RELATIONAL EDUCATION
WHAT? Breakout Session:
JONI HICKS
I am a product of G-town (Greeley/Evans). My parents moved here in 1976 and I went to
Arlington Elementary for kindergarten, Madison Elementary 1-5, Franklin Middle School 67, Heath Jr. High 8-9, Greeley Central HS 10-12, Aims Community College (1999) where I
earned an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts with an Emphasis on Elementary Education,
UNC (2001) where I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Speech/Communication with an Emphasis
in Elementary Education and a minor in Early Childhood Education, UNC (2008) a Master of
Arts in Graduate Interdisciplinary Program with an emphasis in Cultural and Linguistic
Diverse Studies.
I have been teaching for twelve years grades ranging from preschool to high school. I have two daughters 14 and
16 who are Greeley 6 students at Chappelow Magnet Arts School, and Greeley Central High School. This summer, I
was remarried to their father and the second time is a charm!
SO WHAT? Breakout Session:
FAITH JESSUP
Faith Jessup is currently a second year student at the University of Northern Colorado
pursuing a degree in Spanish Education with endorsements in Teaching English as a Second
Language and Bilingual Bicultural Education. She is an avid world traveler who is passionate
about education and empowering others to achieve their dreams. Before coming to UNC
she spent a year living inner-city London as a youth worker for XLP. XLP, the eXcel Project,
is a London based charity that seeks to empower the young people they work with to excel
in every area of their lives through a variety of programing, both in and outside of schools.
This experience has led Faith to get involved in variety of organizations at UNC centered on
serving and empowering others including, leading alternative spring break trips and tutoring in the Greeley
schools.
RELATIONAL EDUCATION
MARY JANE BIEDENBACH
Mary Jane Biedenbach graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with a BA
in English. For most of her professional career, she worked as a regulatory compliance
officer for large financial services companies. She is a nature enthusiast and has been
a long-time volunteer with an emphasis on education, supporting organizations such
as Junior Achievement and Special Olympics. She has been volunteering for
HawkQuest for the past 8 years where she serves on the Board of Directors, assists
with business development, writes grant requests and the member newsletter, and
handles HawkQuest’s non-releasable birds of prey in public venues. She lives in
Parker, CO and has one grown daughter now living in Kansas City.
CHRIS BERGER
Chris has extensive experience working with individuals, couples, adolescents, and families
throughout Colorado. He provides a wide variety of counseling services and has worked
closely with medical providers, school counselors, judicial services, and other therapists to
coordinate client care. Chris is a National Certified Counselor. He holds a Masters of Arts in
Clinical Counseling from the University of Northern Colorado. He is a member of his
profession’s national honor society: Chi Sigma Iota. He also holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts
Degree in Film and Television Production from New York University.
PAT LOVETT
After a long career in the financial services industry, as a business leader, operations
director, and human resources executive, Pat has developed a synthesis of skills that can
help reconcile the disparate parts of our lives. Everyone who has struggled to chart a
path that includes an interesting career and a fulfilling life will benefit from Pat’s career
and life coaching. Pat helps clients dream big and create personal plans and career goals
that are stimulating, and achievable.
Pat spent most of her career with OppenheimerFunds as Senior Vice President of Human
Resources, Vice President of Operations, and a key player in various operational roles
throughout the corporation. She earned a BS in Liberal Arts from the University of
Colorado in Boulder. Pat serves on the Board for Special Olympics of Colorado and is
active in the Women’s Vision Foundation and Dress for Success.
RELATIONAL EDUCATION
KATHI WRIGHT
Kathi Wright spent the first 25 years of her life in Nebraska. She attended Kearney State
College, and her first job was at the Kearney Area Chamber of Commerce. After seven
years, and promotion to Assistant Director, she moved to Loveland, Colorado. In Loveland,
she worked for Kodak, Poudre Valley Hospital, Duke Publishing, Miniscribe, and finally
Loveland City Hall for 13 years.
While working at City of Loveland, she started volunteering at a local teen center. She
ended up President of the Board for several years, and merged that teen center with the
Boys & Girls Clubs of Larimer County. In October, 1999, after ten years of volunteering,
she resigned from the Board and was selected by an interview team to become the
Executive Director. Kathi has been awarded the 2003 Executive of the Year for the SW
Region, the Team Fort Collins Key Leader of the Year for 2008, the Colorado Lions
Foundation Humanitarian Award for 2009, and served as the Grand Marshall of Loveland’s Corn Roast Parade in
2009.
Since Kathi started as Executive Director of BGCLC, she has led capital campaigns and built two new clubs, Fort
Collins in 2001 and Loveland in 2009.
Kathi has an 18 year old son.
TERRY FOSTVEDT
Having earned BA degrees in both English and French literature in 1982, Terry turned her
attention to raising two sons and two daughters. In 1998, she completed her Master’s
Degree in Curriculum Theory and Instruction at CU-Boulder (the same year her youngest
son graduated from high school). For the past 15 years, Terry has taught English
Literature and Composition at Centaurus High School in the Boulder Valley School District.
Using literature as a vehicle to access the deep truths of what it means to be human has
always been focus of her instruction. As Kafka insists: “Literature is the axe that breaks
the ice around our souls.” Having students complete research projects on human rights
and social justice was an important part of her curriculum, but there weren’t many
resources or strategies available. Then six years ago a transformative connection was
made when she attended her first Facing History workshop. Facing History offers teachers
a wealth of resources to assist them in engaging students as they reflect on history and
draw conclusions about the role of moral decision making. These lessons are connected to contemporary issues so
that students can consider their own role in creating a more just and peaceful world.
RELATIONAL EDUCATION
EDDIE KOEN
Eddie is an Alabama native by way of Chicago and has lived in Denver since March of
2011 and already has had a profound impact on the community. He received his law
degree from Samford and his Masters of Public Administration with a concentration in
nonprofit work from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He attended the
University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa for his undergraduate studies. While in college, he
served as president of the Bama Chess Club, NAACP, National Pan-Hellenic Council, and
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.. He co-founded three student organizations: Student
Coalition Against Racism (SCAR), Common Ground Poetry Group, and Counter-friction
Student Activist Group. In law school, Eddie was recognized by the Alabama State Bar
for his human rights work in death penalty cases with the law firm of Sidley Austin LLP and the American Bar
Association’s Death Penalty Representation Project. He served as editor-in-chief of the SRBLSA Law Journal,
Chief Justice of the Student Honor Court, and national chair for the National Black Law Students Association. In
his capacity as chair, Eddie and several law students founded, Konbit Pou Edikayson, a nonprofit geared toward
assisting with education, poverty, hunger, and disease in Cité Soleil, an extremely impoverished and densely
populated commune located in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Eddie currently serves as the Executive Director of Colorado Center for Transformation and Empowerment, a
nonprofit formed through his work at Community Outreach Service Center. He is the youngest director in COSC’s
history. His current work focuses on reentry, transformation and empowerment, workforce development and
entrepreneurship, and children of incarcerated parents. He accepted the prestigious Equal Justice Initiative
Fellowship after finishing law school, focusing on race and the death penalty in Alabama. He is the current
president of the Urban League Young Professionals of Metropolitan Denver and serves on several boards, including
Denver Urban League, Demeco Ryans Foundation, and the Pay-it-Foundation. He serves as the vice-president of
Slippers-n-Sliders Ski Club and is an active member of the 100 Black Men of Denver. Eddie is an avid chess player
Facilitator:
GENIE CANALES
The eldest of three daughters, Dr. Genie Canales is a tejana—a Mexican American from
Texas. Her hometown is San Antonio. She has an only child, a 25-year-old son she loves
mas que nada. Her Ph.D. is in Social Psychology. A tenured Professor at the University
of Northern Colorado (UNC), she teaches Mexican American Studies courses in Hispanic
Studies and has earned an average of one teaching award yearly for her 22 years at
UNC. Her research focuses on the intersectionality of identities and academic
achievement in Mexican Americans; culturally relevant theory and methods in studies
with Mexican Americans; and culturally relevant pedagogy. She is the founder of the
Mexican American Studies Club at UNC and its two major projects: the “Annual Festival
Chicana/o de Artes at UNC” and the Multicultural Artist Club after-school arts program at Dos Rios. She loves to
dance, exercise, watch Hip Hop, attend performing arts events, and read/watch mysteries, especially British
crime TV.