Stephen Wall is an enrolled member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe/White Earth Reservation. Stephen was born in Roswell, New Mexico and was raised on and near the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation in southern New Mexico. After graduating high school he attended Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. Upon completing his B.A. in Anthropology, Stephen attended law school at the University of New Mexico and graduated in 1975. Stephen has worked with the American Indian Law Center as research analyst, worked with the Albuquerque Area Indian Health Board as a community development specialist and served as Behavioral Health Coordinator for the Tohono O'odham Health Department in Sells Arizona. In Mescalero, New Mexico, he served for 11 years in the Mescalero Apache Tribal Court as the Prosecutor and Chief Judge. He is currently the Tribal Justice Specialist for American Indian Development Associates (AIDA) and is adjunct professor at the Institute of American Indian Arts.

Stephen's wife, Laura Fragua-Cota, is a graduate of Southwestern College.

Dr. Tiffany Rush-Wilson is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and Co-Owner of the Chagrin Counseling Associates and Eating Recovery Clinic in Pepper Pike, Ohio. She earned her Ph.D. in Counseling (with a Psychology cognate) from the University of Akron, and concentrated in the areas of Women's Issues, Eating Disorders and Multicultural Issues.

In addition to being an entrepreneur and accomplished practitioner, Dr. Rush-Wilson has extensive clinical supervisory experience and accomplished presenter in professional forums in the U.S.A and in Canada.

As the Skill Development Coordinator for Walden University's Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling program, Dr. Rush-Wilson trains and teaches, chairs and sits on many doctoral dissertation and masters thesis committees, and works very closely with CACREP (Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs) standards. She has been invaluable to Southwestern College already as a consultant in these areas.

Tiffany is also a dogged long-distance runner, is fluent in French, and currently resides in Toronto , Canada , where her husband, Enloe DeShawn Wilson is pursuing an advanced degree in Theological Studies. Her daughter Arbor is six years old and is in the French Immersion program at a school in Toronto.

Sandra Ingerman, MA, teaches workshops internationally on shamanic journeying, healing, and reversing environmental pollution using spiritual methods.  She has trained and founded an international alliance of Medicine for the Earth Teachers and shamanic teachers. Sandra is recognized for bridging ancient cross-cultural healing methods into our modern culture addressing the needs of our times. Sandra is a licensed Marriage and Family therapist and Professional Mental Health Counselor. She is also a board certified expert on traumatic stress as well as certified in acute traumatic stress management.

Sandra is the author of Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self, Welcome Home: Following Your Soul’s Journey Home, A Fall to Grace, Medicine for the Earth: How to Transform Personal and Environmental Toxins, Shamanic Journeying: A Beginner’s Guide, and How to Heal Toxic Thoughts: Simple Tools for Personal Transformation.  She is the author of “The Soul Retrieval Journey”  “The Beginner’s Guide to Shamanic Journeying” and “Miracles for the Earth” lecture programs produced by Sounds True. For more information, you may visit Sandra's website.

Stephanie J. W. Ford

Stephanie J. W. Ford received her Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision with a specialization in Clinical Mental Health at the University of Akron . She currently serves as the Field Experience Coordinator for the Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling program at Walden University . Stephanie has been a professor for undergraduate and graduate programs. Stephanie has practiced as a counselor in community mental health settings, college and university counseling centers as well as in a hospital setting. She has served as a research supervisor and coordinator for Greene, Peters and Associates as well as the Counseling Center at Baldwin-Wallace College. She has research numerous areas including domestic violence, severity of mental illness on college campuses and diversity issues in counseling, group work, mental health diagnosis and supervision. She is committed to advancement of mental health care for all people. Besides her commitment to clinical practice, educating students and research Stephanie is passionate about impacting individuals to live healthy and rewarding lives. She spends her leisure time with her husband, three children, dancing and preparing gourmet meals.

Will Wilson

Will Wilson grew up as a military "brat" following his father to many army assignments throughout the world. He graduated from high school in Germany and then graduated from the military academy at West point . He entered the army as a 2d lieutenant, eventually retiring from the army as a colonel 29 years later with assignments in special forces, to include Vietnam, armor, and eventually as a military psychologist. He has practiced in clinical psychology for over 30 years and established a consulting organization working in leadership, leader development, teamwork, high performance teamwork, and leadership in highly stressful and dangerous environments. Currently, Will is authoring a book in Military Leadership and serves as the Chair of Industrial/Organizational Psychology area for Capella University . He is also championing a certificate program there in Transpersonal Psychology. He has an affinity for being in the forests and mountains and feels most comfortable there. He likes to "hunt" with a camera and can relate many experiences of being in face to face experiences with other woods creatures in wonderful interactions. He has had enough experience in life and intense situations to know that we have only a mild understanding of the meaning of our existence and what we call consciousness. He is just beginning to learn and to be open.

Christine Konys

Christine Konys has a wealth of experience working with non-profit organizations and taking on fundraising initiatives both for non-profits and for political campaigns. She worked for four years as Chief of Staff to the Mayor of Nashua, New Hampshire, a city of over 55,000 residents. She has worked on numerous Presidential, Gubernatorial, Senate and Mayoral races, often in a leadership role, and was herself successfully elected four times to the House of Representatives in New Hampshire , where she rose to become Deputy Democratic Whip, the fourth highest ranking Democrat in the House. She served on the Board of the Nashua Soup Kitchen & Shelter for 12 years, elected to the position of Board President five times. She currently serves as Board President for REACH Beyond Domestic Violence, Inc. in Waltham, Massachusetts, and as Secretary of the Board of the Waltham Alliance to Create Housing. Married to David Konys for 35 years, she is the mother of Bethany, Megan and Matthew and grandmother of Alia Bella and Giacomo David Messina.

Leslie A. Gentile, Esq. is an attorney in private practice in Rocky River, Ohio where she concentrates in the area of Family Law and is particularly involved in representing victims of domestic violence. She earned a Bachelor of Music Ed. (BME) from Baldwin-Wallace College Conservatory of Music, and a J.D. from the University of Akron School of Law (Law Review, published). 

Leslie is the co-founder and vice president of Safety for Animals and Families in Emergencies (SAFE), a non-profit agency that provides temporary shelter for the companion animals of domestic violence victims.  She has helped develop a program that places SAFE animals for temporary fostering with inmates of the North East Pre-Release Center, a women’s correctional facility. She previously worked for and is again associated with the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, presently in structuring a new collaborative project with Genesis House Domestic Violence shelter to provide free legal representation for indigent victims of domestic violence. Leslie works closely with Cleveland’s Domestic Violence Center and Cuyahoga County Witness-Victim Services, and sits on the board of Genesis House.  She also serves on the Board of Music on a Mission, a non-profit organization which supports and promotes the value of music education and music participation.

Believing that universal transformation begins with the individual contributions of each of us, Leslie understands her practice as an instrument to provide an immediate measure of safety and peace and a first foothold out of darkness so that meaningful change can occur, and also as a mechanism to protect and uplift the most vulnerable among us. She is committed to breathing life into the notion of justice for all.

Dr. Victoria  Kress

Dave LaBanc currently works for Elmhurst College (EC) in Elmhurst, IL as the Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations.  He is responsible for building and maintaining institutional relationships that provide the College with various forms of support.  This support ranges from placement of student interns to securing million dollar gifts.

Before working at EC, he worked in alumni relations and annual giving for his alma mater, Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea , OH .  While at B-W, he served as the chapter advisor to the OH Beta Tau (OBT) chapter of Pi Lambda Phi (PLP).  OBT won nine of eleven awards at B-W's Greek awards in April 2006 and the George Beck Outstanding Chapter Award from PLP, the highest award conferred by the international organization.  In addition to his work with PLP, Dave served on the Board of Directors of the Northeast Ohio chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and co-chaired the 2003 Winter Rescue fundraising dinner and auction. For enjoyment, Dave tinkers with his motorcycles (1971 & 76 Triumph Bonneville's) and plays golf. He is Mexican-American and has roots in Colorado .

Dave has been, and will continue to be, an enormously valuable asset as we move ahead in our capital campaign and fundraising phases here at Southwestern.

Jill Dupont

Jill Dupont has a BA in fine art from University of Colorado at Boulder and spent her early career as a graphic designer. She moved to Santa Fe in 2004 and since then has veered in the direction of video, editing and film work. 

She believes in the healing ability of creative expression and sees video as an empowering storytelling medium. She has collaborated on many local video projects such as a Public Service Announcement for the Santa Fe Rape Crisis and Trauma Treatment Center, informative videos for Rosen Method Bodywork and Movement, promotional and documentary videos for Wise Fool New Mexico  including The Baggage Show which confronts domestic violence head on. Habitat for Hounds, The Graffiti Doghouse Build was selected for the 2008 Santa Fe Film Festival and she is happy to be a part of the Baca Horse Conservancy documentary short about a family preserving Spanish Colonial Horses in Belen, New Mexico.
 
Before turning her professional energies toward video and film work, Jill attended Southwestern College for a year and cultivated an enhanced level of consciousness that continues to impact profoundly how she moves through her current life. She constantly refers to the skill set she gained during her time at Southwestern.  

Her Light Figure was Johnny Cash.

Lewis Mehl-Madrona, MD, Ph.D., MPhil

Dr.Mehl-Madrona is the author of the Coyote Trilogy, three books about Native American inspired healing -- Coyote Medicine, Coyote Healing, and Coyote Wisdom. He is affiliated with the University of Arizona's Center for Frontier Medicine in Biofield Science, and has a small private practice in family medicine, geriatrics and psychiatry. He also conducts spiritual healing retreats and research in the effects of ceremonial prayer upon brain neurophysiology. You may find more information on his website.

Diane Polaskey, MA, MH, DOM, Dipl.Ac, DAAPM, BCETS, BCPM, CDE

Diane holds BA degrees in Psychology and Religion, MA degrees in Psychology and Herbology and a Doctorate in Oriental Medicine. Trained extensively since 1978, she became licensed in NM as a Doctor of Oriental Medicine in 1987 and is currently in private practice in Albuquerque. A graduate of Southwestern College, she is a certified Death Educator and Grief Counselor and has also been certified in therapeutic bodywork, Integrative Primary Care medicine, natural childbirth education, Interactive Guided Imagery, and both traumatic stress and pain management. Additionally, she is Director of the Center for Holistic Health and President of the SharetheWisdom Institute, a visiting faculty member at Southwest Acupuncture College, an Ordained Minister (CSE), and the NM Consortium leader for Reproductive Medicine Family Clinic (RMFC), specializing in acupuncture for infertility and pregnancy.

Since 1990, Diane has trained with the Foundation for Shamanic Studies and the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids (OBOD-UK), as well as having studied with various indigenous healers, medicine teachers, and renowned leaders in the field of Energy Medicine. A nationally known author and speaker, she lectures and teaches classes in Complementary and Energy medicine, Therapeutic Healing modalities, Burnout Prevention and Self-Care, Cross-Cultural Spirituality, Non-pharmacological Palliative Care, and a variety issues surrounding dying, death, and grief.

Amy K. Gearhard, M.S.

Amy K. Gearhard is the author of the Interdisciplinary Intervention Model for Autism Spectrum Disorder, which is a comprehensive method that addresses the naturally inseparable needs and challenges individuals on the spectrum face.

She is also the Co-founder and Clinical Director of Creative Perspectives, Inc. Autism Centers of Colorado, a non-profit organization, where the Model is implemented, serving hundreds of families and professionals. She is completing her certification as a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and currently writing her dissertation for a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. Amy is passionate about her work in the field and has spoken both nationally and internationally on Autism Spectrum Disorder and the Interdisciplinary Intervention Model.