Announcing the CARE Codesign Team
This week we're excited to introduce you to a group of people that are central to the CARE for Kids & Families project: our Codesign Team! This core group of individuals will soon begin meeting regularly to build and guide the design of the culturally responsive care curriculum and other initiative objectives. They will be supported by an Advisory Team and statewide Community Sounding Board who bring additional perspectives and knowledge.
The Codesign Team was formed through an extensive process of outreach and relationship building, including expanding on existing connections to our work at CoLab. Through this partnership engagement process potential members self-selected into the codesign and/or advisory teams based availability and interest. Collectively and individually, they posses a vast amount of lived and professional expertise relevant to culturally responsive care. We're immensely grateful for their dedication to this project!
Zalina Abner-Green is a health literacy educator and trainer for King County. Originally from Los Angeles, she recently moved to Washington by way British Columbia. Zalina loves the Pacific Northwest because of the transforming seasons, inspiring people, and endless nature adventures. Her passion is racial and social justice. She loves collaborating with the community through human-design and co-design processes and believes that those most affected by the work should be at the center. During her breaks from the cause, Zalina enjoys camping, traveling, music events, cooking, and dancing. She currently lives in Algona with her husband and three kitties (Vader, Cleo, Gizmo).
Dr. Someireh Amirfaiz has been a leader in the nonprofit sector for over 25 years, advocating for refugees, immigrants, and families of color impacted by poverty and racial and social disparities. By challenging and breaking stereotypes, she provides a public face for the rights of all refugees and immigrants in Washington. A tireless voice for children and families, Dr. Amirfaiz has served on numerous Boards and Committees, including Governor Jay Inslee’s Transition Committee, the Committee to End Homelessness, the Refugee and Immigrant Taskforce, and the United Way of King County’s Systems Support Impact Council, among many other posts. Currently, she serves as a Human Services Commissioner for the City of Bellevue and on the King County Healthcare for the Homeless Network Governance Council. Dr. Amirfaiz has received countless awards for her work. In recognition of her contributions and accomplishments to refugee and immigrant communities, the City of Seattle proclaimed November 22, 2013, the “Someireh Amirfaiz Day”.
Shayla Collins designs and leads mindfulness and compassion programs locally & nationally. She facilitates sessions for parents, parents of children with disabilities or special healthcare needs, providers working with children, youth, and families as well as individuals who have interfaced with the criminal justice system. Shayla is a devoted wife & a mother of two young boys. She enjoys reading, eating delicious vegetarian cuisine, and antique shopping.
Gabriel Hamilton has been working as a youth peer specialist for the past four years. What brought him to this work and keeps him engaged is the ability to help others whose plans just aren’t working out for one reason or another. Instead of letting them try to figure it out by themselves, Gabriel loves lending a hand to help and an ear to listen in order to come up with a plan together for success for the youth and family.
Rickey “Deekon” Jones is a Nez Pearce Tribal Member originally form Lapwai, Idaho. As the founder of the economic equity-based nonprofit organization Community Development Initiative and New Developed Nations, a Spokane based addictions and co-occurring disorders nonprofit, Deekon has focused his time and efforts into building resources for community improvement. Deekon also sits on the WA State Juvenile Justice Council, Racial Equity Committee and has partnered with Harvard University’s School on Addictions for further research and development in the field of addictions.
Georganna Sedlar, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor and a licensed clinical psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine. Dr. Sedlar is committed to improving youth and family access to effective mental health services to help children and adolescents resolve and overcome mental health struggles and adversity. Her professional activities include teaching, training, supervising, and supporting the workforce of mental health professionals. She in leadership roles for the MA in Applied Child and Adolescent Psychology: Prevention and Treatment program at the University of Washington. She is also involved in a Leadership for Quality initiative through CoLab for Community & Behavioral Health Policy that seeks to leverage community expertise, build local capacity to deliver EBPs and develop tools to help with implementation. Dr. Sedlar’s other roles include trainer and consultant for the CBT+ statewide initiative and has previously provided consultation to the Bellevue School District Mental Health Assistance Team.
Dr. Cindy Trevino is a bilingual, bicultural clinical child psychologist. She is interested in providing evidence-based, culturally responsive, and collaborative care for patients and families. She is the co-director of the Child and Adolescent Latino Mental Health Assessment and Treatment Clinic (CALMA Clinic) at Seattle Children's Hospital. Dr. Trevino's research focuses on using a task-shifting/task-sharing model in which peer-parents (promotoras), with little to no prior mental health training, deliver a group-based anxiety intervention to parents of young children with anxiety. Dr. Trevino also collaborates as a researcher and clinician on interventions studies with children with neurodevelopmental disabilities and craniofacial or genetic differences.
Trenecsia Wilson is a psychotherapist LMHC working at the intersection of mental health and domestic violence. She provides training and consultation in a number of areas and operates a private practice service Washington state. She is a mother, student, leader, advocate, and wife. Her passion to increase overall mental health and wellness outcomes for BIPOC communities continues to be the focus of her work.