PWA Presenter Bios

Keynote: Inés Talamantez

Professor Inés Talamantez is associate professor of religious studies at the University of

California, Santa Barbara. She has taught courses on Native American and Indigenous religious
traditions for thirty years at UCSB. She has also taught at Harvard Divinity School, Dartmouth
College, Wellesley College, Carleton College, and Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts. She is
currently the managing editor of New Scholar: An Americanist Review and is on the editorial
board of both Ashgate’s Vitality of Indigenous Religions series and the Second Edition of Mircea
Eliade’s Encyclopedia of Religion. She is the co-editor of Religion and Healing; the author of
Tse’gihi and K’ehogosone: Native American Ritual Texts; and has published numerous essays
and articles on Native American religious traditions. She has lectured at conferences and
universities throughout North America, Mexico and Europe and was instrumental in founding
the Society for the Study of Native American Religious Traditions.
Professor Talamantez was born in Old Mesilla, New Mexico, to parents of Apache and
Mexican background. She has done extensive research and fieldwork in both the United States
and Mexico on Native American, Indigenous, Mexican, and Latino religious traditions. As a
single mother, she raised seven children while completing her doctorate at University of
California, San Diego. Her forthcoming book, Becoming: Introducing Apache Girls to the World
of Spiritual and Cultural Values, examines present-day Mescalero Apache female rites of
passage. One of her important accomplishments is the development of the concentration in
Native American Religious Traditions in the Department of Religious Studies at UCSB over
several decades she has trained a variety of doctoral students including international Fulbright
students. Her next project deals with the politics of Native American sovereignty, religious
freedom, and environmental justice.

Once a Month Cooking

Marlene Cohen & Roxanne Massar
Do you want to spend more time in the evening with your family or friends? Do you want to
have time to enjoy your life passions, eat healthy, and save money? Then Once a Month
cooking is for you! Imagine you are hungry and tired and you look to the family with a smile and
say, “I will have dinner ready in 20 minutes.” Imagine spending $200 for 2 months worth of
healthy and delicious dinners for a family of 4! If you do not like to cook, imagine only cooking 6
times a year!!!
Marlene and Roxanne, Once a Month Cooking partners and friends, will share with you the
steps, the many benefits, and funny stories of Once a Month Cooking.

Marlene Cohen loves food, especially healthy food, and enjoys sharing it with her family and
friends. One of her favorite things to do is cooking homemade meals for her husband Carlos
and children Carlitos and Alexandria. Since she knows how hard it is to cook dinner after an 8hr
day, it brings her joy to surprise her close girl friends with a homemade dinner during the week.
She started cooking 19 years ago when she discovered that she could make delicious and
“perfect” homemade Mexican rice. Besides cooking she enjoys the outdoors, reading, and
coaching women. Marlene is committed to living a joyful and healthy life through spiritual
growth, meaningful relationships, and healthy eating.

Roxanne Massar is an adventurer who loves to travel and experience cuisines around the
world. Wherever she has lived, she has brought back recipes and customs to add to her
California seasonal cooking. She loves testing recipes on her wonderful husband Pierre and two
scrumptious girls Eleanor and Abigail. She watched her mother create masterpieces with cakes,
cookies and pastries and got involved in the concept of baking and cooking fresh foods at an
early age. She enjoys cooking for other people and making it as beautiful as it is delicious.
When she is not at work as a Reading Specialist, she is baking, biking, gardening, quilting, or
doing any number of other artistic pursuits.

Creating Balance between Work and Life Panel Discussion

Moderated by Cristina Madrigal

Balancing the demands of work with the uncertainty of life poses challenges that often require
creative solutions. Creating balance between work and life has immeasurable rewards;
succeeding in the workplace while making time for family and friends is invaluable. Join us as
with discuss challenges, rewards and motivations as well as receive advice and feedback from
community members who accomplish incredible things while being more than their job.

Katya Armistead

Katya Armistead is an assistant dean of students and director of the Office of Student Life at
UCSB. She has worked at UCSB for 20 years, 17 of those in the Office of Admissions. She has
two sons, 18 and 14, and is actively involved in the community as a board member for the Santa
Barbara County American Red Cross, Santa Barbara County Family Service Agency, Council of
Alcohol and Drug Abuse's Fighting Back Program task force, is a mentor, and helped begin a
non-profit called Youth Making Change for young people to learn all about philanthropy. In her
spare time she plays soccer and travels around the state to watch her boys play soccer.

Lupe N. Garcia

Entering my 21st year on staff, I have gone from a student staff member to an Assistant Dean.
In my parallel life, I am an active Mom to two young adults. My goal at both work and home is
to be active and present for all of the important things. Although that has meant having to
prioritize and step out of work at times, stepping out of motherhood is not an option. To have
rewarding relationships without regret and to be successful, I have learned to juggle,
communicate, merge my life demands together when I can, multitask, use social media,
develop rich friendships and hobbies, and laugh at the big and small things. Life is never dull.

Juli Pippin

Juli began her career at UCSB in 1981 as a Library Assistant and transferred to the Marine
Science Institute (MSI) as a Word Processing Specialist in 1984. While at MSI, she was
reclassified several times and, in 1989, became the MSO of the Neuroscience Research
Institute. Juli became the MSO of the Computer Science Department in 1996 and in 2005, she
became the MSO for the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry. Juli has been the Assistant
Dean for Budget and Administration in the College of Engineering since 2010.

Juli began earning her Bachelor’s degree in 1982 by taking courses at Santa Barbara City
College. Over the next 18 years, she attended school when the demands of her work and home
life allowed. In 2001, she became a full-time student while keeping her (more than) full-time
job and helping put her husband through graduate school. Juli graduated from UCSB with
honors in Communication in June 2006.

Juli has been an active participant on campus committees and programs. She was the
facilitator and mentor for the Staff Mentorship Program; Chair and Executive Committee
member of the Academic Business Officers Group (ABOG); co-Chair of the Chancellor's Staff
Advisory Council; and many others.

Carol Wyzinski

I have been in the work force for over 30 years. Previously I have worked as a MT/ST Operator
(1st computer), Legal Secretary, Executive Secretary at TRW Missile Defense, Executive
Assistant at California State University San Bernardino, Office Manager for Gevirtz Research
Center (GRC), UCSB and currently MTA/NDA Officer in Technology and Industry Alliances (TIA).
I have served as a PWA Past Co-President. While working full-time and raising two children, I
was able to earn my BA degree with high honors at UCSB in the Law and Society program as
well as a JD (Juris Doctorate) at Ventura College of Law. My hobbies are walking and scuba
diving.

Ready, Aim, Shoot!

Carol Sauceda, Georgina Garcia May & Emily Woodworth

This workshop is for individuals who have a passion for taking photographs. The presenters will
share their best practices for taking photos. This class will offer information on photo sites,
posting, organizing, shooting techniques and tips.

Carol Sauceda developed a passion for the camera and enjoys photographing people and
events. Carol has taken photography classes through SBCC Continuing Education.

Georgina Garcia May is famously known for always having a camera ready to capture the
moment. Georgina enjoys nature photography and landscape.

Currently a junior at UCSB, Emily Woodworth is double majoring in Studio Art and Psychology
with the hopes of one day becoming a professional photographer. Emily enjoys many types of
photography and specializes in night photography. Emily’s photograph of UCSB’s new labyrinth
trail in featured on the PWA Conference Flyer. When not busy with school or work, Emily
spends her time taking photos to expand her portfolio and knowledge of the art form.

Speed Mentoring
Mo Lovegreen and Friends

Join us for an opportunity to ask experienced UCSB staff members your mentoring questions.
There will be approximately 20 volunteer mentors available at individual tables. Each table will
have a number (1-20). When participants enter the workshop they will be given 3 numbers
between 1-20 for each of the three speed mentoring sessions during the workshop. Each speed
mentoring session will last 10 minutes. After 10 minutes a bell will ring and participants will
have 5 minutes to move to the next table. This process will be repeated three times.

This session is limited to 20 participants on a first come first serve basis.

Participating Mentors:
Juli Pippin
Katya Armistad
Lupe Navarro Garcia
Mary Lum
Lynn Pritchard (To be confirmed)
Tilly Govender
Michelle Keuper
Linda Flegel
Marlene Cohen
Whitney Morris
Priscilla Mori
Kathy Scheidemen
Margie Weeks
Deb Karoff
Lisa Slavid (To be confirmed)
Charlene Chew-Ogi (To be confirmed)
Jill Hurd (To be confirmed)
Roane Akchurin (To be confirmed)
June Darby (To be confirmed)

Conflict as an opportunity~ whether you enjoy it or not!

Roane Akchurin

Wonder why you either love or hate conflict in the workplace, or for that matter, in you life?
Wonder where this comes from and why you are in either of these places with it & then how to
deal with others who are in the other camp? Then come learn about conflict & one of many
processes our campus utilizes to help others handle & deal with conflict. Useful tools to use at
work and in your life will be practiced & talked about as well!
Learning outcomes
Comparative understanding of conflict theory
 Become familiar with concepts of empowerment & recognition
 Taste of the practices a transformative mediator employs to support the process
 VERY basic practices of a transformative mediator from role-playing
 Answer questions & have a lively discussion @ Transformative mediation and how you
can become involved in the "movement" on -campus to become a mediator!

Roane Akchurin, is currently the Manager of the Community Housing Office on campus and has
been a staff member for over 26 years. Her greatest passion is working with folks who find
themselves stuck in conflict~ by being a mediator, trainer or guide through the conflict process.
Roane also works with the Restorative Justice program on campus and volunteers in the
community with the Restorative Justice Neighborhood Initiative. Roane currently serves on the
Ombuds Advisory Committeee and has served In a variety of roles over the years with PWA.
When Roane is not at work, she is travelling around the world with Semester At Sea (has sailed
4 times) on their 100 day voyages, hiking & biking and just enjoying the out of doors.

Have a Dream? What’s Stopping You?

Marcia Meier

Do you feel as if something is missing in your life? Do you yearn to do or create something more
meaningful? What’s stopping you? Most likely it is fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of failure.
Fear of what your friends and family will think of you. This session will coach you through and
past the fear of doing something you love or have wanted to do for a long time but hesitated
for fear of, well, all of the above. I left a safe and secure job to follow my dream of writing and
going back to school. It wasn’t easy, and the first step was letting go of fear. I’ll tell you how I
did it, and show you how you can, too.

Marcia Meier is an award-winning writer, editor and writing coach, published poet and former
director of the Santa Barbara Writers Conference. She is the author of Navigating the Rough
Waters of Today's Publishing World, Critical Advice for Writers from Industry Insiders (Quill
Driver Books, 2010) and Santa Barbara, Paradise on the Pacific, a coffee table book published in
1996 by Longstreet Press in Atlanta. She has freelanced or written for numerous publications,
including the Los Angeles Times, The Writer magazine and Santa Barbara Magazine, and is a
contributing writer to Miller-McCune Magazine online and an occasional blogger with The
Huffington Post. She worked at UCSB from 2008-2010, when she left to pursue a lifetime dream
of writing books and getting a master’s degree.

Self Defense
Gina Cancemi and Patty Monroy

Our workshop is based on an empowerment model where women teach women, a system of
thinking about safety based on women’s experiences of sexual violence. It is not martial arts.

Student leaders of the Rape Prevention Education Program, both Gina and Patty are part of the
Women’s Center staff. RPEP is heavily involved in programming throughout the year, providing
Self-Defense Training and raising awareness through full scale campaigns.

Sustainable Resilience
Charlene Chew-Ogi

(For lunch motivational presentation)

Composing your life? Need a few prompts? Hear one woman's story of how she has created
resilience and ease to build a career spanning 36 years and three campuses.

A past recipient of the Unsung Heroine Award, Charlene Chew-Ogi serves as the UCSB director
of Residential Life since 1990. She came up the Housing ranks in a traditional way. Charlene
was president of her residence hall at UC Irvine, resident assistant, peer counselor, received her
Master's Degree from USC, assistant dean/head resident at UC Irvine, director Middle Earth
Housing at UC Irvine, associate director of Housing at San Jose State. This year, the American
College Personnel Association (ACPA) Asian Pacific American Network recognized Charlene for
mentorship of professionals. Charlene is part of a women's writing group in Santa Barbara to
nurture the creative process. Married with a daughter attending UCSB, her purpose is to bring
"people kind" to the table of life to create joy, love and peace.
Tweet me! Use Twitter to Make Connections That Build Your Business
Lisa Braithwaite

Maybe you’re curious about Twitter, but don’t really get it. Or perhaps you have an account but
don’t know how to make it work for you.

This twittorial gives the whys, the whats and the hows of Twitter as one of the hottest social
media tools for marketing and growing your business, and making lasting connections with
prospects, colleagues and clients.

We’ll talk about the importance of social media to experts and influencers, plus effective
Twitter use, etiquette, terms, desktop and mobile applications, and how to make the most of
this free business-building tool both online and through in-person networking.

Lisa Braithwaite is a public speaking coach and trainer working with individuals and groups to
build their skills and confidence as speakers.Before launching her business in 2005, she worked
in the nonprofit sector in Santa Barbara for sixteen years as an advocate, educator and trainer,
creating and implementing programs, curricula, and training materials for nonprofit
organizations. Lisa’s philosophy is that public speaking is fun, it's an awesome way to express
yourself creatively, and that authenticity and passion are worth more than a thousand
techniques. She has been quoted in the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, the Santa
Barbara News-Press, Men’s Health Magazine and on Inc.com, and her blog, Speak Schmeak, is
one of the top public speaking blogs on the Web. She received her B.A. in Theater from Pomona
College and her M.A. in Education from UC Santa Barbara.When she's not speaking or coaching,
she's eating, cooking or reading about food, or traveling with her husband for the purpose of
eating and buying food.

Getting Dressed 101

Lori Cooper
This workshop will focus on how to dress for your body shape, lifestyle, and budget. Lively
discussions will be encouraged as will audience participation.

Lori Cooper has been professionally helping men and women dress their best for 6 years with
her business, Wardrobe Wisdom. Her background is in education and she is a Gaucho! Lori
generously shares the secrets of her professional background in retail merchandising, buying
and service to help you learn the savvy shopping and styling skills which make getting dressed a
pleasure. She lives in Santa Barbara with her husband, Don Lubach, and their two girls.

KIDS IN NATURE: Exploring the environment

Jennifer Thorsh, Jan Myers & Andy Lanes with UCSB Student Assistants

We will introduce the participants to the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and our award winning
Kids in Nature environmental education program. We will give a brief PowerPoint presentation
followed by hands on activities creating nature cards with native plants collected on the UCSB
campus and flower structure. We will provide information on each of the activities and copies
of the lesson plans so that participants will be able to share the knowledge with their children,
grandchildren, or teachers.

Jennifer Thorsch is the Katherine Esau Director of the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and
Ecological Restoration at UCSB. She is also the director of the Kids in Nature (KIN) program. Dr.
Thorsch earned her Ph.D. at UCSB in 1981 and then served as the lab director for Dr. Vernon
Cheadle, Chancellor at UCSB from 1962-1977 for 15 years. Dr. Thorsch is passionate about
providing hands on science education for underserved children in the Santa Barbara area. For
the past 10 years the KIN program, has provided over 1600 students with a yearlong, place-
based environmental education program. Jennifer and her staff have also developed a new
course for undergraduate students. The students learn environmental content as well as
effective teaching strategies and they practice through experience as docents for the KIN
students on all of the field trips and classroom activities.

Janet Myers has served as the KIN Coordinator for the past three years. She has a teaching
credential from the University of Reading in England and Masters Degree in Environmental
Studies.

Andy Lanes serves as the teaching assistant for the environmental education course. Andy
finished his Bachelors Degree at UCSB in Environmental Studies in 2011.

Exploring Your Genealogy

Melinda Crawford & Elizabeth Rogers

Elizabeth Rogers and Melinda Crawford will walk you through their journeys of genealogical
research, including what they have learned about themselves, their community and the
courage to carry on. They will also share some of their helpful hints and tools to genealogical
research.

Elizabeth Rogers has worked at UC Santa Barbara since November 2004. She currently works in
the Office of Equal Opportunity & Sexual Harassment. She began her genealogical research in
2007, developed and published a family history book, and has identified up to five generations
on all sides of her family. She has been able to trace some of her history back 10 generations–
to the Revolutionary War.

Melinda Crawford has been serving as the Employment/Training & Development Manager in
Human Resources at UC Santa Barbara since January 1, 2001. Melinda began researching on
her husband's family genealogy in 2003, which includes 17th century Virginian settlers, early
American Quakers and a Revolutionary War patriot. She is currently conducting research on
her Japanese-American heritage. Melinda is an active member of the Santa Barbara County
Genealogical Society and the National Japanese-American Historical Society.

It's (Almost) Never a Straight Line-Building a Professional Life

Deborah Karoff

Building a professional life is not necessarily a smooth, step-by-step or sequential process.

Usually careers develop in a non-linear way, sometime even haphazardly. This workshop will
discuss what to consider as you build your professional life including ways to describe your
current skill set and explain how it can be applied to different positions and settings. What are
your transferable skills and how can you use them to move into different positions?

Deborah Karoff is the Executive Director of the Academic Senate. Her prior work experience
includes twenty years as a human resources executive, teaching and coaching junior high school
students, and counseling positions. Deborah has a B.A. in Literature from Washington
University in St. Louis and a M.P.A. from University of Southern California. Although work is an
important component in Deborah's life, raising two teenage daughters is mighty compelling as
well!

The Incredibly, Amazing, Inspiring Story of the Artist in You

Lisa Slavid

This workshop is about tapping in to your creativity. We're ALL artists. Through a short series
of stories and group activities we'll set the stage for some direct creativity time. It is my belief
that when we create we tap into the best of ourselves and being present. It's expression, it's
magic, it's higher thinking, it's elegant solutions, it's inspiring, it's a legacy, it's a renaissance.
Come let your artist out to play.

"Peace is not the opposite of war, creation is." Jonathan Larson, author/playwright (RENT)
Lisa Slavid is a lifelong student and teacher. She's a painter, a photographer, a dj, a traveler, a
writer, and a published cartoonist. She plays towards being an artist of life. Her day job is
pretty cool too: Coordinator of Organizational and Performance Management for Housing &
Residential Services, which entails leadership development, diversity facilitation, best practices
research, teambuilding, and generally working with good people to make great things happen.
For the past two years, the cartoon "Peadoodles" has been popping out of her, and now there
are over 500 of these one-panel pieces. (Peadoodles is mainly about fruits and vegetables, and
also sometimes bugs and small animals. You can find it on Facebook).

You and Your Local Agrifood System

Santa Barbara County Agrifood Systems Research Group

This workshop will discuss our findings about the SBC AFS (Santa Barbara Count agrifood
system) and how people in SBC can be involved both personally and communally in changing
the system in the direction of strengthened communities, better nutrition and environmental
support.

The SBC AFS research group began fall 2009 and is ongoing. Over 20 undergraduate and one
graduate student have participated, representing a range of departmental majors, with 10
currently active. Environmental Studies professor David Cleveland is the group mentor. During
the first year of the project they documented the fruit and vegetable AFS and evaluated the
effect of 100% localization. During the current year they are researching scenarios for synergies
among improved nutrition, reduced GHGE and strengthened communities.

Take Care of Your Body and It Will Take Care of You - Naturally!
Linda Croyle

In this interactive and informative workshop, you will discover what holds you back from you
being all you can be by:

• Learning techniques to feel better instantly

• Identifying your limiting beliefs
• Uncovering the cause of your issues (not just addressing the symptoms)

If 2011 is the year for you to resolve your physical and/or emotional issues or to finally make
your dreams a reality, this workshop is for you!

A former waitress, children’s zookeeper, high school teacher & coach, bartender, truck driver,
and medical software consultant, Linda Croyle has spent the last 15 years using those skills and
more as an Assistant Director for UCSB’s Residential Life and the last 9 years as a natural health
care practitioner.

With a B.S. in Physical Education and Master’s in Psychology from Harvard, she makes practical
sense of the mind/body connection. Linda’s style is informal, entertaining and interactive. She
focuses on giving people the information, tools and space they need to help them figure out
why and where they are blocked and ultimately helping them to get unblocked so that they can
be their best selves, especially in the areas of physical and emotional wellbeing.