Pat Barton

Pat is a musician and educator based in New Jersey. He holds a Masters in Human Resource Education from Fordham University. The bulk of his career as an adult educator and coach has been focused on issues of equity. As a straight white man with no disabilities, he is keenly aware of his privilege and makes a sincere effort to integrate that awareness into all his educational efforts.

Pat has been a blogger since 2011. His blog, Reflections from the Bell Curve, offers unique life experiences and commentary. Pat enjoys reading (he’s a sentence lover and word nerd), songwriting, playing acoustic guitar, and viewing films.

Valorie Caffee
Valorie is a social and environmental justice consultant and has devoted her life to working for social justice, serving in numerous leadership capacities in many organizations. She is co-founder of the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance (NJEJA) and serves on its Executive Committee. She is former Director of Organizing with the New Jersey Work Environment Council, where she created its Environmental Justice program. Valorie served as the Chair of the Environmental Justice Advisory Council to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

Valorie designs and presents workshops for the Community Action and Response Against Toxics (CARAT) Team of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists and is a workshop trainer for NJEJA’s Environmental Leadership Training Institute. Valorie is co-founder of Womanspace, a shelter and agency for the victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking in Mercer County, NJ. She is former Chair of the Racial Justice and Labor Committees of the National Organization for Women and President of the New Jersey Anti-Apartheid Mobilization Coalition and was a delegate at the ANC International Solidarity Conference held in South Africa. Valorie is a graduate of Trenton State College (now The College of New Jersey).

Stephanie Puentes

Stephanie is the Principal of Puentes Consulting specializing in training, consulting, and teambuilding in the areas of diversity and cultural competence. After a 28-year career in the high-tech industry she founded Puentes Consulting bringing her deep commitment to social justice to her work as a presenter, trainer, and facilitator.

Stephanie has been an institute and workshop presenter at the White Privilege Conference (WPC) since 2008 and serves as a member of the WPC National Team. She is an expert in employee resource group (ERG) development and was a founding member of Hewlett Packard’s first global ERG. She is a certified Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®) practitioner.

When not presenting Stephanie enjoys being home with her wife Liz and their rescue dog Cocoa. She is a gardener, cook and baker with a passion for growing vegetables, canning sauces and baking bread.

Roberto Schiraldi

Roberto works as a counselor in private practice, consulting with individuals, couples and groups focusing on holistic health counseling, mindfulness meditation, non-violent communication, alcohol and other drugs, multicultural and men’s issues. He is licensed by the States of New Jersey and Pennsylvania to provide counseling to individuals seeking help for emotional issues that are affecting their sense of satisfaction and well-being in their lives. He works primarily with adults (over the age of 18 years old), both in individual counseling as well as in couples or partner/relationship counseling. He also facilitates groups, lead workshops, and consults on topics related to wellness/holistic health.

Roberto is retired from the Princeton University Counseling and Psychological Services, past President of the New Jersey Association for Multicultural Counseling and board member of Princeton-based Not In Our Town. Roberto earned his Bachelor degree from Marist College, Master’s from Springfield College, and Doctorate from Temple University.

Roberto also is a Pipe Carrier in the Sicangu, Lakota Native spiritual tradition.

Tilman Smith

Tilman Smith has been an educator and project manager for over thirty-five years, serving as a teacher, administrator, college instructor, caucus facilitator, trainer, and coach. She has facilitated workshops throughout the country on the topics of racial justice, white privilege, internalized sexism, and internalized white superiority. Currently, Tilman partners with government, educational, and non-profit agencies as a race-based caucus organizer, facilitator, trainer, and executive coach. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in French and History from the University of Colorado and her Master’s Degree in Human Development from Pacific Oaks College Northwest.

Tilman and Ilsa Govan (Cultures Connecting) have written a book entitled What’s Up with White Women? Unpacking Sexism and White Privilege in the Pursuit of Racial Justice, published by New Society Publishers and available in October 2021. They offer corresponding community and agency trainings on this topic.

Debbie Vermaat
Deborah has 25 years of mediation experience, working in court-based programs and with her local County Human Relations Commission. Her areas of expertise include “Mining the Gaps” of distorted and absent historical narratives, skills-building around having difficult conversations around race/privilege and finding space for courageous community-wide truth and reconciliation efforts.

Working for racial justice and equity began for Deborah in 1987, after awakening to difficult family history. Co-founding and working with a non-profit organization in the 1990s, providing training and resources in the field of conflict resolution, revealed how we, as humans, struggle with not only how to talk with one another but also talking about what keeps us at odds. Currently, Deborah volunteers as the Development Manager for the White Aspiring Allies to People of Color (WAAPC), a social justice affinity group at the New Jersey Coalition to End Domestic Violence (NJCEDV).

Jamie Washington
Jaime is the President and Founder of the Washington Consulting Group (WCG). In October of 2015, WCG was named by the Economist as one of the Top 10 Global Diversity Consultants in the world. Dr. Washington has served as an educator, administrator, and consultant in higher education for over 33 years. He is the President and Co-Founder of the Social Justice Training Institute and the President of the American College Personnel Association (ACPA).

Jaime earned his B.S. degree from Slippery Rock State College; a double Master of Science degrees from Indiana University/Bloomington; a Ph.D. is in College Student Development, from the University of Maryland College Park; and a Master of Divinity from Howard University School of Divinity. Jaime serves as the Pastor of Unity Fellowship Church of Baltimore and is the grandfather of 7 and great uncle to 7. One of his favorite pass times is binge watching TV programs.

Rose A. Williams

Rose is the Founder and Executive Director of Harambe Social Services, Inc. which offers culturally specific services for Black/African American communities who are victims and survivors of domestic violence. Rose draws on over 25 years of direct service, advocacy, project development and training. For 13 years she was the Social Justice Administrator for the New Jersey Coalition to End Domestic Violence where she successfully led the implementation of the statewide Inclusion and Access Initiative, a strategic plan addressing inequities in services for victims of domestic violence at New Jersey domestic violence agencies. In 2006, Rose co-authored The Report on Culturally Competent Domestic Violence Programs in New Jersey.

Rose is respected as a trainer for a wide range of audiences including community-based organizations and domestic violence agencies. Ms. Williams holds a Master’s degree in Social Work Administration from Temple University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mental Health Technology from Drexel University (formerly Hahnemann University) in Philadelphia.

In her leisure time, Ms. Williams enjoys traveling with her family, particularly somewhere with a beach and a competitive game of Words with Friends.

Jorge Zeballos

For more than 20 years, Jorge has established himself as an equity professional, nationally and internationally. Jorge has facilitated workshops on equity and has been a keynote speaker at various national and international diversity conferences, such as the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity and the White Privilege Conference. He has also worked with various organizations in the nonprofit, education and faith communities. Jorge holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Rutgers University and a Master of Arts degree in Organizational Management and Development from Fielding Graduate University.

Jorge was Chief Equity and Inclusion Officer at the Kellogg Community College in Battle Creek, Michigan. There he provided vision, leadership, management and strategic planning for inclusion and equity initiatives at the institution, as well as operationalizing equity practices across all departments at the College. Jorge was born in Washington, D.C., but grew up in Lima, Peru. He is a father of two daughters, Erica and Gabriella, and enjoys soccer in his spare time.