Ambassadors

University of Wyoming

Global Experience: Kenya, Guatemala

Specialty Areas: Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling

Global Experiences: Germany and Turkey

Craig S. Cashwell, Ph.D., LPC, NCC, ACS, CSAT-S is Professor in the Department of Counseling and Educational Development at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and an American Counseling Association (ACA) Fellow. Additionally, Craig maintains a part-time private practice focusing on couple counseling and addictions counseling. He has over 125 publications and has received multiple research awards. He also has received numerous service awards, including the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values (ASERVIC) Meritorious Service and Lifetime Service Awards, the Chi Sigma Iota Thomas J. Sweeney Professional Leadership Award, and the Conference of Southern Graduate Schools Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award. Craig is a Past-Chair of the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) and has served as the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) Governing Council Representative to ACA and President of Chi Sigma Iota, the international honor society for the counseling profession.

Specialty Areas: 

Global Experiences: Botswana, Brazil, Namibia, and South Africa

Angela D. Coker, Ph.D., LPC, NCC, is an Associate Professor of Counseling and Family Therapy at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. Her areas of scholarly activity include women’s academic, career, and psychosocial development. In addition, she has also been active in the areas of group counseling and the internationalization of counseling. Dr. Coker is the author of numerous articles, book chapters, and co-editor of the book Experiential Activities for Teaching Multicultural Competence in Counseling (Pope, Pangelinan, & Coker, 2011). Dr. Coker currently serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development (JMCD) where she has been invited to enhance the journal’s representation of international counseling issues and scholars.

As a counselor educator Dr. Coker focuses on helping counselors enhance their cultural competence in order to serve diverse communities globally. Dr. Coker is a 2011 Fulbright-Hays scholar who has examined cultural diversity in Brazil. In 2013 she served as a sabbaticant in the Department of Educational Foundations at the University of Botswana. While in Botswana she conducted a qualitative study that explored the experiences of community and school counselors in the region. Dr. Coker has also provided professional development training for UNICEF staff in Botswana. She has also provided counseling outreach to women who have experienced homelessness in Windhoek, Namibia. While in Namibia she also provided professional development and wellness training for staff serving impoverished children in the township of Katutura. Dr. Coker has also served as a Visiting Scholar at the University of the Western Cape in South Africa where she conducted workshops on women’s development and counseling. Lastly, Dr. Coker currently serves as a Fellow in the Office of International Studies and Programs at the University of Missouri – St. Louis.

Global Experience: Italy and NBCC-International

Global Experience: NBCC-International Mental Health Facilitator

Global Experiences: Switzerland and Netherlands

Global Experience: United Kingdom, Slovenia, Italy, Greece

Specialty Areas: Marriage, Couple, and Family Counselling and Clinical Mental Health Counselling

Global Experiences: Scotland, Slovenia, and St. Lucia

Dr. Karena J. Heyward received her Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision form the College of William and Mary in 2012. During her time as a doctoral student, she helped to design and implement a study abroad program in Edinburgh, Scotland for Master’s-level and Doctoral-level student in counseling. After joining academia, she presented internationally with other marriage and family counselors/therapist at the 5th Congress of The Association of Marriage and Family Therapists of Slovenia in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Most recently, Dr. Heyward had the opportunity to teach courses through Lynchburg College in St. Lucia to train competent School and Clinical Mental Health counselors on the island.  Dr. Heyward continues to research the internationalization of the counseling field, as evident in a recent article in Counseling Today entitled, Establishment of a Professional International Counseling Identify: Cross-Cultural Conversations. Interest in international perspectives on the counseling field grows out of Dr. Heyward’s cross-cultural and multi-national identities.

University of Nevada Las Vegas

Global Experience:

Global experience: Caribbean, Turkey, and Singapore

Specialty Areas: Crisis Counseling, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, School Counseling, and Counselor Education and Supervision

Global Experiences: Caribbean, Israel, West Bank, and Columbia

Kenyon C. Knapp, Ph.D., LPC, NBCC, CPCS  is the Coordinator for the Doctoral Counseling Program and tenured Associate Professor of Counseling at Penfield College of Mercer University, Atlanta campus, where he teaches Masters and Ph.D. level counseling courses.  He has had a part-time private practice for over 18 years, and has worked in numerous counseling settings. He currently serves as a board member for CACREP, the national accreditation body for the counseling field.  He has specialties in the areas of crisis counseling, sexual addiction counseling, and Christian counseling. He has conducted crisis counseling trainings in Haiti, Israel, and the West Bank, as well as humanitarian trips to the Bahamas, Colombia, and Puerto Rico.   However, his greatest joy and accomplishments come in the form of his wife and four children, who keep him practical, multitasking, and very grateful.

Global Experience: Nicaragua, Guatemala

Global Experience: Argentina

Mercer University

Global Experience: India

Specialty Area: Career Development

Global Experience: Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, India, Finland, Portugal, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Ireland, Turkey, South Africa, Canada, Qatar, Sweden, Spain, Belgium, England, Scotland, Switzerland, Singapore, Taiwan, and Denmark

Dr. Spencer Niles is Dean and Professor at the School of Education at the College of William & Mary. Previously, he served as Distinguished Professor and Department Head for Educational Psychology, Counseling, and Special Education at the Pennsylvania State University. Prior to joining the faculty at Penn State, he served on the counselor education faculty at the University of Virginia.

Dean Niles was recently identified as one of the most influential deans of education in the United States and is the current Past-President of Chi Sigma Iota International and President-Elect of the National Career Development Association (NCDA). He is the recipient of the NCDA Eminent Career Award, ACA’s Thomas Sweeney Visionary Leadership and Advocacy Award, President’s Award, David Brooks Distinguished Mentor Award, the ACA Extended Research Award, ACA’s Visionary Leader and Advocate Award, and the University of British Columbia Noted Scholar Award. Niles is a Fellow of ACA and NCDA. He has served previously as President for the National Career Development Association (2003-2004), Editor for The Career Development Quarterly, Editor for the Journal of Counseling & Development, and continues to serve on numerous journal editorial boards. He has authored or co-authored approximately 140 publications and delivered over 150 presentations on career development theory and practice.

He has taught in over 25 countries and is an Honorary Member of the Japanese Career Development Association, Honorary Member of the Italian Association for Educational and Vocational Guidance, a member of the Board of Directors for the International Center for Career Development and Public Policy and a Lifetime Honorary Member of the Ohio Career Development Association.

Global Experience: Argentina,

Global Experience: Mexico

Specialty Area: School Counseling

Global Experience: Italy

Brett Zyromski joined the counselor education faculty at The Ohio State University in Autumn 2016 after spending six years at Northern Kentucky University (2010-2016) and three years at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale (2007-2010). His scholarship focuses on the impact of evidence-based interventions in school counseling, evidence-based school counselor education, and evaluation in school counseling. Zyromski is the author of Facilitating Evidence-Based, Data-Driven School Counseling: A Manual for Practice (Corwin, 2016). He is also co-founder and co-chair of the national Evidence-Based School Counseling Conference. Zyromski is involved with the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) as one of eighteen Lead Recognized-ASCA-Model-Program Reviewers (LRR’s) nationwide. He has also served as project manager for $5,541,223 worth of federal and state grants.

Zyromski has published over a dozen articles related to school counseling issues and has delivered more than 60 international, national, regional, and local presentations. He has been recognized for numerous awards and recognitions, including the 2015 Kentucky School Counselor Association Outstanding Post-Secondary Counselor, the 2014 Illinois School Counselor Association Friend of ISCA, the 2010 North Central Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Professional Leadership Award, the 2010 Illinois School Counseling Association Presidential Award, and the 2008 North Central Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Outstanding Professional Teaching Award.