Our Team – ARNA

Meet Our Team

ARNA Coordinating Leadership Team

DR. CANDACE KAYE
Chair, Executive Committee

Dr. Candace Kaye

Chair, Executive Committee

Dr. Candace Kaye is an Affiliated Graduate Professor of Early Childhood Education at New Mexico State University and lives for most of the year in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. She has served ARNA in several capacities. Currently, she is the Chair of the ARNA Coordinating Leadership Team. In 2020 and 2023 she co-chaired the virtual ARNA annual conferences and has been the Editor of the ARNA Conference Proceedings until she accepted the role of ARNA Chair. She continues to be involved in the ARNA Action Research Communities (ARC), first initiating the Early Childhood ARC and in 2023 beginning the International ARC. Her action research continues in Mi Museo, a program of early art education for public schools in Puerto Vallarta at the ARTe VallARTa Museum and APAPACHO, an early literacy program within a public library setting, in Puerto Vallarta. She writes and presents on her ongoing investigations about the community process of developing such programs and to that end, most recently co-edited a book on third spaces in education. Her current research interest also includes the cultural interpretation of action research theory and practice.

DR. DANE STICKNEY
Treasurer

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Dr. Dane Stickney

Treasurer

After five years as a middle school classroom teacher, Dane moved to CU-Denver where he is a clinical assistant professor of education supporting teacher development through the ASPIRE to Teach program. He also partners with the Student Voice and Leadership initiative through Denver Public Schools to help teachers and students enact Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR). He has been a member of the Transformative Student Voice research collective for a decade and is treasurer of the Action Research Network of the Americas and chair of the organization's YPAR ARC.

DR. DONALD D. PEPION
Indigenous Ways of Knowing Chair

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Dr. Donald D. Pepion

Indigenous Ways of Knowing Chair

Donald D. Pepion is an enrolled member of the federally recognized Blackfeet Indian Nation located in Montana USA while half of the 17,000 members are in Alberta Canada as North Piikani, Kanai, and Siksika. After completing a bachelor’s degree in business management/sociology, he worked twenty-five years with and for the Blackfeet Indian Nation managing tribal programs including social services, apprenticeship and construction, housing, health administrator, and community college president. Along the way he obtained a master and doctoral degrees in higher education.

He recently retired as an administrator and emeritus faculty after twenty-two years with New Mexico State University. His research interests and pursuits evolve around the recovery of Indigenous knowledge, histories, and cultures. Pepion indicates he is interested in Action Research Network of the Americas since most Euro-Centric publishers and academicians refuse to acknowledge Indigenous knowledge, experience, and history.

DR. DEBASMITA ROYCHOWDHURY
Chair, Membership & Sponsorship

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Dr. Debasmita Roychowdhury

Chair, Membership & Sponsorship

Debasmita Roychowdhury is a professor of English at the NMSU-Dona Aña Community College. She focuses on enhancing critical social consciousness through teaching argument writing, using participatory action research and critical media literacy. As an immigrant woman of color from India, she faced discrimination and cultural shock when she first arrived in Canada and the United States. With support from family and friends, she survived these challenges which transformed her into the educator she is today. This is an ongoing process of growth and maturity for her.

Professor Roychowdhury is a proud member of the ARNA organization which she joined in 2019. She has enjoyed presenting at their annual conferences and interacting with the board members and attendees. Her pedagogy aligns with ARNA's participatory research approach. In 2021, she was elected as the Membership and Sponsorship chair. During her tenure, she has been mentored by veteran ARNA leaders and learned about leadership, organizing conferences, and keeping a democratic organization running. These valuable experiences have prepared Professor Roychowdhury to continue serving as the Membership and Sponsorship chair more intentionally in the coming years.

DR. DAVE MCPARTLAN
CARN Liaison

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Dr. Dave McPartlan

CARN Liaison

Dr. Dave McPartlan was a teacher for over 35 years, with the final 12 years as the pastoral lead in a large secondary school in northern England. He pursued a PhD examining his school's mental health strategy from the perspective of the students. His action research project resulted in an approach that promoted young people's rights while also benefitting the students involved. Having completed his PhD, Dr. McPartlan now works with several school communities to develop "youth-led school improvement projects" based on his research. These projects have the potential to shift the balance of power in schools and develop students as action researchers and activists, improving not just their own lives but those of their peers. Dr. McPartlan's continued excitement as an action researcher stems from knowing these projects can empower young people to better their own lives.

DR. AUBREY URESTI
ARC Co-Chair

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Dr. Aubrey Uresti

ARC Co-Chair

Dr. Aubrey Uresti is an Assistant Professor of Counselor Education in the Lurie College of Education at San José State University. A California credentialed K-12 school counselor and a National Certified School Counselor, Dr. Uresti has experience in all levels of K-12 education as a teacher, school counselor, therapist, supervisor, and consultant. She is a licensed professional clinical counselor (LPCC) and a National Certified Counselor. Dr. Uresti’s experience working with K-12 students, undergraduates, graduate students, and adult learners informs her exploration of parental incarceration, urban education and school counseling, school-based support, grief and loss, peer victimization, child and adolescent development issues, and lifelong learning for counselors through qualitative interview, image-based research, critical discourse analysis, and ethnography.

She is a member of the Coordinating Leadership Team, serves as the Action Research Communities (ARC) Co-Chair for the Action Research Network of the Americas (ARNA), and received their 2023 Community Development Award.

DR. SUZY THOMAS
ARC Co-Chair

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Dr. Suzy Thomas

ARC Co-Chair

Dr. Suzy Thomas, Professor in the Counseling Department at Saint Mary’s College of California, has a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and is a credentialed school counselor (PPS), a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC), and a former middle and high school counselor and teacher. Dr. Thomas is especially proud to be one of the founding members of the Action Research Network of the Americas (ARNA) and serves as Co-Chair of the ARNA Action Research Communities (ARCs). An advocate for school counselors and school-based reform, she has publications in the areas of action research, anti-racist practices, mentoring, professional development, and collaboration. She was inducted into the H.B. McDaniel Hall of Fame in 2013, recognized in 2017 as the School Counselor Educator of the Year by the California Association of School Counselors, given the 2021 Saint Mary’s College Pandemic Pedagogic Excellence Award, and honored with the 2023 ARNA Community Development Award.

DR. JOSEPH SHOSH
Past Chair, Executive Committee

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Dr. Joseph Shosh

Past Chair, Executive Committee

Dr. Joseph M. Shosh, ARNA Co-Founder, served as Chair of the Executive Committee of the Coordinating Group from 2015 until 2022. Co-editor of the Palgrave International Handbook of Action Research, he is a retired Professor of Education at Moravian University, where he was founding director of the action research-based graduate education program. His contributions to teacher action research have appeared in Action Researcher in Education, Educational Action Research Journal, English Journal, Inquiry in Education, and Teaching Education, among others. Dr. Shosh is the recipient of the National Council of Teachers of English Paul and Kate Farmer English Journal Writing Award, the James N. Moffett Award for Classroom Research, Cornell University’s Merrill Scholar Teaching Award, and ARNA’s Eduardo Flores Leadership Award.