Division of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences
School of Social Science, Policy & Evaluation, 2016
Newsletter
Farewell, Dale!
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SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE, POLICY & EVALUATION
Inside this Issue
Welcome Marcella and Scott!
Introducing our new Director of External Affairs
Marcella Camberos –Marcella has taken on the role of Director of External Affairs and she directs and
manages external operations, leads various aspects of multiple conferences, speaker panels and
professional development workshops including The Evaluators Institute (TEI). Marcella has over 8 years’
combined professional experience in marketing, recruitment, management and external relations within a
University setting. She has attained her B.A., in Business Management and Human Resources from Cal
Poly Pomona and completed her MBA from the University of La Verne with a dual concentration in
Leadership/Management and Marketing. She brings a wealth of real world knowledge combined with
practical skill. Welcome aboard Marcella!
Our new DBOS Research and Jobs Coordinator!
Cristina Tangonan, who had previously held the Jobs Coordinator role, is now getting some exciting field
experience as a part-time researcher and consultant for multiple evaluation projects ranging from local
community centers to large, international programs - all while doing her dissertation. Filling her vacancy as
Research and Jobs Coordinator is Scott Donaldson, a doctoral student in the Evaluation and Applied Research
Methods program. Scott works to connect current students and alumni with exciting work and internship
opportunities. He maintains the DBOS Jobs website and provides individual consultations to students about job
search strategies. Scott brings a great deal of enthusiasm and knowledge to this position. He holds a Bachelor of
Arts in Psychology from UCLA and a Master of Science in Organizational Psychology from USC. He has work
experience in marketing, talent recruiting, and business development and hopes to draw off these experiences
in his new role as Jobs Coordinator. Please welcome Scott as our new DBOS Jobs Coordinator!
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The Evaluators’ Institute (TEI) is celebrating its recent move to Claremont Graduate University!
TEI is an internationally recognized and respected provider of high quality evaluation instruction, which is
delivered through a balanced curriculum that emphasizes practical relevance for practicing evaluators. The
institute has provided training to more than 9,000 professionals in its 20-year history.
The program, which runs from Feb. 1-12, 2016, will offer nearly two-dozen workshops providing professional development in
evaluation and applied research. Workshops are taught by academics and practitioners from across the globe.
The institute moved to Claremont Graduate University (CGU) in November, strengthening and expanding the university’s already
renowned evaluation programs.
CGU’s School of Social Science, Policy, and Evaluation offers master’s degrees, doctoral degrees, and a distance certificate
program in evaluation, and is home to the Claremont Evaluation Center, one of the country’s leading sources of evaluation
consulting, training, and professional development.
“We are thrilled and honored that the world renowned Evaluators’ Institute has moved from George Washington University to
CGU,” said Stewart I. Donaldson, president of the American Evaluation Association and dean of the Schools of Social Science,
Policy, and Evaluation and Community and Global Health at CGU. “The addition of the distinguished TEI faculty and training
programs will enable us to expand our CGU evaluation and applied research offerings, including new online and distance degree
programs, and courses and projects in international development evaluation in countries across the world.”
Evaluation is a professional field devoted to assessing the strengths and weaknesses of programs, organizations, large-scale
change interventions, personnel, policies, and products to improve their effectiveness.
CGU’s HRM Program now fully acknowledged by the Society for Human Resource Management!
The CGU HRM program has been officially declared to be in alignment with the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
This is a very prestigious and major accomplishment for our program. This puts us on the map of top-quality programs in the nation,
allows us to be on SHRM’s list of preferred HR educational programs, inclusion on their website and marketing, and a feather in our
cap for marketing to prospective applicants, corporate connections, universities, etc.
“Claremont Graduate University announced today that the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has
acknowledged that its Human Resource Management fully aligns with SHRM’s HR Curriculum Guidebook and
Templates. Throughout the world, 406 programs in 304 educational institutions have been acknowledged by
SHRM as being in alignment with its suggested guides and templates. The HR Curriculum Guidebook and
Templates were developed by SHRM to define the minimum HR content areas that should be studied by HR
students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The guidelines -- created in 2006 and revalidated in 2010 and
2013 -- are part of SHRM’s Academic Initiative to define HR education standards taught in university business
schools and help universities develop degree programs that follow these standards.”
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Behavioral and Organizational Sciences student Annie Arcuri receives Faster Forward
Fellowship
Annie Arcuri, a master’s degree student in Claremont Graduate University (CGU’s) Positive
Organizational Psychology and Evaluation programs, has received the 2016 Faster Forward
Fellowship.
The $5,000 fellowship is awarded each spring to a CGU student who is enrolled in at least
one evaluation course in the university's School of Social Science, Policy, and Evaluation. It
is administered by the Faster Forward Fund, which Professor Michael Scriven launched in
2014 to accelerate and advance the practice and profession of evaluation.
Arcuri is associate managing editor for Strengths Lab, a research and innovation lab aimed
at enabling people to work at their best. She believes that positive human resource
practices can help people feel more engaged and satisfied at work while simultaneously
positively impacting an organization's bottom line. She hopes to use the workplace as a
venue to promote human flourishing and well-being.
The field of evaluation focuses on assessing the strengths and weaknesses of programs,
policies, personnel, products, and organizations to improve their effectiveness. CGU has
the largest and most highly regarded graduate program in evaluation in the world.
The university is also home to the Claremont Evaluation Center, co-directed by Scriven and
Stewart Donaldson, dean of CGU's School of Social Science, Policy, and Evaluation.
"Professor Scriven's commitment to CGU, its students, and the field of evaluation is nothing short of inspiring," Donaldson said.
"We owe him our gratitude not only for his brilliant mind, but also for his investments in the ideas and people he believes in. On
behalf of the university, I thank him for his generosity and support, and I congratulate Annie on this well-deserved recognition."
Psychology alumna Jean Maria Arrigo awarded for exposing psychologists' involvement in torture policies
Claremont Graduate University psychology alumna Jean Maria Arrigo (MA, ’95; PhD, ’99), who confronted systematic efforts by the
American Psychological Association (APA) to allow and conceal the involvement of psychologists in the torture and abuse of
detainees following the September 11 attacks, has been awarded the 2015 Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award from the
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
The PENS (Psychological Ethics and National Security ) task force report, written by the chief ethics officer at APA, asserted that
psychologists' participation in national security interrogations served to keep these operations "safe, legal, ethical, and effective," a
claim drawn directly from Department of Defense instructions. Through articles, interviews, and talks, Arrigo advocated against the
APA's policy and the legitimacy of the PENS task force. Under pressure from Arrigo and fellow dissidents, the APA rescinded the
PENS report in 2013 and last year revised its ethics policy to prohibit the participation of psychologists in national security
interrogations.
Arrigo's actions "attest to her courage in continuing to stand up and speak out for the ethical behavior of members of her
profession, the integrity of internal task force efforts, the importance of rigorous international standards in U.S. national security
policy, and the immorality of torture, even in times of crisis," the selection panel said.
Established in 1980 and approved by the AAAS Board of Directors, the AAAS Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award honors
scientists, engineers, or their organizations for exemplary actions that foster scientific freedom and responsibility.
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2015 AEA Conference
More than 4,000 people attended the 2015 AEA Conference at
the Hyatt Regency Chicago Nov. 9-14th and the opening ceremony and presidential addressed was given by Dr. Stewart
Donaldson, President of AEA and Dean of SSSPE at CGU . This
year for the first time ever there were over 25 different
presentations webcast free of charge. AEA had over 2,500
participants from over 40 countries register to view the live
webcast. Our world renowned faculty, students and alumni
lead many talks and presentations at the 2015 American Evaluation Association Conference. AEA is an international association of professional evaluators devoted to assessing the
strengths and weakness of program, organizations, largescale change interventions, personnel, policies, and products
to improve their effectiveness. The organization has approximately 7,500 members representing all 50 states of the United States as well as over 60 other countries.
Claremont Evaluation Center has been a significant influencer
in Evaluation across the globe. In Dr. Donaldson’s opening address, he invited attendees to learn from each other about the
best of evaluation. He also called on them to imagine what
evaluation could become in the future, and encouraged them
to build a thriving global evaluation community.
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SIOP Reception 2016
This year, the 31st annual Society for Industrial and Organizational
Psychology (SIOP) was held in Anaheim, CA approximately 30
minutes away from Claremont Graduate University’s campus.
Accordingly, Claremont Graduate University had a number of
contributors which included School of Social Science Policy &
Evaluation Dean, Stewart Donaldson, Maritza R. Salazar, Meg Rao,
Jeffrey Yip along with CGU students and alumni in attendance. It was
great to see many familiar faces and some new at our CGU reception.
The reception was held on Friday evening and allowed for casual
discussions among faculty, students and alums.
We look forward to SIOP 2017 which will be held in Orlando, Florida
at the Walt Disney World Swim and Dolphin. The 2017 Conference
looks like an amazing destination that will surely not disappoint. We
look forward to seeing you there!
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30th Annual Claremont Symposium on Applied Social Psychology
The 30th Annual Claremont Symposium in Applied Social Psychology features a set of distinguished speakers in the growing field of Cultural
Neuroscience. Culture and the Brain were once thought to represent opposite sides of the nature-nurture debate. Today, the field represents our understanding of the complex interactions of culture, the mind, brain, and behavior. Our speakers will present their cutting edge
research providing insights into new ways to understand culture through the lens of neuroscience, including neural mechanisms of the self,
socialization, mirroring, and emotion. Furthermore, a panel of speakers will share their translation expertise in how this field currently is
and may be used in the future by those in the health, business, and other applied settings.
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DBOS’s Internationally Acclaimed Social Psychology PhD Program
DBOS’s social psychology program has a strong
presence in the national and international social psychology
community. Our world-renowned faculty and passionate
students continue to make a difference both within and
outside academia. Their groundbreaking research and
tireless efforts contribute to CGU’s reputation of excellence,
and are qualities of which the department and the university
can be proud.
In summer 2014, the Psychology Department’s
social psychology program stormed Europe. Every three
years the largest social psychology association not based in
the US, the European Association of Social Psychology
(EASP), holds its conference. DBOS was well represented in
2014, in Amsterdam (July 9-12, 2014).
venue overlooking Amsterdam’s rooftops and canals. DBOS’s
social psychology program is exceptional for its international
connections, collaborations, and presence. It has a steady
stream of social psychology visitors from prestigious
universities all around the world (including The University of
Amsterdam, Rotterdam Business School, Aston Business
School, Sapienza University of Rome, Roma Tre, University of
Barcelona, University of Würzburg, Universities of Geneva
and Bern, the University of Kent, and The University of
Sheffield to name a few), particularly associated with the
social identity lab, social health lab, and minority influence
interest group. Hence, the mixer was an excellent
opportunity for the CGU team to reconnect with colleagues
and past visitors from across the globe, and to foster and
continue collaborative research.
Both the Social Identity and Health Labs were there
in force. Accompanying Professors Hogg and Crano were, at
the time, current Social Psychology PhD students Yasemin
Acar, Candice Donaldson, Fiona Grant, Jiin Jung, Heather
Stopp, Jessica Tomory and Joseph Wagoner, along with
recent alumnus David Rast. Unfortunately, one recent
alumnus, Amber Gaffney and one PhD, Christopher Lamb,
who had presentations accepted, were unable to attend.
Professors Hogg and Crano and the seven students in
attendance organized and chaired two symposia and
presented 10 scientific papers.
There also was considerable networking, the
capstone of which was a very well attended mixer hosted by
the social psychology group and organized by Jessica Tomory
at the Amsterdam Hilton’s SkyLounge; a magnificent rooftop
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While everyone worked hard at the conference and
undoubtedly had an impressive impact on the EASP program,
it wasn’t all work. The city, with its alluring bars, street cafes,
and restaurants was electric, and of course decked out in
orange for the World Cup matches being played at the time.
To further promote the Psychology Department and
its social psychology program, the social psychology group
has initiated a mixer that it hosts at the annual conference of
the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP),
which is the world’s pre-eminent and largest social
psychology convention – founded in 1974, SPSP has over
6,000 members. Our social psychology program is always
extremely well represented in the scientific program at SPSP.
Our inaugural mixer was organized by PhD student
Jessica Tomory and her team of “awesome” helpers at the
January 2015 meeting in Long Beach. We based it on the
EASP 2014 mixer and staged it in the lobby bar of the Long
Beach Westin. It was a huge success with around 70
attendees – Psychology Department faculty, students and
alumni, and distinguished visitors and colleagues from
around the globe.
DBOS’s social psychology program is large, diverse,
and dynamic – providing comprehensive and globally
recognized education and research training in basic and
applied social psychology. In addition to Drs. Crano and Hogg
and their labs and research groups who were represented in
Amsterdam, the program boasts three other faculty
members with impressive ties and substantive research. Dr.
Omoto is collaborating with non-profit organizations to
examine volunteer intentions, as well as with the U.S.
Forestry Service to examine environmental attitudes and pro
-environmental action. Dr. Siegel and Dr. Alvaro have been
working along with Dr. Crano with the National Institute on
Drug Abuse to prevent drug usage among adolescents.
SPSP 2016 is now almost on us. It’s in January in San
Diego so our 2016 mixer is all set to go – organized by PhD
students Joey Wagoner and Andi Ruybal at the “Top of the
Hyatt” bar on the 40th floor of the Manchester Grand Hyatt
San Diego. And then in 2017 SPSP is in San Antonio – another
opportunity to showcase our social psychology program.
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Dr. Crano Speaks Internationally on Drug Control
Dr. Crano has recently traveled to Colombo Sri Lanka to work with The Colombo Plan for the Cooperative Economic and Social Development in Asia and the Pacific's International Centre for Credentialing
and Education of Addiction Professionals. From there, he went to Dubai for the Dubai Police 11th International conference on Issues in Drug Control. This is an annual conference co-organized by Dubai Police
and the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, attended by MOI Counter-narcotics representatives from
across MENA and GCC and under a different drug control theme each year. This year's conference was about
“access to controlled substances while preventing diversion and abuse”. His presentation was on the role of
media in addressing diversion and abuse of controlled substances and prescription drugs, and he took
part in the workshop session elaborating further on related standards and best practices.
Dr. Crano also had a presentation titled “Emerging Methods in Addiction Research”, held at a small
group meeting sponsored by the European Association of Social Psychology in London this past June. After a
long-standing over-reliance on self-report methods confined to laboratory or treatment contexts, addiction researchers have recently begun to make use of the opportunities afforded by new technologies. This has enabled
us (i) to gather more ecologically valid addictive behavior data and (ii) to limit their reliance on retrospective
self-reports by using implicit or other non-reactive measures. This research event brought together international addiction researchers to share experiences of using new research methods, to exchange ideas for their further
development and to begin to build a community of like-minded individuals.
In July, Dr. Crano was in Bangkok for the first meeting of the International Society for Substance Use
Professionals--a gathering of both prevention and treatment professionals, where he presented regarding the
use of media in substance abuse prevention. Then he was part of the team that trained the >500 prevention personnel from the Colombo Plan nations as well as other nations in Africa on the University Prevention Curriculum. These activities have been developed by the U.S. Department of State.
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Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi receives one of Hungary's highest state honors
Claremont Graduate University (CGU) psychology Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi received the Grand Cross of
the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary from Hungarian government officials during an official state ceremony in Los Angeles on Dec. 6, 2014. The award, the second highest Hungarian state honor, was bestowed upon
Csikszentmihalyi for his pioneering research and teaching in the field of positive psychology, which has transformed the world’s understanding of happiness, motivation, and well-being.
The ceremony, held against a backdrop of Hungarian and United States flags, opened with the playing of the Hungarian national anthem and introductory remarks by Hungarian Consul General Laszlo Kalman. Zoltan Balog, Hungary’s Minister of Human Capacities, then presented the Grand Cross to Csikszentmihalyi on behalf of Hungarian
President Janos Ader, declaring that the award “honors the outstanding work of an outstanding man.”
“By awarding the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary, we acknowledge your outstanding
meritorious activity in service to the nation — both American and Hungarian — by promoting the development
and advancing the interests of country as well as augmenting universal human values,” Balog told the professor.
Csikszentmihalyi, who is Hungarian by birth, accepted the Grand Cross in front of an audience of family members,
colleagues, and Hungarian diplomats. He claimed the award not for himself, but on behalf of the people and ideas
that laid the foundation for his work over hundreds and thousands of years.
Csikszentmihalyi is Distinguished Professor of Psychology in CGU’s School of Social Science, Policy, and Evaluation and the director of the Quality of Life Research Center. He is world famous for his work in the study of happiness and creativity, but is
best known as the architect of the notion of "flow" — a state of concentration or complete absorption with the activity at
hand — and for his years of research and writing on the topic.
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Andrew’s research investigates
individual differences in working
memory and intelligence. An
individual differences approach to
cognitive abilities not only informs
debates about why variation exists
among individuals but also informs
theories about the constructs
themselves. Thus, his work
integrates differential and
experimental psychology and
bridges psychometrics, psychology,
and neuroscience. he also enjoys
teaching statistics and this year will
be teaching ANOVA, regression, and
an advanced module on multi-level
models. He is originally from upstate
New York and have lived in the
Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, and
now California. Andrew is looking
forward to exploring the mountains,
the beaches, and the vineyards of
Southern California!
Leslie’s research focuses on ways to
enhance the current capacity to engage
in and conduct high-quality evaluation
within organizations. This research
interest is a direct result of what she
observed as a practicing evaluator at
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention and Deloitte Consulting. As
a practicing evaluator, she became very
much aware of the strong demand that
exists for evaluation, which is all too
often met by misconceptions about
what constitutes evaluation and few
well-trained evaluators to perform the
actual work. Her passion is to help fill
this void by training strong students
and publishing helpful, actionable
research. When she’s not pondering
evaluation topics, she enjoys going to
the beach (she swears she’ll become a
surfer within the next decade) and
visiting wineries near the Central
Coast. She also loves spending time
with her family – particularly their new
son Simon who they welcomed into the
world in late October, 2015.
Jeffrey Yip is an organizational
psychologist interested in
interpersonal dynamics and the
psychological foundations of
effective leadership and
mentoring. His current projects
include research on (1) the role of
positive emotions in work
relationships, (2) the effects of
implicit theories on leader behavior,
and (3) the antecedents to positive
reciprocity – why people “pay it
forward”. He is also working with
CGU students to develop a
psychology blog on interpersonal
dynamics
(www.scienceofwe.com). Dr. Yip
has received academic awards for
his work, including a Fulbright
Scholarship, the Arnon Reichers Best
Paper Award by the Academy of
Management, and a research
fellowship from Harvard
University. He received his Ph.D. in
Organizational Behavior from
Boston University and a Masters in
Human Development and
Psychology from Harvard University.
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Meg Rao
Meg Rao is the new Director of Human
Resources Management at CGU. She has plans to
teach a course titled “Introduction to Positive Human
Resource Development”. This course will provide an
introduction to the positive psychological and
strengths-based perspectives, theories, and methods
that have been revolutionizing HR practice over the
last few years. While historically, scholars and
practitioners have been primarily concerned with what
goes wrong in organizations and how to remedy
problems, the positive approach focuses on what
works and how to capitalize on strengths.
Accordingly, this course will provide an overview of
topics such as strengths-based and positive
approaches to talent management, performance
management, training and development, fostering
high quality work relationships, job design and job
crafting, employee empowerment and job
satisfaction. This is a hands-on course and will
involve active participation and discussion.
As President of the Work and Organizations
Division of the International Positive Psychology
Association (IPPA), Meg has had a chance to engage
in deep discussions with academics and consultants
in the positive organizational work, and has found that
there is a lot of energy around Positive Human
Resource Development. She has seen the Works and
Organizations division grow in the last one year, to
the point that 40 percent of all IPPA members are
now a part of this division. The academic research
and practice in HR Development that focuses on
positive psychology has also grown to a great extent.
However, there is no organized program in Positive
HR Development to date. She sees this as a great
opportunity for CGU given its resources in positive
psychology, the burgeoning demand for the area, and
CGU’s reputation as the go-to school for positive
psychology related programs.
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SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE, POLICY & EVALUATION
A team from the Claremont Evaluation Center recently completed a formative evaluation of the Canadian
Evaluation Society’s (CES) Credentialed Evaluator (CE) Designation process. Leslie Fierro, Stewart Donaldson
and four of our doctoral students in Evaluation and Applied Research Methods (Heather Codd, Scott
Donaldson, Nicole Galport, and Ashley Hunt) designed and implemented this evaluation between June 2015
and January 2016. Our team gathered data from more than 1,000 Canadian evaluators through online surveys.
In addition, we conducted over 60 telephone interviews with a wide range of stakeholders including but not
limited to leaders of CES, employers of evaluators in Canada, commissioners of evaluation in Canada, and
prospective partners for CES including academic institutions. This is the first evaluation performed of a nationwide professional designation program for evaluators and we anticipate that many evaluators across the globe
will be interested in the findings. We look forward to sharing the findings with our CGU community – stay
tuned for the final results!
Students In Action!
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Jennie Giron
In May, Jennie completed a 1-year Graduate Associate internship for The Walt Disney Company in Talent Development.
Aside from experiencing and learning more about a company she loves, she also had the opportunity to use her background in Organizational Behavior and Education through various work opportunities.
Her first assignments were for the Disney Enterprise Rotation Program where she standardized program protocol by creating a Program Coordinator’s Procedures Handbook and Program FAQ document to increase efficiency and client services.
She also created and facilitated a team building workshop for a new enterprise team, which focused on establishing team
roles, creating expectations and agreements, and learning how to leverage each members’ strengths. She co-facilitated a
full day workshop for executives on Leading Through Transition. She also assisted with the on-boarding of Financial Analysts, Technology Associates, and a Program Coordinator.
Additionally, Jennie joined forces with co-worker Taylor Massey (2013 CGU Alumna, M.A. in Positive Psychology) and two
other colleagues to found the Burbank Corporate HR Women's Lean In Circle, a
group of Junior Level women committed
to developing professionally and reaching out to the community. Jennie designed and developed content and facilitated
workshop activities for the monthly meetings. She also took lead in coordinating a goal-setting workshop for a group of kids
from a local non-profit, the Playground of Dreams. The goal-setting workshop was a positive intervention that Jennie created with classmate Sofia Carino (2012 CGU Alumna, M.A. in Positive Organizational Development and also working at Disney) in her Positive Organization Psychology class with Becky Reichard. There were 24 kids in attendance and 9 Disney
VoluntEARS.
While working hard she also had some fun with her co-workers as she participated in the Minnie’s Moonlight Madness
Scavenger hunt, an event where 4 employees are tied together and must solve trivia questions as they run around the Disneyland park at night. She also joined the Disney employee Candlelight Choir and sang in the Christmas performance.
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The Cognitive Students Go To SARMAC
This past summer, members of our Cognitive Psychology department traveled to
Victoria, BC to participate in the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition
(SARMAC). Kathy Pezdek and Thao Nguyen presented a paper titled “Does Memory for
Cross-Race Races Benefit from Longer On-Time and Off-Time?” (top left), and Kathy
and Brittany Merson co-organized a symposium on “The Cognitive Psychology of
Dietary Behavior” as well as presented a paper on “Inhibition for Food Specific and
General Items in Restrained and Unrestrained Eaters” in said symposium.
Aside from presentations, Cog faculty and
students alike enjoyed some time socializing
amongst themselves (bottom right) or with
other academics (top right), or enjoying the
beautiful scenery Victoria, BC had to offer
(bottom left).
As many graduate students know,
summertime offers a few valuable
months to catch up on research,
especially on writing. Here’s me,
Joan Christodoulou, Ph.D.
Candidate in Applied Cognitive
Psychology, valuing a change of
scenery even in the midst of writing
to visit family and explore the many
archaeological sites (and beaches!)
of Greece. Recharging is essential
for preparing for a productive year!
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Alumni Highlight:
Sophia Silva
sure what I was doing, but I jumped on the opportunity and
made the best of it. I had never done any of these things
before, but I had to start somewhere. We all need to start
somewhere.
Where do you see yourself moving forward?
What do you do, and why do you do it?
I utilize media to show people the good things in their life:
what’s right with them. Everyone focuses on what’s wrong,
and that’s a message that perpetuates itself too much
throughout the media. We know from psychology that this
only leads to learned helplessness, so why not spread
messages that will enable people to feel good about
themselves and live their best lives?
I spent too much of my life always focusing on the bad
things and worrying about everything. I was so miserable
and depressed, and it wasn’t productive. Positive
psychology helped me shift my mental focus, and find
meaning in my life. Now I wake up in the morning excited
to get out of bed, and that’s a feeling I hope everyone can
feel. Not every day is going to be perfect, but when your life
has a purpose it gives you a reason to get out of bed and
keep pushing through the tough times.
I want to continue doing workshops, speaking engagements
and creating more positive and inspiring content that
brightens up people’s days. My mission is to make a
positive impact on the greatest amount of lives possible. I’m
not sure how it will happen, but I do know that I need to
keep perfecting my craft and moving forward one day at a
time.
How has CGU helped you achieve your current and
future goals?
CGU has given me tons of knowledge to share with the
world, but more importantly, it helped me develop very
strong, supportive relationships. Every time I’m confronted
with something I’m not sure about I call up one of my
friends from CGU, and sure enough they have an answer!
This support network is priceless.
Since graduation, what have you done to get where you
are?
I worked my butt off and I didn’t wait for the perfect
moment. Sometimes we need to make our own
opportunities, even if we’re not fully ready. That’s been the
way I’ve developed my videos from day one. My dad and I
literally started looking up “how to” videos on YouTube and
just started doing things. Some of my first videos make me
cringe. I had never been in front of a camera and I had no
idea what I was doing, but I learned by watching myself
over and over again…it was so painful!
That’s pretty much how everything developed. Someone
asked me to do a workshop, and I said YES! Someone asked
me to give a speech, and I said YES! Eventually someone
asked me to do a live segment on Univision, and I said
YES! I had never been on live television and I wasn’t really
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SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE, POLICY & EVALUATION
In June 2015 I defended my dissertation on the Positive Psychology Predictors of
Performance in Academics, Athletics and the Workplace. My committee members
were leadership and organizational behavior expert, Dr. Michelle Bligh (conferencing
in from Paris), founder of positive psychology, Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, co-director
of CGU’s positive psychology concentration, Dr. Jeanne Nakamura, and visiting professor Dr. Sarah Castillo who specializes in
sport and performance psychology at National University.
The week after my defense, Monica Montijo and I presented North of Normal at the World Congress on Positive Psychology
in Orlando FL, a documentary highlighting our findings from a seven month research trip to 22 countries during which we
asked diverse people, “What do you love? What is your great passion? And what has been a peak experience in your life?”
We have been accepted for publication by the Journal of Positive Psychology in the Special Issue on Qualitative Research.
We are also co-authoring a book chapter on creativity and flow with Dr. Csikszentmihalyi, and a chapter on hope in the
workplace for the Oxford Handbook of Hope.
In September I will join SPEC Services, a full service engineering firm in Orange County, as Director of Organizational and
Human Development. I am very excited to apply all that I have learned at CGU in a “real world” context, to help amplify the
performance, engagement, creativity and wellbeing of SPEC’s leaders and employees. In the mean time, my partner in life
and work, Monica Montijo, will continue to lead and grow our applied psychology consulting firm, LiveInFlow Consulting,
advising clients in business, higher education, athletics, and the creative arts.
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SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE, POLICY & EVALUATION
Alumni Highlight:
Lilian Abrams
Lilian Abrams is an
Organizational Behavior MBA/PhD who
graduated in 1996. Her interests were
both psychology and business; her
dissertation was on individuals’ cultural
values, based on national/ethnic
background, and how those values drove
behavior in an organization. While still at
CGU, Lilian engaged in both the
Management Research and the
Organizational Development (OD)
internships at Kaiser Permanente. During
her first two years, she completed the
applied research internship, and during
her next two years at Kaiser, she
shadowed an experience OD consultant,
which she found very instructive. The
client interactions, in terms of the ways
he strategized and collaborated with
them on organizational matters, taught
her a great deal about what to say and
how to say it effectively in a corporate
context. Following her Kaiser internships,
Lilian networked and made a connection
with a Ph.D. consultant who worked at
Towers Perrin, the world’s largest HR
consulting firm at that time. She interned
there for four more years, while she
conceived of, executed, and successfully
defended her dissertation. Once she
completed her CGU program, she
became a full-time Senior Consultant at
Towers Perrin, in Organizational
Research and Development, part of the
Human Capital group. This position lead
her to a similar role at Watson Wyatt,
another global HR consulting firm. After
these experiences Lilian moved to the
greater New York area, and took an
internal role in the corporate
Organizational Effectiveness department
of Nabisco. After Nabisco was acquired
by Kraft, Lilian went out on her own, and
has been flying solo ever since.
virtually for APECS in Fall 2015, entitled
“Collecting Evidence of Our Success as
Executive Coaches.” This paper will
describe how she has “found ways to
collect evidence of success in [her] own
practice, organically…[which she’d] like
to see…shared…with other coaches.”
For young professionals
currently in the program, Lilian’s first bit
of advice is that “a good dissertation is a
done dissertation.” For students who
Now, Lilian’s time is spent in a
intend to work directly with clients in the
mix of “service delivery” hours and
business world, she also says that
“business development” hours. She was learning to speak their “language”, both
recently certified as an accredited
in content and style/wording, is a must.
executive coach by the UK-based global
For Lilian, this process included the MBA
coaching professional association APECS. she earned at CGU, which gave her a
She currently coaches senior executives foundation from which to understand
in many different industries, functions,
the business side of her clients’ lives, as
and levels, including (at the moment) a
well as the Ph.D., which gave her both
Big Four accounting firm, a global
content and research foundations. For
chemical company, two different
those individuals who think they might
pharmaceuticals, a government R&D
want to do her kind of applied work, she
division, a bank, and the largest hospital strongly suggests that excelling in
system in NYC. Further, Lilian manages
relevant internships are a key
high-level coaches at a few different
component. Internships are key to
organizations, leads leadership and
learning applied skills, and can help
coaching workshops, and is a Board
graduate students better learn what they
Member, and Chair of the Education
like and can do well, as well as helping
Team, for the New Jersey Organizational them to network and find new potential
Development Learning Community. Lilian job opportunities.
is finalizing a paper to be presented
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