GEO Summit 2021

Join us as our Education Beyond Borders 2020 cohort presents to the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network! The selected students will present a manifesto project completed during the Fall 2020 Education Beyond Borders course, anchored on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #3: Good Health & Well-being. 4 student groups will present their manifestos, highlighting their commitment to advancing SDG 3 towards the 2030 agenda.

Student Presenters:

• Alexandria Maldonaldo, Saybrook University
• Jaimes McNeal, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
• Derek Galanto, Saybrook University
• Daniella Graves, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
• Nicole Kopal, IMC Krems
• Denisse Salinas, CETYS Universidad
• Ana Patrica Munoz, CETYS Universidad
• Sophie Weigel, SRH
• Vickya Leslie, Saybrook University
• Ivanna Montalban, CETYS Universidad
• Sandra Calles, Saybrook University

Sihle Mooi is the Executive Director of Rays of Hope, Rays of Hope is celebrating 30 years this year of serving the community of Alexandra in the areas of Orphaned and Vulnerable Children, Education and Work Readiness.

Sihle was born and raised in Sowetoand has been involved in community development and leadership development work for 17 years. He completed a BA(law) at Wits University(Johannesburg), Bachelors in theology at George Whitefield College (Cape Town). He Completed the Cornhill Training Course (London), and Pastor in Residence Programme at Hope’s House (Los Angeles).

He speaks on topics such as Race in South Africa and Understanding Townships, and views himself as a bridge between diverse communities; the privileged and the poor, black and whites, townships and suburbs. This is what he does now at Rays of Hope, connecting Alexandra and Sandton.

Bertha Maringi is the Orphaned and Vulnerable children’s programme manager for Rays of Hope an NPO celebrating 30 years of working in the community of Alexandra. Rays of Hope is a ministry arm of Rosebank Union Church.

Bertha completed a Diploma in Education (High School teaching) from the University of Zimbabwe and a Bachelor of Social Work Hons from the University of South Africa. She holds various certificates in counselling and Child Protection.

Bertha was born and grew up in a small town in Zimbabwe. She came to South Africa in 2008 at the peak of unrest and economic hardships in Zimbabwe. Together with her husband they lived at The Methodist Church for six months, a refugee camp that housed over five thousand Zimbabweans. The two survived on selling on the streets and at traffic lights on weekends because they didn’t have legal documents and also had no work.

Bertha became a domestic worker for a family who are members of Rosebank Union Church who became her family in SA and they helped Bertha find a teaching job with the Department of Education and later with Rays of Hope. Bertha joined the Child Headed Households programme as it was starting and helped launch the teenage girls support group which has grown over the years and has empowered so many young girls in Alexandra.

Bertha has been invited to speak at various women’s and family conferences on topics such as Child protection, parenting today’s teenagers and marriage.

John Gilmour is the Founder and current Executive Director of the LEAP Science and Maths Schools, and co-founder of the BRIDGE and the South African Extraordinary Schools Coalition. John attended Wynberg Boys High School and obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Cape Town. 

In collaboration with other leaders in Education, John co-founded The South African Extraordinary Schools Coalition which represents a collection of intervention-based independent and public schools and organisations committed to transforming the lives of socio-economically vulnerable children. 

John serves on the Teach with Africa, Global Teachers Institute (Chairperson) and REALISTIC Boards and is an active participant on the Advisory Committee to the Historic Schools Restoration Project. 

Dr. Gerhard Tucek is head of the “Institute of Therapeutic Sciences and Midwifery Sciences,” co-head of the department of health sciences, and director of the “Josef Ressel Center – Horizons of personalized music therapy” at the IMC University of Applied Sciences in Krems, Austria. Gerhard’s main areas of research include establishing a scientifically based training on music therapy that is as close as possible to real world settings in clinical practice. Furthermore, Gerhard focused on integrating cultural and personal factors in clinical practice & research of music therapy. The main focus of his clinical practice as a music therapist was in the field of neurorehabilitation, pediatric oncology, and intensive care. Throughout his career, Gerhard has a host of research achievements, peer reviewed publications, and book contributions. 

Jorge Francisco Sánchez (Jofras) es artista visual y doctor en ciencias sociales. Profesor universitario del Colegio de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades en el Centro de Enseñanza Técnica y Superior, campus Tijuana. Sus líneas de investigación son procesos socioculturales, zonas urbanas, fronteras, espacio público y participación política; estos temas también son abordados en su práctica artística, en la que colabora con estudiantes, comunidades y otros profesionales en la producción de diseños y narrativas audiovisuales que abordan cuestiones sociales y ambientales, así como los usos del espacio y las imágenes. Actualmente estudia la organización de colectivos culturales y movimientos ciudadanos que abordan problemáticas de seguridad y vida cotidiana en la frontera México-Estados Unidos, a través de la creación y el pensamiento crítico.

Jofras is a visual artist with a master's degree in cultural studies and a Ph.D. in social science. He is a university professor based in the College of Social Science and Humanities at CETYS Universidad, campus Tijuana, Mexico. He teaches both undergraduate and graduate students about the nexus of social practice and research. In this capacity, he contributes as coordinator of the Center of Excellence in Human and Social Development. He collaborates with youth groups, communities, and other professionals to discuss social and environmental issues. He approaches these topics through documentary film and photography, graphic art, and design. Following this line of work, he studies the organization of art collectives and citizen movements that address public safety and quality of life in the US-Mexican border.

Lori Taylor is a clinical dietitian with 25 years of experience in patient care, practitioner education, and health care consulting. Lori's first lab job in college was for the Linus Pauling Institute, which sparked her interest in nutrition. She trained as a biochemist at UC Berkeley in the lab of folate researcher Dr Jesse C Rabinowitz, and later worked as a molecular biologist. Lori then earned master's degrees in education from Stanford University and in nutrition from Bastyr University, becoming one of the first dietitians trained in a natural medicine paradigm. Lori is has specialized training in oncology and functional digestive disorders through the Institute for Functional Medicine. She is trained in sustainable agriculture, holds a Permaculture Design Certificate from the prestigious Regenerative Design Institute in Bolinas, CA, and is a graduate of their Ecology of Leadership program. In addition, Lori is a small-scale beekeeper and shepherds a burgeoning urban food forest at her home in Coupeville, on Whidbey Island, in Washington State. In addition to her consulting practice, Save Your Plate, Lori chairs the graduate program in Integrative and Functional Medicine at Saybrook University and has taught nutrition to the naturopathic medical students at Bastyr University. She is a founding member of Coupeville's Farm to School program.

Lori is also a PhD student, currently working on a review paper and a book on autoimmune gastritis, the precursor condition to pernicious anemia, and is a subject matter expert on B12, folate, methylation and systems biology.

Round out the day with our TCS Staff Global Distinction cohort's final presentation to Ventanilla de Salud, an arm of the Consulate of Mexico. The inaugural TCS Global Distinction cohort has spent the past year working on a virtual community service project for Ventanilla de Salud, with 4 specific groups and areas of expertise including Evaluation, Volunteerism, Service, and Strategy. This one hour presentation will showcase the work of the cohort with a special highlight on the work of Ventanilla de Salud and a commitment to continual partnership.

TCS Staff Global Distinction Cohort Presenters:

·      Bano Razaq, Financial Aid Advisor, TCS System Office

·      Cassandra Peel, Program Director/Administrative Faculty, Pacific Oaks College

·      Chelsie Petrowske, Associate Director, Human Resources, TCS System Office

·      Danielle Bohrer, Manager of the Office of Continuing Education, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

·      Danielle McNary, Marketing Communications Coordinator, TCS System Office

·      David Pastor Jr, Program Manager, Pacific Oaks College

·      Hasani Gorden, Director of Admissions and Outreach, Saybrook University

·      Justin Lopez, Assistant Director of Admissions, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

·      Kylana Garrison- Reid, Senior Project Manager, TCS System Office

·      Lagrange "Val" Smith, Executive Assistant, Saybrook University

·      Laura Brewer, Director of Research and IRB, Saybrook University

·      Lisa Bain, Executive Assistant, TCS System Office

·      Maribel Garcia, Sr. Student Accounts Advisor, TCS System Office

·      Mary Berberian- Nalbandian, Senior Academic Advisor, Pacific Oaks College

·      Michele Kotte, Regional Enrollment Trainer, TCS System Office

·      Mike Fitz, Associate University Registrar , The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

·      Ray Bailey, Director of Online Programs, Saybrook University

·      Shannon Stark, Admissions Counselor, Colleges of Law

·      Taylor Molandro, Marketing Account Coordinator, TCS System Office

·      Thomas Henry, Institutional Research Analyst, TCS System Office

·      Tracy Lynn Deis, Senior Instructional Designer, TCS System Office

·      Victoria Martinez, Senior Admissions Counselor, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology