Meet the Program Staff

This trip will draw on the expertise of our community partner Sankofa Impact.

Sankofa Impact confronts our shared history of racism and resistance by bringing people together for place-based learning experiences. The leaders of this organization began taking students and community members on trips through the American South in 2014. Their connections in this region and extensive expertise in place-based learning will guide our immersion in these communities in collaboration with our program directors based at the UW. moral dimensions of education, integrative education, and leadership in education and social justice movements.

Felicia Ishino, Lead Instructor

Felicia Ishino, M.Ed. brings over 20 years of experience in Seattle area schools, higher learning institutions, and nonprofits to her work as the Executive Director of Sankofa Impact. She is passionate about history, immersive learning, and social justice and works to empower her students to think critically about the history of racism and explore ways to take part in everyday activism.

 

Nathan Bean, Program Staff

Nathan Bean has spent most of his life involved in social justice, including relief work in Haiti after the earthquake in 2010. As the Community Relations Manager at Sankofa Impact, his roles include program design and management, community outreach, and communications. He is a lover of soul music and Boston sports.

 

Kathryn Pursch Cornforth, Program Director

Kathryn Pursch Cornforth is a child of the American South and the Director of Community Engagement in the UW CELE Center. She has a deep history working in and alongside communities to craft learning experiences for undergraduate students; her teaching explores the ethics of community engagement and how experiential learning builds transferable skills.

 

Ed Taylor, Lead Instructor

Dr. Ed Taylor is Dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs and a professor in the UW College of Education; his research and teaching center on comparative education in the U.S. and South Africa, moral dimensions of education, integrative education, and leadership in education and social justice movements.