The barriers to cultural humility are not external, but internal, as our own history holds us back. In contrast, cultural awareness enables us to meaningfully engage with diverse constituencies. Stereotypes and assumptions keep us separated.
Cultural humility is an ongoing process on both the interpersonal and intrapersonal levels, as opposed to a skill that can be mastered as is implied with the term cultural competency (Hook, 2014; Tervalon & Murray-Garcia, 1998). That’s why our training is designed to be iterative, as we come alongside an organization in their exploration of cultural humility.
We believe that cultural humility is a way of life that involves and benefits all of us. That’s why a portion of our profit goes to local non-profit organizations that engage in cultural humility and equity promotion in our communities. Some of our partners are listed below:
We are committed to helping organizations train constituents on issues relevant to cultural humility, equity, and intersecting identities; evaluate internal policies; and explore community partnerships for meaningful corporate responsibility and social justice.
Our collaborative has extensive experience in program administration, accreditation, and education with micro-, mezzo-, and macro-level practice. Our founding collaborators all hold degrees in social work, and this commitment to the ethics and values of the social-work profession is imbued in our programming.
We tailor our services to organizational needs and focus on the population employed and served by the organization.
Our collective comes from diverse backgrounds that ground and enliven our work.
Azi is a native of Southwestern Pennsylvania, where her maternal family-roots trace back to 1799. Her father’s arrival in the U.S. in 1965 marks a key inflection point in her complex immigration story. Azi’s career is founded in mental health services research. She worked at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic from 1997–2007. She has served as faculty at Slippery Rock University, University of Pittsburgh, Youngstown State University, and is currently an Associate Professor of Social Work at PennWest University California. Her teaching encompasses the areas of social work with groups, cultural diversity, and social work interviewing skills. Her research collaboration has focused on issues related to cultural humility, competence, and work with immigrant and refugee populations.
Sheri is a fourth-generation Japanese American, whose parents and grandparents were interned in detention camps during World War II. Sheri unites insight into civic structures with her social work experience, having worked for Congressman John P. Murth and Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi before starting her social work career. She received her BA in Political Science from UCLA, her MSW from the University of Pennsylvania, and her PhD from Widener University. Sheri served as a clinical social worker at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, and is currently a professor at PennWest University California.
Monica Cwynar, LCSW, brings robust experience in the healthcare, mental health, and educational settings to her work. She has over 25 years of experience in the Pittsburgh region as a social worker in a wide variety of contexts, including medical, geriatrics, children and families, criminal justice, and community outreach. Growing up as the child of an interracial marriage in a small town, Monica learned at an early age to think about cultural issues with nuance and empathy. Monica decided she wanted to be a social worker when she was 13 years-old and has been energized by her chosen path ever since. She is currently a therapist with Thriveworks and Cerebral, two national mental health practices where she specializes in depression, anxiety, family therapy, trauma, and issues for women and people of color. In addition, she provides counseling to children and families in the child welfare system with Three Rivers Adoption Council. Monica has served as an adjunct professor at Carlow University and Penn West University, teaching at the bachelor’s and master’s level courses including Introduction to Social Work, Social Work with Families, Interviewing, Impact of Trauma and co-creating a cultural humility curriculum and co-teaching Cultural Awareness for Human Services Professionals. She co-led a civil rights service-learning course for college students from American University, University of Pittsburgh, and West Virginia University, which lead to the creation of the award-winning documentary film Democracy: A Steady, Loving Confrontation. She has published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, been interviewed on NPR and KDKA AM and been quoted in Huffington Post, Business Insider, Parade Magazine, Newsweek on topics ranging from civil rights, Black mental health, narcissism, caregiving, jealousy and co-parenting.
Jessica comes from a diverse family which instilled in her a commitment to global engagement and social justice. She has served on the faculty of Carlow University for over a decade where she integrates community-engagement into her courses on social work and cultural awareness. Her passion for teaching, training, and facilitating was recognized with the Excellence in Teaching award in 2018. Jessica’s commitment to advocacy can be seen in her work with the Somali Bantu community and as the training manager for Public Allies, which focuses on diversifying the non-profit leadership pipeline. Jessica has served as a consultant with the Allegheny County Department of Human Services Office of Equity and Inclusion, developing and implementing a race-equity curriculum for the human services, criminal justice, and public health sectors. She is the co-author of Community-Based Global Learning (2018). The book was developed as a result of a decade of leading service-learning programs around the globe—from the Navajo Nation to Tanzania—and explores the theory and practice of connecting people across cultures.
Janice is a second-generation Korean American who was raised in Southern California. She received her BA in English, a minor in Public Policy, and her MSW from UCLA. Janice received her PhD from the University of Pittsburgh and continued with advanced postdoctoral training at the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion at the Veterans Administration Pittsburgh Healthcare System. For over a decade, Janice has taught at graduate social work programs across the United States on topics encompassing cultural diversity and awareness, social work practice in macro settings, research methods, clinical assessment, and grant writing. She is currently part of the robust Social Work faculty at PennWest University California. Janice is a systems-level thinker and pairs her expertise with a perspective on how power and oppression continue to shape and reinforce all of life’s experiences. She is skilled in transforming extant research into consumable organizational practice.
Marta was born and raised in Southwestern Pennsylvania among a large, tight-knit family. Her education and career path has traversed a wide array of settings as a student, AmeriCorp member, and Social Worker. She earned an MSW from The University of Michigan and her PhD in Family Science from The University of Maryland. She has extensive clinical and community experience, having worked with kids in Pittsburgh Public Schools, gender-violence survivors and perpetrators, and clients at Whitman Walker HIV clinic. Her research interests include egalitarian couples, family/work integration, and building compassion/empathy to invigorate activism and social change. Marta is a Professor of Social Work and Director of Women’s Studies at PennWest University California. Her courses embrace intersectional theory and practice, incorporating race, gender, socio-economic status, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, and abilities.
Yesmina grew up in Pittsburgh as the daughter of a fourth-generation Pittsburgher and first-generation Egyptian-American. She received her BA in Political Science from University of California, San Diego, her MSW from PennWest University California, and is currently working towards her MBA at Pennsylvania Western University. Yesmina grew up surrounded by multiple languages, and has extensive experience working with refugee and immigrant populations from around the world, including Congolese, Buhtanese, Afghan, Korean, and Central American families. Additionally, she is skilled in leading support groups, facilitating focus groups, and in driving qualitative research and analysis. All of her work focuses on inclusion and partnering with community.
