PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Research & teaching experience

Comitán Center for Health Research (CISC, www.cisc.org.mx). Chiapas, Mexico.

2005-present Consultant-Facilitator
2004-2005 Researcher-Coordinator, Aging & Health Project
1995-2000 Researcher-Coordinator, Reproductive Health Project
1994-1996 Supervisor, Resource & Documentation Center

• Conduct formative research, i.e. engage communities in dialogue on needs and resources; generate options via critical assessment; monitor process, outcome, and responses.
• Instruct and mentor colleagues, students, public individually, in seminars and workshops.
• Coordinate, calendar, supervise, and evaluate team research activities.
• Explore social inequities influencing health disparities, especially among those subject to a matrix of gender, age, ethnicity, health, socioeconomic, employment-based oppression.
• Use findings to orient intervention, e.g. to curb maternal mortality and domestic violence.
• Write proposals and reports for funders, including Ford, MacArthur, Packard Foundations.

El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR, www.ecosur.mx). Via Internet.

2005-present Editor & translator for ECOSUR researchers based in Chiapas, Tabasco, and Quintana Roo, Mexico.

• Concretize research in writing for printed, electronic, and in-person dissemination.
• Research relevant and viable scholarly and extra-academic publication venues.
• Format manuscripts to fit publication guidelines.
• Develop multiple permutations to impact diverse audiences through a variety of media.
• Translate manuscripts to be accessed by monolingual English/Spanish-speaking audiences.

University of Arizona College of Medicine (COM, www.medicine.arizona.edu/grace/). Tucson.

2000-2001 Research Assistant, Grace (Generating Respect for All in a Climate of Academic Excellence) Project.

• Conducted interviews re gender disparities with COM tenure, clinical, research faculty.
• Documented gender disparities, identify potential causes, suggest ways to eliminate them.

Stanford University Department of Anthropology, Palo Alto, CA and Chiapas, Mexico.

1990-1991, 1998 Research Assistant for Anthropologist/Latin Americanist George Collier.

• Conducted bibliographic and on-site data searches, data entry, and coding of sociodemographic and political indicators in southeast Mexico.
• See: Collier & Lowery. 2005. Basta! Land and the Zapatista Rebellion in Chiapas, Oakland: Food First.

John Dewey Bilingual School, San Cristóbal, Chiapas, Mexico.

1991-1992 Bilingual English/Spanish teacher for adults and elementary students.

• Created curriculum and designed evaluations for first grade English immersion program.
• Collaborated in the school’s founding and initial year of operation.
• Taught all first grade subjects in English to monolingual Spanish-speaking children.
• Developed myriad displays of students’ English skills (tape recordings, public exhibitions).

Independent research on education and language, San Cristóbal, Chiapas, Mexico.

1989-1993 Researcher and curriculum developer.

• Developed research protocols, reviewed literature, accumulated contextualizing data, prepared for and conducted data collection, analyzed and presented results.
• Analyzed indigenous (Mayan) teachers’ empowerment via formal and hidden curricula of their government-run training program. Resulting manuscript, Taking one’s place: A classroom study of education for indigenous teachers in Chiapas, Mexico (1989-1991), was awarded the Firestone Medal for Outstanding Thesis and the Textor Award for Outstanding Anthropological Creativity (both from Stanford University).
• Linked research with education via project/manuscript entitled, Workers speak: A study of language ability, usage, and learning among workers in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas (1990-1993), a culturally- and contextually-appropriate adult ESL course.

Stanford Literacy Improvement Project, Palo Alto, CA.

1988-1990. English literacy teacher and curriculum developer.

• Taught Stanford University service employees English and literacy skills.
• Improved literacy to promote employee-manager relations and strengthen job skills.
• Developed a handbook for adult English literacy instruction via participatory, relevant, respectful means. Author chapter centered on community resources (e.g. phone book and newspaper classified section) as tools to further literacy skills and empower learners.

P3 Archeological Associates, Salt Lake City, UT.

1989. Assistant, Historical Preservation Survey.

• Surveyed northern Nevada desert surface to identify and preserve archeological sites.
• Distinguished, identified, sketched, and mapped artifacts and archeological sites.

Additional professional experience

Moo Duk Kwan Tae Kwon Do Doyang, Comitán, Chiapas, Mexico.

1995-2005. Co-owner, Assistant Instructor, Administrator, and World Tae Kwon Do Federation certified black belt.

• Taught sparring, forms, self-defense, “stranger-danger” courses to women, men, children.
• Organized and participated in exhibitions, tournaments, exams, workshops, and parades.
• Managed advertising campaigns, including radio, print, and television publicity.
• Promoted community action, e.g. lobbying for neighborhood infrastructure and safety.
• Registered new students and held periodical progress meetings with students and parents.
• Managed administrative duties, accounting, and record keeping.

Bar Association of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA.

1993-1994. Project Assistant, Volunteer Legal Services Program for HIV+ Immigrants and Refugees.

• Staffed volunteer legal services hotline, fielding questions re deportation/health crises.
• Conducted telephone interviews with HIV+ immigrants/refugees seeking legal aid.
• Recruited and trained attorneys to do pro-bono legal advising and representation.
• Managed extensive, highly-sensitive and confidential client and volunteer databases.
• Compiled information for and drafted relevant narrative, statistical, and funding reports.

Jackson & Hertogs Immigration Law Firm, San Francisco, CA.

1992-1993. Immigration Paralegal.

• Prepared visa petitions for submission to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS).
• Served as interpreter between immigration attorneys and Spanish-speaking clients.