Celebrating the Legacy of Marie Fielder: Webinar Presentation by Fielder Fellows 

The Marie Fielder Center for Democracy, Leadership, and Education invites you to an inspiring webinar honoring the legacy of Dr. Marie Fielder, a pioneer in educational equity and social justice. This event will feature Fielder Center Fellows, including students and alumni, who are leading impactful initiatives in their fields.

These speakers are true change agents driving impactful initiatives that reflect Dr. Fielder’s commitment to democracy, leadership, and educational equity.

Date: January 13, 2025

Time: 3–4:30 p.m. PT | 6–7:30 p.m. ET

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from the next generation of leaders and innovators who are making a difference in their communities and beyond.

Featured Speakers

Susan J. Eddington, Ph.D.

Dr. Eddington is a Media Psychology scholar/practitioner, is an award-winning communications strategist, applied psychologist, management consultant, and accredited public relations counselor (APR). President of IMAGES-IMAGES, a communications and management consulting firm, she has more than 30 years’ experience developing communications campaign strategies. Her work also includes government relations, community relations, corporate social responsibility, and issues management. Dr. Eddington has developed communications strategy and served as an official spokesperson for three winning U.S. presidential campaigns. Her research interests, writing, and practice areas include media representations and media effects, disinformation, misinformation and mal-information, inter-group relations, social identity, and strategies to increase sustainability. She is Founder of the Center for the Study of Media, Technology & More, and Past President of the Society for Media Psychology & Technology, Division 46 of the American Psychological Association. She received her Ph.D. in Media Psychology from Fielding Graduate University.

Elizabeth Cooke, Ph.D.

Over the past 16 years, Dr. Cooke has cultivated a distinguished career in Education. In 2022, Elizabeth earned her doctorate and has since served as a professor at Santa Barbara City College, where she specializes in learning psychology and diagnostic student plans. Previously she had worked as an Educational Specialist, focusing on individualized student support, curriculum development, and teacher mentoring. With advanced degrees in English and Education and a strong command of mathematics, Elizabeth has not only served as an instructor but also as a coach, adeptly bridging both disciplines to foster a comprehensive educational experience.

Jenny Johnson-Riley, Ph.D.

Dr. Johnson-Riley is a scholar-activist working at the intersections of race and gender in the movement to end violence against women. She earned her PhD in Human Development from Fielding Graduate University, where she also held the honor of serving as a member of the inaugural cohort of doctoral fellows at the Marie Fielding Center from Democracy, Leadership, and Education. Jenny Johnson-Riley has presented her research at the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education and National Women’s Studies Association. Jenny Johnson-Riley’s professional work includes counseling survivors and perpetrators of sexual violence, program development, and public policy consulting. She currently works in a private psychotherapy practice in Washington state and is on the Board of Directors for the Washington State Association for the Treatment and Prevention of Sexual Abuse.

Hendrik (Roel) Krabbendam

Monocultures of identical K-12 classrooms proliferate from the Amazon to the Sahara to the Himalayas, and they certainly remain the norm in the United States. Yet evidence suggests high teacher dissatisfaction and low student engagement. Can re-imagining existing school environments powerfully engage students and teachers, inexpensively, without rebuilding them from scratch? Schools delivering visceral experiences supported by diverse environments would be physically re-organized as communities of practice, with like-minded teachers working together in workspaces that build community, promote identity and support collaboration. Poorly resourced schools in the United States without the resources to rebuild schools, most serving minority communities and many performing poorly, stand to gain the most from this idea. The focus of this study: can the legacy schools serving those districts be re-imagined to better support teachers and students, re-invigorating not just the building but also the lives of their inhabitants?

Cory Logston

After 25 years as a set designer and art director in commercial production, Cory decided to change careers. She has always been interested in media for pro-social change. She is using her commercial and psychology backgrounds to research a virtual reality project for her dissertation in Media Psychology at Fielding Graduate University, which she expects to complete by January 2025. Once finished, Cory plans to present her findings at various educational and psychological conferences worldwide. She also leverages her expertise to start a non-profit company, Immersive Reality for Education and Research which focuses on the production of virtual reality for good.

Wendy Muhlhauser-Tingblad, Ed.D.

Dr. Muhlhauser-Tingblad (a.k.a children’s author SissyMarySue) is a social entrepreneur, thought leader, educator, storyteller, speaker, consultant, author, playwright, lyricist, and podcaster (Educating Empathy). She received an Ed.D. in Education with an Emphasis in Leadership For Change Studies and a concentration in Media Technology and Innovation from Fielding Graduate University. Dr. Muhlhauser-Tingblad is the Founder/Executive Director for SissyMarySue Education Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (www.sissymarysue.org) through which she leads and facilitates work surrounding social and ecological justice through teaching, speaking, consultancy, musical plays, storytelling, empathy and multimedia initiatives to advocate for the preservation of childhood through play. In addition, Dr. Wendy Muhlhauser-Tingblad is also the founder and CEO of SissyMarySue LLC, which owns the IP rights to her children’s books Jelly Beans the Cheetah and Hope (2014) and EMPATHY AIRLINES: Jelly Beans the Cheetah and Hope, Book 2 (2019) and her songs, musical play (Jelly Beans the Cheetah and Hope) and her characters. She is also focused on female empowerment, most recently in the area of diversifying aviation, hosting the Walk/Run To FLY! Empowering Aviation with Inclusion 5K yearly event. Dr. Muhlhauser-Tingblad previously founded and ran Jelly Beans Creative. Learning programs in the Minnesota for 17 years. She began her nonprofit and social entrepreneurial career in 1996.

Nathan Smith, MA, MSW, LCSW, LADC

Nathan is a fifth-year doctoral candidate in the Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology program at Fielding Graduate University. He is the interim president and vice president of Fielding’s Black Student Association and a Marie Fielder Center for Democracy, Leadership, and Education Research Fellow. Nathan is a current Psychology Fellow at Yale University, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry through the Connecticut Mental Health Center’s (CMHC) Substance Use and Addiction Treatment Unit (SATU) and The Consultation Center (TCC). Next year, Nathan will transition into a Postdoctoral Associate position at Yale University’s CMHC’s Young Adult Service program. Additionally, Nathan is a Connecticut licensed clinical social worker and alcohol and drug counselor.

About Katie McGraw, Ph.D.

Dr. McGraw is the Associate Provost for Research, Extramural Funding, and Faculty Development, as well as the Director of the Marie Fielder Center for Democracy, Leadership, and Education. Dr. McGraw brings 20 years of higher education experience in academic adistration research development, research compliance, and grants administration, as well as program development and review, faculty development, and strategic planning. She has experience working at the institutional level reporting to Graduate Dean, Provost, Vice President, and President. Dr. McGraw is a highly successful grant writer with an extensive grant writing and grants management record, including National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health.