​We create communities that heal and empower. 

​Established in 2018, the Center for Cognitive Diversity provides training and coaching programs to address trauma so that no child is a lost cause.  Our pioneering Trauma Informed Specialist program is supporting educators across the US and abroad who can respond effectively to the needs of children with trauma, implement practices that promote equity and healing, and ensure all educators have the emotional capacity to prevent burnout. 

Our Team 

​Emily Santiago LEP, NCSP
Founder and Director

Emily Santiago MS, LEP, NCSP (LEP #3642) is an Educational Psychologist who designed the Trauma Informed Specialist program. She has worked in rural, urban and private schools in the US and abroad as a school psychologist, teacher, wraparound facilitator and university instructor for over 20 years. Her experience effectively transforming school climate and responding to the needs of families in crisis set the groundwork for becoming a leader in the Trauma Informed Education movement.
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Emily is passionate about ensuring all children have the support and opportunities to be successful.

​Emily has been a speaker at national and international conferences focusing on the topics of differentiation, mental health, mindfulness and trauma. ​

Roxy Hernandez MS, NCSP
Instructor

Roxy Hernandez is a school psychologist and graduate of the Educa- tional Psychology program at CSUEB. She conducted research with Dr. Greg Jennings on Trauma Informed Schools with a focus on supporting recent immigrants. She is a Mental Health First Aid facilitator and an instructor in the Trauma Informed Educator program. She is currently a school psychologist in the Livermore School District. 

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Dr. Jack Davis
Advisory Board

 As Head of the Educational Psychology Department at CSUEB, Dr. Jack Davis has been a pioneer in the field of childhood learning disorders and is passionate about mental health consultation, crisis prevention and understanding institutionalized systems effects on children and adults.

​His department cosponsors The Center for Cognitive Diversity’s TIE program and offers graduate credits for the courses. After graduating from UC Berkeley, Dr. Davis went on to teach at both UC Davis and CSU Fullerton, in addition to serving as the Clinical Director of an Institute that specializes in the evaluation and treatment of children and adults with learning disorders.

Dr. Greg Jennings
​Advisory Board  

Dr. Greg Jennings the lead professor at CSU East Bay. His  current research and professional interests are in students’ resiliency and the marked capacity of individuals to cope with and overcome setbacks and stressors. He has presented nationally on the role of the school psychologist in promoting student coping and resources through family, school, and community systems. Current research focuses on individual, school, and family sources of resiliency among diverse, urban youth. Dr. Jennings teaches courses in mental health consultation, individual development, assessment, delivery of school psychology services, and supervision. He consults as a school psychologist in the Bay Area.

Dr. Robin Leveilee
​Advisory Board

Rob served with distinction for nine years with AdvancED’s, the world’s largest accreditation body, as Vice President for International Services. He has also served school head international administrative
posts in Peru, Australia, China and prior to his post with AdvancED, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Rob began teaching High School English in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, followed by a Middle School Principalship, then chief of school posts in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. In 1986 he was awarded a Ph.D. (with honors) in educational leadership from Boston College. Over the course of his career, Rob has served as chairman on hundreds of accreditation teams in the United States and around the world for AdvancED, WASC, MSA, and NEAS&C, with which he also served as a commissioner. He has met with students, Ministers, Ambassadors and Presidents, served on panels, key noted, and key-noted at more than two hundred conferences around the globe. Today he is known and respected as a “global mentor” by educators and students around the world and serves as
“Chief Educational Advisor" to several boards and organizations around the world. 

Sarah Shaw, MPH PMP
​Project Manager
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Sarah Shaw is a certified project management professional and a public health informatics scholar.  She has a Bachelor's in Cellular Molecular Biology and a Master's in Public Health from Tulane University.  She has been on a windy journey that started around Providence, RI for childhood, stopped in New Orleans for school, then on to Austin for the start of her career, and finally landed her in Ashland, OR.  Sarah has experience working in the non-profits, governments, and for-profit sectors. Most recently, she is a project management professional at a techonology company that helps to ensure newborns receive screenings and follow up care.  Throughout this journey, volunteerism has always been a very important part of her life.  From organizing events to training others, Sarah is eager to help non-profits and compassionate businesses thrive.

The Center for Cognitive Diversity 2020