Susan E. Sather nbsp;is a senior program advisor at the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) in Portland, OR. She leads the Laboratory's professional learning teams (PLT) work, supervising and conducting PLT training in schools around the nation. She also contributes to research on issues such as high school academic rigor. Sather has 38 years of experience in education, 17 as a teacher working with a dropout prevention program and in special education. Prior to joining NWREL, she was western regional manager and a staff developer for a whole-school reform model, Ventures Education Systems. She has conducted research and evaluation through the School of Education and the School… of Social Welfare at the University of California Berkeley, and with ARC associates in Oakland, California. At ARC, she was a member of the Leading for Diversity research team and co-author of Leading for Diversity: How School Leaders Promote Positive Interethnic Relations. She has a PhD in educational administration from the University of California Berkeley.
Ernest W. Walker is the Diversity Programs Coordinator with Alameda County Social Services Agency. He has a wide range of experiences in diversity and conflict management among African American churches. He has served as a facilitator of the film The Color of Fear. He has also worked with churches in conflict, and in strategic planning and team building for nonprofits and government agencies. He is a former consultant with the Alban Institute and is currently a contract mediator with the U.S. Postal Service's REDRESS worksite mediation program. He is past chair of Conciliation Forums of Oakland, a com�munity mediation organization. He also worked as a researcher for ARC Associates,… documenting best practices of public schools that manage diversity. He has a bachelor of arts degree from Rutgers University in New Jersey and a master of divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary, also in New Jersey. He is author of scholarly articles and is also a part-time instructor on African American religions at Contra Costa College in San Pablo, California.