Thursday, March 9th: Houston Kraft

Houston Kraft is a professional speaker, author, curriculum designer, and kindness advocate who speaks at schools, conferences, and events internationally. He has spoken to over a half a million people at 600 engagements and counting. He is the co-founder of CharacterStrong - trainings and curriculums that create more compassionate cultures in schools and communities. They work with 2,500. schools serving over 1 million students with their content. In 2019, he was featured by Lay’s on BBQ and Jalapeño chip bags for their “Spreading Smiles” campaign. His first book, Deep Kindness, is being published by Simon & Schuster September 22, 2020.

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Friday, March 10th: Dr. Edil Torres-Rivera

Dr. Edil Torres-Rivera was born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. He was part of the United States Army for 12 years, and while in active duty he was able to complete a master in clinical mental health from Boston University while stationed in Germany. In 1991 while stationed at the United Army Military Academy in West Point New York he was recruited by the Counseling Psychology Program Coordinator of the University of Connecticut to begin doctoral studies in counseling psychology with a concentration in "Multicultural Counseling." After completing his doctoral work (July, 1995), Dr. Torres-Rivera was hired by the Counseling and Educational Psychology Department at the University of Nevada, Reno as an associate professor in the Counseling and Educational Psychology Department. 

Dr. Edil Torres Rivera is interested in multicultural counseling, counseling for social justice, group work, chaos theory, liberation psychology, technology, supervision, multicultural counseling, prisons, Puerto Rican studies, identity development, and gang-related behavior. Specifically, his primary research focuses on complexity and how indigenous healing techniques are a necessary ingredient when working with ethnic minority populations in the United States. Dr. Torres has additional interests in studying the implications of social injustice and oppression in counseling and psychotherapy with ethnic minorities with school age Latine/x in the United States. His work has appeared in the Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, Journal of Counseling and Development, Journal of Addictions and Offender Counseling, Radical Psychology Journal, Journal of Humanistic Counseling, Education and Development, Intervention in School and Clinic Journal, Counselor Education and Supervision Journal, Journal for Specialists in Group Work, Journal of Psychological Practice, Educational Technology, Computers in the Schools, Counseling and Values Journal, Journal of Technology in Counseling, and the Canadian Journal of Counseling. He was part of the editorial boards of the Journal of Counseling and Development and Counselor Education and Supervision Journal. Presently he serves in the editorial boards of the Journal for Specialists in Group Work, Interamerican Journal of Psychology, and the Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology.

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Thursday, March 9th, 2023

Friday, March 10th, 2023