2021 Doctoral Fellows
Jasmaine Efe Ataga – Powder Springs, Georgia
As a Minority Fellowship Program for Mental Health Counseling Doctoral Fellow, Ataga will receive $20,000 to support her counseling education and recognize her commitment to underserved communities. Ataga is a graduate of Valdosta State University and Georgia State University. She is currently a doctoral student in the counselor education and supervision program at the University of Florida.
Ataga is a National Certified Counselor (NCC), a Licensed Professional Counselor in Georgia, and a Registered Play Therapist. Her research agenda focuses on sexual trauma and utilizing expressive arts to promote meaning-making and posttraumatic growth. She is also the founder of Zen360, a small organization that creates and facilitates expressive training, workshops, and international outreach trips for counseling students, clinicians, and educators. Her trips focus on clinical outreach and cultural immersion experiences in Black and Brown communities abroad. This fellowship will help her to further develop her research repertoire through leading more direct studies that will better inform and impact trauma counselors and counselor educators. Additionally, the award will allow her the chance to commit more time toward advocacy, social justice service, and direct service for survivors of sexual trauma. Most importantly, Ataga will ensure that the NBCC MFP award will be mutually invested back into underserved clients, clinicians, and local communities.
Guy Joseph Beauduy, Jr. – Wilton Manors, Florida
As a Minority Fellowship Program for Mental Health Counseling Doctoral Fellow, Beauduy will receive $20,000 to support his counseling education and recognize his commitment to underserved communities. Beauduy is a graduate of Florida International University and Florida Atlantic University, and is currently a doctoral student in the counselor education and supervision program at Montclair State University.
Beauduy is part of a distinguished network of over 300 Black men in counseling and counselor education who have dedicated themselves to outreach for Black men in the field of counselor education. He is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor and a Licensed Associate Counselor in the state of New Jersey. His areas of research include researching the effects of microaggressions in online dating among gay men of color, cross-institutional mentoring among Black men in counselor education, and transition plans and programming in vocational rehabilitation. Beauduy also works as an intensive in-community therapist in urban Newark, New Jersey, serving at-risk youth and families. This fellowship will help him continue serving marginalized and minoritized communities. It will also afford him the ability to focus on research while maintaining professional and organizational commitments.
LaTisha Brown – Cary, North Carolina
As a Minority Fellowship Program for Mental Health Counseling Doctoral Fellow, Brown will receive $20,000 to support her counseling education and recognize her commitment to underserved communities. Brown is a graduate of the University of South Carolina Aiken, Augusta University, and is a doctoral student in the counselor education and supervision program at North Carolina State University.
Brown is interested in exploring factors impacting parenting stress and mental health of Black parents of children with Autism. This includes an exploration of cultural and systemic challenges in early diagnosis, barriers in accessing support for parents, and the impact of culturally relevant empowerment programs. She will work closely with a local empowerment program serving minority families and parents of children newly diagnosed with Autism. She has served as a graduate assistant at the North Carolina State University Counseling Center, serving as an academic counselor and workshop facilitator, while also serving the clinical needs of college students of color. Presently, she provides direct clinical services to parents of children with Autism, aiding parents in addressing concerns with parenting, anxiety, and depression. This fellowship will help Brown increase clinical skills necessary to serve and advocate for underserved minority populations. She intends to provide education and training to both parents and community stakeholders in an effort to better address systemic challenges that contribute to parenting stress, such as inadequate childcare for pre-school aged children with Autism. The fellowship will also aid in providing opportunities for increased consultation and training to provide quality care to underserved families.
Kervins Clement – Greensboro, North Carolina
As a Minority Fellowship Program for Mental Health Counseling Doctoral Fellow, Clement will receive $20,000 to support his counseling education and recognize his commitment to underserved communities. Clement is a graduate of the University of Florida and is currently a doctoral student in counselor education and supervision program at the University of North Carolina Greensboro.
Clement is interested in researching individuals struggling with sex addiction, exploring how sex addiction impacts their relationships, examining the impact of mental health issues on minority populations such as the Haitian community, and understanding the factors that influence the delivery of addiction counseling and services. He is committed to addressing the stigmas regarding accessing mental health services and breaking the barriers that prevent access. His hope is that through his research he can bridge the gap between the Haitian community and mental health services, promote educational opportunities for the general population, and improve long-term recovery programs for such individuals. Clement is a graduate assistant within the counseling education department, where he instructs undergraduate college students with the focus of promoting knowledge and skills fostering personal and intimate relationships. He currently works in private practice serving individuals from underserved communities and backgrounds. He has provided pro-bono and discounted services for clients with financial hardship. Clement is passionate about helping everyone to receive proper mental health services, education, and resources.This fellowship will help him gain access to mentors who can support his professional goals as well as provide resources for him to continue his involvement in the community through advocacy work and organizing education and training workshops. Additionally, the fellowship program will help him gain access to professional organizations through which he can advocate for people struggling with an addiction and those with a minority background. It will also help Clement receive further training to enhance his clinical work to competently provide services to underserved minority populations.
Pamela Fullerton – Morton Grove, Illinois
As a Minority Fellowship Program for Mental Health Counseling Doctoral Fellow, Fullerton will receive $20,000 to support her counseling education and recognize her commitment to underserved communities. Fullerton is a graduate of Elmhurst College and Northeastern Illinois University. She is currently a doctoral student in the counselor education and supervision program at Governors State University.
Fullerton is interested in researching the mental health and wellness of undocumented students in secondary and postsecondary institutions, as it pertains to their academic, personal, and career goals. Through previous research and career experiences, she has come to recognize the institutional barriers, trauma, and lack of support services the undocumented population endures in the United States. She also recognizes the strength and resilience of this special population. Pamela aims to use their strengths and growth capacities to empower undocumented students to reauthor their narratives to engage in the pursuit and achievement of their goals and dreams. Fullerton is currently a practicum student, counseling individuals from underserved communities. She also started a consulting business through which she offers workshops and trainings to better support underserved communities in the educational and counseling fields. This fellowship will help her to further engage in social justice and advocacy work for the undocumented population and other underserved communities. She is also looking forward to the fellowship’s many outreach, networking, and training opportunities that will further increase her multicultural competencies to better assist her work with underserved populations.
Brook A. Fulton – Columbia, Maryland
As a Minority Fellowship Program for Mental Health Counseling Doctoral Fellow, Fulton will receive $20,000 to support her counseling education and recognize her commitment to underserved communities. Fulton is a graduate of Goucher College and Johns Hopkins University. She is currently a doctoral student in the counselor education and supervision program at The George Washington University.
Fulton is interested in focusing her research on advancing counseling competency for the transgender and nonbinary community. Between her connections in the transgender community and her counseling education, she has noticed discrepancies between what counselors learn about serving the transgender/nonbinary community and their ability to implement this education into practice. For these reasons, her specific research interests are advancing empathetic counseling competency for the transgender and nonbinary community and providing competent supervision to counselors working with the LGBTQ+ community. To reach these goals, she aims to conduct research with a strategic focus on understanding the counseling needs of the transgender and nonbinary community. She will subsequently determine how to translate this knowledge into improving existing counselor education through training, supervision, and updated course content, and community outreach and workshops. Fulton currently works in private practice providing mental health services to adolescents and adults within the LGBTQ+ community. She is also in her internship supervising master’s-level counseling students working at the Community Counseling Services Center at George Washington University. This fellowship will help her reach her goals by continuing her PhD education and research, while also creating space for her to network with other counselors who work with the LGBTQ+ community. She looks forward to working with her fellowship mentor and becoming more involved with professional organizations. Fulton will continue to develop her research and action plan to make the most substantial impact in serving this marginalized community.
Diana Gallardo – Waukegan, IL, Pennsylvania
As a Minority Fellowship Program for Mental Health Counseling Doctoral Fellow, Gallardo will receive $20,000 to support her counseling education and recognize her commitment to underserved communities. Gallardo is a graduate of University of Wisconsin-Madison and Northwestern University. She is currently a doctoral student in the counselor education and supervision program at The Pennsylvania State University.
Gallardo's research agenda focuses on structural and systemic barriers that have historically prevented Latinx students' retention and advancement in higher education. Specifically, she is interested in bringing attention to the barriers Latinx counselors-in-training experience in educational systems and the impact these barriers have on their wellness. Her dissertation will explore barriers for Latinx counseling students. This fellowship will support her scholarly activities by fostering involvement in her research area through the completion of her dissertation, engagement in leadership and service roles, and advocacy efforts to improve the training of counselors and counselors-in-training. It will also help her continue attending professional conferences to share her research at the national and international levels. Lastly, this fellowship will provide access to further training that will increase her competency in working with the Latinx and other minority populations.
Brittany Nicole Glover – Charlotte, North Carolina
As a Minority Fellowship Program for Mental Health Counseling Doctoral Fellow, Glover will receive $20,000 to support her counseling education and recognize her commitment to underserved communities. Glover is a graduate of Hampton University and North Carolina A&T State University. She is currently a doctoral student in the counselor education and supervision program at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Glover is interested in researching behavioral interventions that are culturally and developmentally appropriate for African-American boys with emotional and behavioral disabilities. She is also interested in training and collaboration that work and supports urban schools among school counselors, school-based mental health providers, school psychologists, and community mental health providers. As a previous school counselor and educator, she has a passion for dismantling racist and deleterious practices that reverberate in K–12 schools. Glover is currently a graduate teaching assistant at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNCC). She is a contributing member of the UNCC Urban School Counseling Collaborative and a member of UNCC's Mental Health Research and Practice Team. This fellowship will help Glover to become more involved in her research through community involvement, advocacy for school counselors and minority students in schools, and education and training. This fellowship will also provide her with the opportunity to present and attend conferences specific to her research and degree program and participate in professional organizations. Glover is ecstatic about this auspicious opportunity.
Kyesha Isadore – Lafayette, Louisiana
As a Minority Fellowship Program for Mental Health Counseling Doctoral Fellow, Isadore will receive $20,000 to support their counseling education and recognize their commitment to underserved communities. Isadore is a graduate of Louisiana State University and the Pennsylvania State University. They are currently a doctoral student in the counselor education and supervision program at the Pennsylvania State University.
After obtaining their doctoral degree, Isadore intends to continue their work on examining the mental health needs of racially minoritized college students with psychiatric disabilities. They also hope to serve as a counselor educator and address multicultural competencies specifically at the intersection of racism and ableism through teaching, research, counseling, and supervision. Earning this fellowship will allow Isdore to continue gaining the knowledge and skills to be an effective counselor, educator, and researcher while serving marginalized populations.
Alice Mills Mai – Lewis Center, Ohio
As a Minority Fellowship Program for Mental Health Counseling Doctoral Fellow, Mills Mai will receive $20,000 to support her counseling education and recognize her commitment to underserved communities. Mills Mai is a graduate of the City College of New York and is currently a doctoral student in the counselor education and supervision program at University of the Cumberlands.
Mills Mai likes to describe herself as a human first, before any roles or titles. Her work has focused on offering comprehensive clinical and legal support services to survivors of intimate partner violence or other forms of gender-based violence who have been criminalized for their efforts to survive or resist abusive partners. She is also the founder and CEO of Centering Wholeness, which aims to foster counselor and organizational wholeness and wellness through supervision, training, and education. Mills Mai is passionate about supporting counselor wellness and quality supervision as a counselor, supervisor, consultant, and educator. Her work rests on the tenets of Black feminist theory through trauma-informed, anti-oppressive, and relational lenses. Her research areas are incarceration, counselor wellness, anti-oppressive practices in counseling, and multicultural supervision.
Claudia Mai Nguyen – Washington, D.C.
As a Minority Fellowship Program for Mental Health Counseling Doctoral Fellow, Nguyen will receive $20,000 to support her counseling education and recognize her commitment to underserved communities. Nguyen is a graduate of Georgetown Univeristy and Marymount University. She is currently a doctoral student in the counselor education and supervision program at The George Washington University.
Nguyen is a Licensed Graduate Professional Counselor (LGPC) in the District of Columbia. She focuses on making a greater impact, on both individual and systemic levels, by addressing stigmas and barriers associated with mental health care in Asian communities, advocating to amplify Asian visibility in the counseling field, and treating underserved minority populations. Nguyen also volunteers and collaborates with national organizations like the Asian Mental Health Collective to increase mental health knowledge and access to resources for minority communities. In clinical practice, she provides counseling services in the D.C. metro area, seeing individuals and couples and specializing in AAPI cultural identity formation. She is trained in and utilizes eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) to treat individuals with past traumatic experiences related to sexual assault, interpersonal violence, and racial trauma. Nguyen engages in research surrounding racial trauma treatment and prevention, intergenerational cultural identity conflict in immigrant families, anti-oppressive and anti-racist andragogy, interethnic/intercultural couples counseling, and the integration of mindfulness principles and contemplative sciences in counselor education programs. This fellowship will help her further engage in research projects examining racial- and ethnic-based stressors in minority populations and amplify her ability to provide services to underserved communities.
Dhruvi N. Patel – Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas
As a Minority Fellowship Program for Mental Health Counseling Doctoral Fellow, Patel will receive $20,000 to support her counseling education and recognize her commitment to underserved communities. Patel is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin and The University of Texas at San Antonio. She is currently a doctoral student in the counselor education and supervision program at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
A National Certified Counselor and a Licensed Professional Counselor approaching seven years in the field, Patel answers to a passion for empowering historically disenfranchised communities across clinical and educational settings. She is invested in increasing the representation of Asian-American experience in literature and curriculum and thereby addressing the cross-cultural disconnect that so often faces clients. Her dissertation explores the choice of childlessness and reproductive decision-making in Indian-American women, in order to examine socio-culturally informed choice in life authorship and affirm women’s embodied realities. Following graduation, Patel looks forward to counseling and teaching in diverse settings, as well as furthering a feminist research agenda that invites voices from underrepresented communities such as her own. The NBCC Minority Fellowship Program directly facilitates her aims by providing invaluable funding, support, training, mentorship, community, and opportunities for advocacy. She strives to incorporate these gifts in her counseling, teaching, and scholarship and enrich counselor trainees’ awareness, knowledge, and skill in working with racial/ethnic, gender-variant, and sexual minorities, with a focus on collectivistic culture.
Zori Amber Paul – Chicago, Illinois
As a Minority Fellowship Program for Mental Health Counseling Doctoral Fellow, Paul will receive $20,000 to support her counseling education and recognize her commitment to underserved communities. Paul is a graduate of University of Chicago and Northwestern University. She is currently a doctoral student in the counselor education program at University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Paul is interested in researching intersecting multiple marginalized identities, including bisexual, pansexual, queer, or fluid women of color, and identity affirmation. She is also interested in researching cross-cultural mentorship in counseling programs. She is currently a Provisionally Licensed Professional Counselor (PLPC) and a certified Parent-Child Interaction Therapist (PCIT) at Thoughts Out Loud Counseling LLC, which has a community partnership with Midtown Community Services in St. Louis, Missouri. She provides both group and individual therapeutic services to predominantly Black mothers living in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas of St. Louis, many of whom have had domestic violence experiences. This fellowship will help her continue to develop professional skills as a culturally competent counselor educator dedicated to promoting diversity and anti-racism in research, mentorship, and training in the counseling field. This fellowship will also help her network and get more involved with professional organizations that fight mental health stigma and inaccessibility of mental health resources for LGBTQIA+ Black women and other members of the Black community.
Giscard Petion – Atlanta, Georgia
As a Minority Fellowship Program for Mental Health Counseling Doctoral Fellow, Petion will receive $20,000 to support his counseling education and recognize his commitment to underserved communities. Petion is a graduate of the University of South Florida and the University of Central Florida. He is currently a doctoral student in the counselor education and supervision program at Georgia State University.
Petion is interested in researching the mental health issues and experiences of college student athletes. He has had experience working with athletes, individuals, couples, and families. This fellowship will aid him in executing a research plan that involves investigating performance outcomes for athletes utilizing mental health interventions. This fellowship will also assist him in advancing his reach in advocacy for bBack men and for the mental health of athletes.
Judith Wambui Preston – Chesapeake, Virginia
As a Minority Fellowship Program for Mental Health Counseling Doctoral Fellow, Preston will receive $20,000 to support her counseling education and recognize her commitment to underserved communities. Preston is a graduate of the University of Nairobi and Old Dominion University. She is currently a doctoral student in the counselor education and supervision program at Old Dominion University.
Preston is currently interested in researching the lived experiences of doctoral supervisors, broaching race, ethnicity, and culture in clinical supervision with master’s-level counseling students. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor, National Certified Counselor, Approved Clinical Supervisor, Certified Substance Abuse Counselor, and PhD candidate. Preston is also the owner of a clinical mental health private practice, Centered Counseling Services. She has over 16 years of clinical mental health experience working with underserved minority communities. She practices from a cultural sustaining and social justice lens and specializes in developmental and race-based trauma, depression, anxiety, and substance use. Preston has also specialized in clinical supervision.
She has published and presented topics related to understanding, mentoring, and meeting the needs of Black doctoral students; broaching race, ethnicity, and culture in clinical supervision; and understanding the impact of social determinants of health in school-based counseling. This fellowship will help her become more involved in her research area through direct service, community involvement, advocacy for underserved minority populations, education and training, and outreach activities. This fellowship will also help her get involved with professional organizations and receive further training to competently provide services to underserved minority populations.
Adrianne C. Robertson – Lithia Springs, Georgia
As a Minority Fellowship Program for Mental Health Counseling Doctoral Fellow, Robertson will receive $20,000 to support her counseling education and recognize her commitment to underserved communities. Robertson is a graduate of Wilmington College and DePaul University. She is currently a doctoral student in the counselor education and supervision program at Georgia State University.
Robertson is currently interested in research addressing mental health and antiracist school counseling practices in K–12 education. She is a school counselor working with students who have marginalized identities and a Licensed Professional Counselor working with diverse populations through telemental health services. Robertson is also currently working with the school district and local community college in her Ohio hometown to host a summit specifically for high school students of color, in which alumni of color return as speakers for the conference-style event. She is a graduate assistant at Georgia State University where she works with clinical rehabilitation counseling students to provide career guidance and mentorship. The NBCC Minority Fellowship Program will provide her opportunities to become more involved in her research, increase her advocacy efforts for underserved populations, and connect to other professionals so she can increase interdisciplinary efforts to address the barriers impacting K–12 marginalized student populations.
Tobias A. Robertson – New Orleans, Louisiana
As a Minority Fellowship Program for Mental Health Counseling Doctoral Fellow, Robertson will receive $20,000 to support his counseling education and recognize his commitment to underserved communities. Robertson is a graduate of Southern University and is currently a doctoral student in the counselor education and supervision program at University of Holy Cross.
Robertson works as Substance Abuse Specialist at a behavioral clinic servicing minority clients with co-occuring disorders in urban communities. He is researching the adverse experiences of African American male experiences within society; relationships with law-enforcement, social services professionals, and education. This fellowship will allow him to directly integrate his professional leadership role into advocating for the advancement and wellness of African American male populations through education and training and outreach activities. This fellowship will also help him continue to organize and structure professional development in which aligns with his professional goals associated with providing psycho-education to young Black males.
Loretta Sanchez – McAllen, Texas
As a Minority Fellowship Program for Mental Health Counseling Doctoral Fellow, Sanchez will receive $20,000 to support her counseling education and recognize her commitment to underserved communities. Sanchez is a graduate of The University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley and is currently a doctoral student in the counselor education and supervision program at University of the Cumberlands.
Sanchez's research involves understanding the trauma-informed competency of public school counselors who serve minority (Latino/a and undocumented) populations in the Rio Grande Valley. It revolves around understanding the frequency of adverse experiences students experience as well as how competent school counselors are in offering trauma-informed care. The NBCC MFP Fellowship will allow Sanchez to cultivate professional connections with passionate individuals who are longing to both grow and leave an impact on the counseling profession.
Reyna C. Smith – Cincinnati, Ohio
As a Minority Fellowship Program for Mental Health Counseling Doctoral Fellow, Smith will receive $20,000 to support her counseling education and recognize her commitment to underserved communities. Smith is a graduate of Miami University and Xavier University. She is currently a doctoral student in the counselor education and supervision program at University of the Cumberlands.
Smith is interested in researching the help-seeking attitudes and university mental health services utilization of African-American college students attending predominantly white institutions (PWIs), and strategies to address barriers to treatment. She is the owner and sole therapist of a private practice that focuses on addressing the mental health concerns of adolescents and young adults, specifically of minority populations. As an advocate of mental health in minority communities, Smith has a passion for educating and encouraging others to prioritize their mental health. As an NBCC MFP Fellow, she plans to receive advanced training on issues related to minorities, network with similarly interested professionals, and pursue advanced research opportunities. Following graduation, she plans to teach multicultural classes to further educate future counselors on issues of diversity, multicultural counseling competence, and the importance of advocating for the mental health of those who don't have the resources to advocate for themselves.
Warren B. Wright – Bryan/College Station, Texas
As a Minority Fellowship Program for Mental Health Counseling Doctoral Fellow, Wright will receive $20,000 to support his counseling education and recognize his commitment to underserved communities. Wright is a graduate of Georgia Southern University and is a doctoral student in the counselor education and supervision program at Sam Houston State University.
Wright is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a National Certified Counselor. He has worked in several settings, including private practice and college counseling. He currently works as a counselor for Texas A&M University's Counseling and Psychological Services. In this role, he conducts individual counseling, group counseling, and psychoeducational workshops and trainings. His research interests include supporting Black men in higher education and understanding and healing racial trauma. He is the recipient of the 2020 Accountability, Climate, and Equity (ACE) Diversity Staff Award from Texas A&M University. This fellowship will help Wright become more involved in counselor education and enhance his leadership, clinical, and research skills.
