Partnership Demonstration Team Members
CDS Staff | Partnership Demonstration Team Members
Joan Mali Bird, J.D., as a student with hidden disabilities, more specifically, learning disabilities (LD) first sought accommodations as a law student at William S. Richardson Law School. Raised in Hawai‘i and a product of the public school system at a time when LD was not fully recognized, Joan attended the University of Hawai‘i. She received a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts and a Certificate in Peace Studies in 1993. As a student intern she traveled to Mexico and Guatemala to work with refugees through Witness for Peace. Before graduating with a bachelor’s degree, Joan worked as a congressional intern in D.C. for Congressman Fofo Sunia, was part of the honors program, and the Campus Center Board, running the art gallery and working on student activities. After graduation she served as a VISTA (Volunteer In Service To America) in California and Hawai‘i, for the Los Angeles Free Clinic and the Hawai‘i Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. Later she worked as an advocate for the Domestic Violence Clearinghouse and Legal Hotline. She graduated from the William S. Richardson School of Law with a Juris Doctorate and a Certificate in Environmental Law. Before graduating, she worked as an extern in American Samoa for the Department of Commerce’s Coastal Management Program. Later she worked with the Hawai‘i State Office of Elections/Disability and Communication Access Board managing the Election Assistance for Individuals with Disability Grant. She then returned to Domestic Violence Action Center as an Outreach Advocate before taking her current position at the Law Practice of Jackie Kong as a paralegal, as she prepares for the bar exam.
Rhonda S. Black, Ed.D., is Professor of Special Education at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. She was Program Manager of a vocational education program for young adults and adults with disabilities for 9 years prior to receiving her doctorate from The University of Georgia. In 1996, she was hired as instructional faculty at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. Since that time her teaching has focused on instructional methods, research design, and skills for social competence. Her research has focused on community and social integration of individuals with disabilities, and influences of social competence and culture on the transition to adulthood for young people with disabilities. She has been a Postdoctoral Fellow for Center of Minority Research in Special Education (COMRISE) and her publications have appeared in Assessment for Effective Intervention, Action in Teacher Education, Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, Teacher Education and Special Education, Remedial and Special Education, Education and Training in Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, The Journal for Vocational Special Needs Education, and Teaching Exceptional Children.
Kimberley Gallant, LCSW, a licensed clinical social worker received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology at University of Hawai‘i Hilo at and a Master’s Degree in Social Work from UH Manoa. For the past 15 years, Kimberley has worked in the field of social work in San Francisco, Boston and Honolulu providing counseling and mental health services to children, adolescent and families. Kimberley’s experience includes work with depression, anxiety, eating disorders, domestic violence, sexual exploitation, HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, GLBTI issues and special education.
Mary Perez Hattori, B.Ed., Secondary Education, M.Ed., Educational Technology, Assistant Professor of Information Technology and Coordinator of the Center for Excellence in Learning, Teaching and Technology at Kapi‘olani Community College. She also teaches courses for the University of Hawai‘i Department of Educational Technology. Her areas of interest are object-oriented programming, computer applications, instructional technology, computer-supported collaborative learning, distance learning and fostering professional development for learning colleges. Her most current projects focus on distance learning pedagogy, universal design for learning, social networking technologies, and virtual environments.
Katie Heinrich, Ph.D., Assistant Professor and Head of the Social and Behavioral Health Sciences Specialization for the Office of Public Health Studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM). Her research interests include environmental correlates of physical activity and nutrition, health promotion, and obesity prevention. She is currently the Principal Investigator for the evaluation of the Healthy Hawaii Initiative (HHI) Nutrition Education Network, whose primary aims are to address the nutrition and physical activity educational needs for Hawai‘i’s food stamp eligible population. She is also Co-Investigator for the evaluation of HHI, a statewide health promotion project through the Department of Health that focuses on reducing health disparities among the people of Hawai‘i through the promotion of physical activity and nutrition and tobacco prevention and cessation. Heinrich has taught Introduction to Public Health and Health Promotion Research Methods and is supportive of universal design for learning strategies for both in-person and on-line learning environments. Her interest in disabilities was piqued when she realized the paucity of research on the built environment and health for people with disabilities. She participated in the 2008 Summer Leadership Institute on Disabilities and Diversity, hosted by the Center on Disability Studies at UHM and is currently helping analyze a dataset on the relationship between disabilities and health for children.
Karen Kane, M.A., is currently the Counselor for Students with Disabilities at Hawai‘i Community College. She was a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor for 2 years specializing in vocational planning for individuals who are blind and have multiple disabilities. She is a certified Secondary Education Teacher in Social Studies, has a Bachelor’s in Psychology, with minor degree in Hawaiian Studies and a Master’s Degree in Higher Education Administration. Her experience spans 15 years as a Disability Service Provider in higher education. Working at the only community college on the Big Island of Hawai‘i, opens opportunity to network with 15 high school transition coordinators, as well as state, private and federal vocational rehabilitation agencies to improve transition opportunities for individuals with disabilities. She currently provides services to 200 students who represent all types of disabilities. She has participated with CDS to coordinate research focus groups and has provided support services to CDS grant projects. She manages an Assistive technology lab on campus to educate all parties about Assistive Technology supports to enhance student opportunities and foster independence in learning.
Kathleen O. Kane, Ph.D., earned her degree in Political Science from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and continues to teach courses as an affiliate faculty for that department, the Women’s Studies Program and the Honors Program, with a focus on the intersections of theory, aesthetics, memory and film. As a Faculty Specialist at the Office of Faculty Development and Academic Support, she directs two programs: the Center for Teaching Excellence and the Faculty Mentoring Program. Her responsibilities include extending and expanding CTE and FMP support for faculty and TAs to continue to develop and thrive professionally in their teaching, research and service. She has been associated with the Center for Teaching Excellence since 1991 and with the Faculty Mentoring Program since 2003.
Linda Laine, M.A., is a lecturer in Mathematics at the University of Hawai‘i Honolulu Community College. She has taught in high schools and community colleges in California and Hawai‘i for the past fifty years. Her initial purpose in becoming a teacher was to do mathematics, but very quickly her primary interest shifted to how students learn. Following this interest, she obtained a master’s degree in Special Education with an emphasis in what was then known as “Educationally Handicapped.” Most recently, in 2005, she trained to test clients for dyslexia.
Mari S. Nakamura, M.A., was an Instructor for several of the Developmental & Remedial Studies programs at the University of Hawai‘i, Windward Community College/Employment Training Center for eight years. Mari has a BA and an MA in English Literature. She has taught a variety of subjects including English Literature, Shakespeare, and Chaucer and was the Communications instructor for the Essential Skills program and the Integrated Academics instructor for various vocational programs. She has piloted two language courses for at-risk postsecondary students, one using multisensory instruction for students with dyslexia. Mari is very aware of the issues that students with disabilities—especially hidden learning disabilities—face. She is fully cognizant of the overwhelming challenges all her students face in their efforts to succeed and achieve their full potential and strives continuously to improve delivery of learning through all possible systems for the best student learning outcomes. Currently, she is the Traumatic Brain Injury Mentoring Program (Ho‘oikaika) coordinator for the John A. Burns, School of Medicine, Pacific Basin Rehabilitation Research and Training Center/Social Science Research Institute.
Rebecca Stotzer, MSW, Ph.D., in Social Work and Psychology, Assistant Professor at the Myron B. Thompson School of Social Work at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. Her research interests are broadly defined as issues around social justice, with a particular emphasis on hate crimes and other forms of prejudicial behavior (i.e. discrimination). Her current focus has been on hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and exploring the characteristics of these crimes as well as predictive factors that may make some locations more likely to experience hate crimes. She teaches program evaluation and social policy classes, and has an appointment in the distance education option of the MSW program, which serves students on Kauai, Maui, Big Island, and Molokai. In addition to work on hate crimes specifically, Dr. Stotzer is moving into research that addresses issues of social justice in the form of institutional inequalities such as disproportionality in the juvenile justice system and barriers to care for neighbor island veterans attempting to get post-combat physical and mental health care.
Gary Tachiyama has been an adviser in the Student Support Services (SSS) Program at the University of Hawaii at Manoa for the past 18 years. SSS is a comprehensive academic advising program for undergraduate students from low-income background who may also be of the first generation in their family to graduate from college. As an advisor in the program, Gary also co-teaches two Educational Psychology courses. Previously, Gary spent five years as a guidance counselor in the Upward Bound Program. Other positions include work as a community worker in low-income communities on Oahu and as a writer for the Hawaii Herald.
Adam Tanners, M.A., is currently a doctoral student in exceptionalities at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. Before starting his doctoral program, Adam worked for the Disabled Students’ Program (DSP) at the University of California at Berkeley. Adam’s position at UC Berkeley was the Assistive Technology Specialist where he administrated a computer lab for students with disabilities. In addition to administrating the lab Adam evaluated and trained the students on a variety of assistive technologies. Adam received his MA from The University of Iowa where he worked as a graduate assistant in the Student Disability Services (SDS) office. While working in this office Adam’s jobs included, among other things, the arranging of alternative exam accommodations.
Jonathan K. Wong, B.A., is the Technology Coordinator of the Native Hawaiian Center at Honolulu Community College. His work involves providing technology training to faculty, staff and students and evaluating and implementing new technologies for use in the classroom. Mr. Wong earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa and has done graduate work in Information Systems, Business Administration and Educational Technology. In addition to serving on the PDT, his other work at the University of Hawai‘i System level includes service as a member of the Wo Learning Champions Generation V cohort, the President’s Emerging Leaders Program Cohort II and the Puko'a Native Hawaiian Advisory Council. In his spare time Mr. Wong enjoys blogging, studying the martial arts and performing improvisational comedy/acting.
