1. Jane Ellis’ Introduction Hi everybody, my name is Jane Ellis and I live in Gordonsville, VA, which lies in the foothills of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. I am married and have two adult children, four beautiful grandchildren ranging in age from 12 – 19, and one dog and one cat. I am an animal lover and hope to someday be able to find work that involves interacting with animals.

2. Ashford University I received my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Ashford University in 2010 and a Master of Public Administration in 2012, also from Ashford. I am now pursuing a master of education with a concentration in higher education in hopes of becoming better at the work that I love.

3. Career I am currently employed full time as a program director in my state’s mental health peer organization. I am the president of the VA Behavioral Health Advisory Council, and I serve on several other boards and steering committees that focus on mental health issues. My job allows me to do mental health advocacy in the state General Assembly as well as traveling around the state teaching workshops on mental health topics such as cultural competency, WRAP (wellness recovery action plan), advocacy, and many others.

4. Cultural Competency The state Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS) Office of Cultural and Linguistic Competency has recently offered me the honor of becoming a cultural competency trainer of trainers. This will enable me to train others to facilitate cultural competency workshops around the state.

5. Early Schooling I am keenly interested in cultural competence because of an experience I had while attending Virginia public schools. When I was in second grade, the schools in my public school system were desegregated. To me, as a child, there was no difference between people of different races except that some had different color skin. I spent my second year in school (no kindergarten for public school students back then) being bussed to the school that was formerly the African-American school. After that year, the students were sent to the schools that were closer to their homes, so we went to school with the kids who lived near us regardless of ethnicity. Living in the south made me intensely aware the cultural attitudes of racism and discrimination, not only others’ but my own as well. In my early 20s I made it my goal to become as culturally competent as possible, and I have strived toward this goal ever since.

6. Education Beliefs There were several quotes that summarize my beliefs about education and I had a very hard time narrowing it down. I chose the following three because they all speak to my belief that we must continue to learn throughout our lives in order to thrive, and that the most important education is learning how to learn. “Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.” ― Socrates

7. Peter Drucker

8. Einstein