Marie Fielder Center
Fielder Graduate Fellows
pictured: Fielder Fellow, Zabrina Epps (2018 cohort)
Fielder Graduate Fellows
Fielder Graduate Fellows
The Marie Fielder Center appoints current doctoral students as Fielder Graduate Fellows . These fellows are chosen through a competitive selection process from the university’s doctoral student population, based on the quality of their proposed research that aligns with the Fielder Center’s objectives. Serving for a typical term of two years, they work on a project that combines their research interests with the goals of the Fielder Center.
Fielder Graduate Fellows benefit from research and grant development guidance, professional growth opportunities, cohort meetings, and participation in Fielder Center events at national sessions. In addition to their research duties, they actively pursue external funding, publications, and presentations related to their work.
In September 2018, Fielder Graduate Fellows hosted an online panel discussion about their projects for alumni and other interested participants. To delve deeper into the Fellows’ projects, you can watch the recorded webinar available below.
Akane Ogren
Zabrina Epps has been a Marie Fielder fellow since 2018 and recently completed the doctoral program in Human and Organizational Systems (HOS). In her study, Leading the Future: Superintendents' Perceptions of Leadership and Future Education Systems, Zabrina interviewed school district leaders to explore their perspectives on leading for equity and envisioning future public education systems. She presented her research at the 2021 International Leadership Association (ILA) conference in Geneva, Switzerland.
Theresa Southam, Ph.D.
Theresa Southam is a 2020 PhD in Human and Organizational Development and continues her research as a Fielding ISI Fellow , Fielder Graduate Fellow, and has recently served as a CMMI Fellow. She is coediting a book and writing a chapter for Fielding University Press on unexpected leadership including in older women. A chapter on “naturalizing” intergenerational relations for Sangaku Press in 2022 adds to her publishing on the continuous development of older adults including two articles in the Journal of Certified Senior Advisors: Positive Aging Perspectives and a New Paradigm: Foray (4A) into Aging and Living from Inside Out: The Value of Conscious Aging and the Foray (4a+) Beyond Self Paradigm.
Flavio Mesquita da Silva, Ph.D.
Dr. Mesquita da Silva is a World Café international practitioner and a peace activist and researcher. He has been presenting, consulting, training, counseling and coaching since 1978 in the areas of Human, Social, Environmental, Educational, and Organizational Development for not-for-profit organizations, universities, communities, governments and corporate businesses, and the United Nations.
The Fielder Center is proud to have the following Fielder Graduate Fellows:
Susan Eddington (2016 cohort)
Media Psychology
Project Title: “Blacks on Primetime: Media Representations vs. the Real Deal”
Luis Ellis (2019 cohort)
Educational Leadership for Change
Project Title: “Culture, Systems, Psychosocial Development: Transforming Education for African Americans”
Zabrina Epps (2018 cohort)
Human and Organizational Development
Project Title: “Education Leadership: Levers for Equity & Social Change”
Linda Harris (2019 cohort)
Educational Leadership for Change
Project Title: “Culture, Systems, Psychosocial Development: Transforming Education for African Americans”
Deborah Johnson (2019 cohort)
Educational Leadership for Change
Project Title: “Culture, Systems, Psychosocial Development: Transforming Education for African Americans”
L.E. Johnson II (2019 cohort)
Educational Leadership for Change
Project Title: “Culture, Systems, Psychosocial Development: Transforming Education for African Americans”
Patricia Maxwell (2018 cohort)
Media Psychology
Project Title “Social Movement through Social Media #NeverAgain #MarchForOurLives”
Wendy Muhlhauser (2018 cohort)
Educational Leadership for Change
Project Title: “Teaching Empathy – To Encourage Racial Equality”
Dawn Jackman Murphy (2016 cohort)
Human and Organizational Development
Project Title: “The place of U.S. Folk Education in community empowerment and public dialogue concerning adult continuing and community education”
Jenny Johnson-Riley (2016 cohort)
Human and Organizational Development
Project Title: “The Impact of Activist Consciousness on Organizational Development: A Study of the American Anti-Rape Movement”
Flavio da Silva (2016 cohort – Ph.D. 2017)
Human and Organizational Systems
Project Title: “Generation of Peace Dialogues: How the World Café Approach to Community Understanding Leads to Cultures of Peace”
Theresa Southam (2018 cohort)
Organizational Development and Change
Project Title: “Words with the Wise”
Yvette Strickling (2019 cohort)
Educational Leadership for Change
Project Title: “Culture, Systems, Psychosocial Development: Transforming Education for African Americans”
Robin Lynn Treptow (2016 cohort)
Infant and Early Childhood Development
Project Title: “Turning a social justice lens on bias in early intervention: Pilot study of a workshop intervention for professionals”
Gregory Williams (2018 cohort)
Human and Organizational Development
Project Title: “How Can Truth-Claims of Voter Fraud Influence Public Policy? A Political Discourse Analysis”
About Dr. Marie Fielder
Dr. Marie Fielder was one of the most influential women in the history of California education.
Dr. Marie Fielder was one of the most influential women in the history of California education. Through her vision and commitment to justice throughout her lifetime and 60-year career, Dr. Fielder inspired many and left an indelible mark on the entire nation.
She was the first African American woman with a doctorate to teach in the San Francisco Bay Area and one of the first researchers who documented cultural bias in IQ tests. She helped the Berkeley public schools become the first in the nation to desegregate through two-way busing—one of her proudest accomplishments. She was also a member of the Founding Board of Trustees at Fielding.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Dr. Fielder contributed to the work of such civil rights leaders as Martin Luther King Jr. and Whitney Young. She also advised numerous government and civil-rights organizations.
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