Peace Corps volunteer in Thailand where she implemented environmental educational programs through the district office of Pua located in the Northern Province of Nan. Upon her return to the United States, she worked with the International Rescue Committee (IRC) in San Diego as the Program Coordinator managing after school programs for refugee youth. She worked as an educational consultant with the New Americans Immigration Museum and Learning Center and as a Program Specialist at the IRC for refugee families receiving welfare. In 2005, Katie worked at the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice to assist the program directors to present the Global Women’s Court of Accountability. Her community involvement has included volunteering with Valley Big Sisters, chairing the One Percent Fund in Peace Corps – Thailand and developing the chapter for Young Professionals for International Cooperation (YPIC) with the United Nations Association of San Diego. Last year she worked as the Program Manager with the Resettlement Department of the International Rescue Committee. Katie is currently working with San Diego City College to implement a Peace Studies Program into the curriculum and will be teaching Peace Studies 101 in the fall 2008 semester. She is pursuing her teaching credential at the University of San Diego to bridge the formal field of education and the theories of Peace Studies to implement Peace Education into the school systems of her community. She continues her research and work in the field of Peace Education and is committed to integrating principles of Peace Education into the classroom.