E. Ursula Young, Founder and Executive Director, the Kandace Academy

Ursula is a health educator with formal training in vocational rehabilitation. Her mentorship practice promotes the goals of holistic personal wellness, positive family engagement, community activism and world-citizenship as means to fostering capable youth for the future. She has collaborated and worked as a court special appointed advocate [CASA] for abused and neglected youth in the District of Columbia judicial system, with the Black Law Enforcement Association in the production of multi-cultural education, community based organizations addressing at risk youth, and Dance Place’s Energizers program. Ms. Young holds a BA in Behavioral and Social Science from the University of Maryland, and a Master’s of Education, with a focus on Vocational Rehabilitation. She is also a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor [CRC] Ms. Young resides with her husband in the Brookland neighborhood of NE Washington. She is a 22-year member of the SGI [Soka Gakkai International] USA, an international Buddhist organization that is an NGO member of the UN and is dedicated to the ideals of peace, culture, and education.

Kelly Burrello, Treasurer, the Kandace Academy, Inc.

Kelly is the founder of World Reach Consulting and Training, Inc. She is called upon to provide clients with direction and planning in needs assessments, and design and facilitation of programs related to workplace interaction.  Kelly enters her client interventions fully researched on the organization.  She has an outstanding ability to listen to clients, which allows her to effectively assess and implement successful programs.

Kelly has been the program lead on several projects where she successfully completed a variety of tasks, including:  research and needs assessment, and design and delivery of training workshops in Diversity and Conflict Resolution, and Cross-Cultural Interaction. Client list includes::  Macmillan McGraw-Hill, City of Alexandria, VA, Food and Drug Administration, Epilepsy Foundation National Headquarters, Children’s National Medical Center, National Wildlife Federation, Southern Management Corporation, Fairfax Criminal Justice Academy, the United States Census Bureau, Pennsylvania State System for Higher Education,  International Broadcasting Bureau, and the National Credit Union Administration. She is a current member of the George Mason University Diversity Advisory Board, the American Association of University Women.  Kelly is a community volunteer and a mentor to grade school children.

Her Education consists of a M.S. Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University; B.A. Human Relations, Trinity College

http://www.worldreachconsulting.com

Brooke Goodwin, Founding Director, the Kandace Academy Inc.

Brooke Goodwin earned her BA in Psychology from University of Virginia and her Masters in Social Work from Columbia University .  Brooke has always positioned herself around children. Since getting her Masters, Brooke has worked with private, government and non profit organizations whose focus is Children and Families, specifically, children in foster care, the court system and the medical field. Brooke has held a program management position and served on national committees during her non profit work. Brooke currently works at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington , DC as a medical social worker.

Karla McDuffie, Board Chair, the Kandace Academy, Inc.

Karla is a native of Washington, D.C. and derives her love of diverse cultural traditions from the exciting international flavor of her home town.  Pursuing her interest in African Art, she left the country in 1967 to travel extensively in sub-Saharan Africa, returning to Washington in 1968.  She worked for the Washington Free Press during its inaugural years.

Karla has worked in a variety of settings that called upon her skills in Public Relations and Communication Management, first with the IRS where she designed and installed the country's first multi-media laboratory for Johnson's "Upward Mobility Program."  Her experience in this burgeoning new field, indirectly led her to pursue work in Advertising Design and Public Relations.  She worked for Design House Advertising Agency utilizing demographic research in the design of various print media and video projects, eventually starting her own company.

She has considerable teaching experience with students aged eight to eighty, having developed expressive arts programs for the Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind, Older Adult Program, the Duke Ellington, East of the River Summer Arts Program as well as the Bolling Air Force Base Arts and Crafts Center.  She also taught art for seven years in Arlington County, Virginia's Public Schools, both at the Career Development Center and Extended Day, Middle Schools Program.

Karla’s philosophy of youth development is best highlighted by the following quotes:

"Art and music are the crystallization of the human spirit.  In a sense, it is a spiritual window, through which we converse with the life of the vast universe.  The power of art can break the shackles that bind and divide human beings."              

--Daisaku Ikeda, Philosopher, Educator, Poet

"Peace Builders are everyday people, you and I, who cherish the dream of creating a peaceful world. Based on the belief that each individual possesses unlimited potential worthy of profound respect, peace builders are men and women committed to fostering dialogue in an effort to create a more humane and harmonious planet."

                                                                             --Imagine Peace Network http://www.imaginepeace.net