Alyssa is a senior at Southern Illinois University studying Communication and Marketing where she holds the positions of Student Programming Council Vice Executive Director and Student Alumni Council President. Alyssa has a strong passion for civic engagement and leadership. She will be joining CCWF as an Administration and Operations Intern and is looking forward to helping CCWF reach their goals.

Intern

Carlos Flores-Gaytan is from Waukegan, IL and currently attends Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois. He majors in History and is also studying Japanese. He is the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the student newspaper The Knox Student, and has multiple awards for student journalism from the Illinois Student Press Association. He is interested in a future career involving writing. He is also a fan of movies, basketball, and fantasy novels.

Intern

My name is Christine Amoni. I am getting my Masters in Social Work from Aurora University. I will be specializing in school Social Work. I currently work in the Yorkville school district as a special education paraprofessional. I am a Mom to four great children. I enjoy baking and cooking, the beach, and spending time with my family and friends.

Intern

Dahlia has over 20 years’ experience in social services and with a variety of needs. Dahlia has worked
with diverse populations, persons with intellectual disabilities, child welfare experience, mental health
and substance abuse needs. Dahlia provides Spanish speaking and culturally responsive services for
individuals and families. She works with and as a team, building upon personal strengths in your journey
to a healthier self and family. She can also help parents better understand how normal child/adolescent
development, coupled with any complex traumas and experiences can impact their sense of self and
family functioning.
With her experience working with substance related issues, in combination with her knowledge treating
mental health needs, she is adept at understanding the ways in which each can impact the other. These
skills further enhance her ability to create a plan for treatment that will assist with the greatest
empowerment and life improvement.

Facilitator / Volunteer

Born and raised in Spain, David Espiñeira is currently enrolled at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria pursuing a Bachelor of Translation and Interpreting. He has followed an exchange program at the University of Debrecen, Hungary and has studied French in the Université Populaire de Genève, Switzerland. David is looking to grow as a translator and has a great interest in the humanitarian causes after working for the Spanish Red Cross.

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He is very excited to be part of the CCWF and with the idea of changing and improving the future of children.

Intern

Judy Martinez is enrolled in Aurora University working on her second Bachelor's degree in
Social work. Her first bachelors degree is in general studio art from The School of the Art
Institute of Chicago (SAIC). She also attained an Associates degree in Graphic and web design
from Waubonsee Community College. She is focusing on adoptions and fostering within the
social work field, She is currently working in a Daycare center as a lead teacher in a toddler
room, which inspired her to want to further her education and want to help her community. She
enjoys being around children, watching them grow and learn with new experiences; as well as
learn new skills herself. Her goal is to work in the field of adoptions and fostering to be able to
help the children that need someone to help them out to get ahead in life. In her spare time,
when she gets a chance, she likes to spend time with her friends and family, especially her
nieces and nephews.

Intern

Born and raised in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Khulan is currently enrolled at Aurora University pursuing a Bachelor of Business Marketing.  While at Aurora University, she worked on multiple projects on consumer behavior, social media marketing, and sales process plans. Khulan believes childhood is the most important stage, which shapes a person’s future. That is why she is excited about joining CCWF and be a part of a wonderful team while sharpening her skills. She is also interested in going back to her country where there is a lack of support from the government and makes a difference through the knowledge and skills that she gained from her CCWF internship program.

Intern

Luis is a senior at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign studying clinical psychology with a minor in Spanish. He is the founder of the Illinois Psychology transfer student mentorship program and is also a member of the Association of Latino Professionals as well. Luis enjoys going to coffee shops, watching sports, and working out. Luis is looking to kickstart his career as an adolescent psychologist and is very excited to be working with the CCWF. He believes that CCWF will give him the tools he needs to reach his goals. 

Intern

Peggy Hansen is currently enrolled at Aurora University pursuing a Master of Social Work. She is interested in becoming a Licensed Social Worker with emphasis on working with children and their parents and assisting them in building a strong future for their lives. Peggy is working on transitioning from the business field to the social work field, as well she is an ESL teacher and teach children English online to children in China. In her free time, she enjoys reading, baking and spending time with her adult children. 

Intern

Shruti Kumar recently got her design B.F.A. from Savannah College of Art and Design. Shruti has worked on many individual and collaborative projects ranging from graphic to industrial design that can be found on international forums. Shruti enjoys photography and traveling.

Shruti believes that the quality of a child’s environment largely influences their emotional and social development. This is why she is excited about being a member of the team and making positive contributions to the CCWF and its community.

Intern

Vincent Sarna is a recent graduate of Loyola University Chicago with his B.A. in Psychology. In the fall, he will be starting his Masters in Social Work at Loyola University Chicago with an emphasis of Mental Health. His personal research seeks to support the LGBT+ community and has conducted a LGBT+ survey at Loyola to better understand the attitutdes towards mentoring of LGBT+ students. This directly created a LGBT+ mentoring program that will start in the Fall of 2020 at Loyola that follows the information gained from the survey. His long term goals are to get his PHD and to continue to help his community.

Intern

Xenia J Kozlov, ethnically Ukrainian, spent the most part of her life in Moscow, Russia. In 2002, earned Bachelors degree in Russian language and Russian literature at Moscow State Pedagogical University. In 2005, got Masters degree in Russian literature, thesis “Modern typologies of the artistic consciousness”. She has worked as a journalist, author and editor. In 2009, she attended Moscow Gestalt Institute but had to interrupt because of moving to the United States in 2011. In 2015, she entered New England College and in 2018, got BA in Psychology. Currently, the proud student of Adler University, Chicago, studying Psychology with focus on Gender and Sexuality. She is married and a happy mom of two sons. Orthodox Christian. Feminist. Her hobbies include: drawing, music, creating costumes, and photography.

Intern

Yuqi just finished her undergraduate study from University of Wisconsin, Madison with the majors Computer Sciences and Math. She has interned at Microsoft as a software developer and is joining CCWF as a web designer intern. She has also been a social media manager for MWNF (Museum With No Frontiers). She hopes all her past experience could help CCWF as she really likes the idea of CCWF and wants to see what she can do to make the parent training programs better and more accessible to the public. In her free time, she likes going to concerts/shows, shopping, bubble tea, reading and hiking.

Intern