Meet our team of experts

Climate STARR Convener

Carolyn is a licensed psychotherapist specializing in individual and collective trauma and resilience. She is the founding Director of Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience (STAR), a justice and conflict informed training program begun in 2002 that has resourced thousands of people worldwide. She is the author of The Little Book of Trauma Healing: When Violence Strikes and Community Security is Threatened and lives in Harrisonburg VA.

Elaine worked Central America as program director for an NGO in the1980’s and 1990’s,a time of conflict and war. She served as STAR Director for ten years and has lead trainings on five continents. She is the co-creator of two specialized STAR trainings, one focused on migration/immigration and one on incarceration. She has trained in prisons and compiled Village STAR, a resource for short STAR trainings. She serves as a consultant to individuals and organizations.

As the US Immigration Education National Program Director of Mennonite Central Committee, Saulo coordinates immigration law training for nonprofits and leads Borderlands Learning Tours on the Mexico/US border. He is co-creator of the STAR based immigration and migration training. Born in Guatemala, he is a Canadian citizen who now lives in South Bend, Indiana in the US. His personal experience of applying STAR principles to his life experiences imbues his work with compassion and wisdom.

David’s expertise in conflict, civil rights, reconciliation, narratives, and community organizing has taken him around the globe, to universities (including Notre Dame  and Boston University), and to his own neighborhood as a community builder. He is the author of The Little Book of Transformative Community Conferencing, a Hopeful, Practical Approach to Dialogue and the Founder and Principal Narrator for CounterStories Consulting LLC in Atlanta, Georgia.

Sue is Director of racial/ethnic engagement for Mennonite Church USA. She is co-founder and co-director of ReconciliAsian, a peace center in Los Angeles specializing in conflict transformation and restorative justice for immigrant churches. A life shaping time for her as a Korean American was witnessing the 1992 uprising while studying at UCLA (University of California, Los Angelos).

Donna is a licensed psychologist with specialties in trauma, resilience, peacebuilding, neuropsychology, and forensic psychology. As the founder of the Minnesota Peacebuilding Leadership Institute, she brought training in STAR, restorative justice, and racial equity to more than 16,000 people in her region. She is the instigator of the GRAAMY! Ride – Graamy Rides Across AMerica Yes! to raise funds for climate action organizations. She brings passion and enthusiasm to all her work.

Climate STARR collaborative members are advised by Wayne Teel, PhD. a specialist in ecology, soil, biochar, and environmental science in the Department of Integrated Science and Technologies, James Madison University. He is an expert gardener and grows native trees and plants around his straw-bale insulated home in Keezletown, VA.  

Beverly is an enrolled is a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. She has 20 years of experience in nonprofit management and public administration and is passionate about building liberating and healing tools for intergenerational and historical trauma. She is the Leadership Visionary and Equity Strategist at Bushyhead Consulting, where she partners with organizations to create transformative and sustainable change. She lives in Minnesota.