Holmes Scholars

Juvenal Abrego-Meneses

Juvenal began his career as a teacher of English to speakers of other languages in the Republic of Panama. Throughout his career, he has served as a classroom teacher, program coordinator, and assistant principal both at the elementary and high school levels in several school districts in South Carolina and Virginia. His academic background includes several master’s degrees in the areas of Education, English, Spanish and TESOL. 

Elizabeth Auguste

Educational Policy, Planning and Leadership Program

Elizabeth is a Reading Specialist and works with elementary students who struggle with reading and writing. This has fueled her desire to research strategies for developing curriculum that supports a cohesive and holistic approach to literacy instruction. 

Ramya Avadhanam

Ramya received a B.S. in Psychology at Virginia Tech and her dual masters degrees (M.Ed., Ed.S.) in Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy respectively at the University of Florida before earning her doctorate from William & Mary. Her clinical and research interests include grief and loss, immigration, diversity issues, and working with the South Asian population. 

Keosha Branch

Keosha is currently the owner and clinician of a private practice, Healing Branch Wellness Center, LLC in Richmond, Virginia. She is also an adjunct professor at South University and teaches family counseling classes in the Clinical Mental Health Department at the Richmond Campus. Her research interest is in offender counseling and she is currently writing manuscripts from her dissertation work for publication.

Kirstin Byrd

Educational Policy, Planning and Leadership program, focusing on Higher Education Administration.

Kirstin is a former Social Justice and Diversity Graduate Research Fellow at William & Mary. Her research interests include college student development, LGBTQ college students, historically Black colleges and universities, global higher education, and women’s issues in higher education. Her professional goals include providing research-informed strategies and policies that promote the safety and inclusion of marginalized student groups, and supporting the evolution of historically Black colleges and universities.

Philippa Chin

Counselor Education program.

She is a licensed professional counselor (LPC), a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT) and a national certified counselor (NCC). She currently works as a mental health therapist at a rural private practice providing family, couples, co-parenting, substance abuse rehabilitation, and individual therapy. Philippa has conducted research and presented at international and national conferences on ethnic and racial identity development, international counseling, and counselor education issues.  

Shuhui Fan

Counselor Education and Supervision program

Fan received her B.S. in Applied Psychology at Southwest University in China and M.S. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in Syracuse University. Her clinical experience includes depression, anxiety, and relationship issues. Her research interests include cross-cultural counseling and multicultural competency. 

Jamon H. Flowers

Educational Policy, Planning and Leadership Program for K-12 Administration

Jamon shas earned degrees and certifications from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and the University of Minnesota. Prior to earning his doctorate, he served as a principal, assistant principal, instructional coach, and teacher. His research interests include educational policy, race, equity and leadership, and rural education. 

Chandra B. Floyd

Educational Policy, Planning, and Leadership program with a focus on Gifted Education Administration. 

With a B.S. in English and a Master's in Education, Chandra has over 20 years of teaching experience in rural, suburban, and urban settings at various grade levels.  This service has created the catalyst for her policy and research interests: improving marginalized students' access to and retention in gifted programs and improving support systems for children and families experiencing turmoil. 

Danielle Giscombe

Educational Policy, Planning & Leadership Higher Education program at William & Mary.

She received an Associate’s Degree in Social Sciences from City College of Chicago, a Bachelor’s Degree in Workforce Education and Development from Southern Illinois University, and a Master’s Degree in Community Counseling, Urban Education from Norfolk State University. er commitment as a practitioner, as well as her academic and student affairs involvement, continues to inform her scholarship as she studies the ongoing evolutionary changes that face higher education. Her professional goals include promoting innovation in Higher Education by focusing on community, collaboration, civic engagement, and relationship building through projects, research, and creative documentation. 

Lavare Henry

Henry is a second-year doctoral student in the Educational Policy, Planning, and Leadership Program concentrating in K-12 Educational Leadership. Henry hails from Kingston, Jamaica where he worked as an Assistant Principal at Campion College. He holds a BSc and MSc in Computer Science, as well as a Post Graduate Diploma in IT Education from the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus Jamaica. He also holds an MSc in Educational Leadership, Policy, and Planning from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom. Henry’s research interests include value added by high schools, evaluation of school’s intervention programs for at-risk students, and evaluation of authentic assessments practices.

Edith Gonzalez

Edith, a former Holmes Scholar, received her doctorate in Counselor Education & Supervision at William & Mary in 2018. She received her M.Ed. in Marriage in Family Counseling at William & Mary in 2015. Edith graduated from the University of Houston in 2011 with a Bachelor’s degree Psychology, with additional concentrations in Human Development & Family Studies and Business Administration. Her clinical experience includes family, couple, parenting, and individual counseling. Currently, she is an assistant professor of counseling at the University of Texas of the Permian Basin College of Education. Her research interests and recent research highlights include undocumented immigrants, marriage and family counseling, bilingual counseling and supervision.

Yi Hao

Yi graduated from the Educational Policy, Planning, and Leadership with a concentration in Higher Education Administration. Yi is actively involved in professional organizations, such as the Association for the Study of Higher Education, American Educational Research Association, American Associations of Colleges for Teacher Education, the Council for the Study of Community Colleges as a reviewer and presenter. Prior to her Ph.D. program, Yi graduated from the Honors Program of Sichuan University in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language and English Language and Literature. She then pursued her master's degree in Chinese Language Teaching from Beijing Normal University. Yi has worked as a language teacher, curriculum developer, gifted program coordinator, and graduate student researcher. Driven by her interests in educational psychology, Yi’s research focuses on adult learning, gender issues, faculty and leadership development. Yi also served as the Editor-in-Chief of the William & Mary Educational Review.

Jingjing Liu

Jingjing is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Educational Policy, Planning & Leadership Program for Higher Education Administration. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, and a Master’s Degree in Education, Jingjing is excited to become a Holmes Scholar and believes that the experience will further her academic and professional journey. She currently serves on the International Student Advisory Board at William & Mary. She also serves as an American Educational Research Association (AERA) campus representative and a member of the American Journal of Education (AJE) Student Board. Her research interests include college access and success, college transition, and STEM education.

Paola G. Mendizábal 

Educational Planning, Policy and Leadership (EPPL) program at William & Mary, concentrating in Curriculum & Learning Design.

Before beginning her doctoral program, Paola had been an educator for eight years, with most of her experience in dual language bilingual education (DLBE). Her research focus is DLBE and the potential of these programs to increase academic achievement of all participating students and especially those who have been historically marginalized.

Aishwarya Nambiar

Aishwarya is a second-year doctoral student in the Counselor Education program at William & Mary. Prior to starting her doctoral program, she graduated with a Bachelor’s in Psychology from the University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom, and a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Johns Hopkins University. Aishwarya is a Licensed Resident in Counseling and a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC). She is currently a Graduate Assistant for the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion office at the School of Education and is a Student Member of the American Counseling Association (ACA) International Committee. Her clinical experiences consist of working in both in-patient and out-patient settings serving a diverse population. Aishwarya's research interests include colorism, women of color, international students, and third-culture kids. 

Laura Pignato

Laura graduated from the Counselor Education & Supervision program at William & Mary. She received a B.A. in Sociology and B.S. in Psychology at Louisiana State University. Afterwards, she continued her education at Loyola University New Orleans where she received a Master’s of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Her research interests include intersectionality curriculum in counselor education and betrayal trauma, specifically focusing on counselors’ awareness of marginalized populations in family counseling, especially Latina females and intimate partner violence. Following her passion for advocacy, she served on the American Counseling Association graduate student committee and a student representative for the Virginia Association for Counselor Education and Supervision.

Derek Porter

Derek is a third-year student in the Executive Ed.D. in Educational Policy, Planning and Leadership program concentrating in K-12 Administration. He completed his B.A. at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, and taught for a year at the Washington Jesuit Academy in Washington, D.C. In 2011, he matriculated to Yale Divinity School where he earned a M.A. in religion. While in CT, Derek worked at Harding High School with their MAAX program, led by Dr. Nadia Ward. Currently, Derek is in his eighth-year teaching middle school social studies at St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, VA. In his dissertation, Derek is evaluating the effectiveness of professional learning experiences. In his rare spare time, Derek enjoys dancing around the house with his wife Tiffney and daughter Jael.

Victor Tuazon

Victor, a former Holmes Scholar, received his doctorate in Counselor Education & Supervision at William & Mary in 2018. He received his B.S. in Psychology (minor in family studies) from James Madison University and his M.A. in Counseling from Regent University. His clinical and research interests include international counseling, trauma, addictions, and grief/loss. Victor's clinical experiences include addictions counseling, international trauma counseling, family counseling, couples counseling, intensive in-home counseling and therapeutic day treatment with at-risk youth and their families, non-profit outpatient counseling, mandated group counseling with domestic violence perpetrators and shoplifters, mandated and voluntary anger management group counseling for youth and adults, re-entry programs for the incarcerated, and working as a school counselor intern at an elementary and middle school. Currently, he is an assistant professor of counselor education at New Jersey City University’s Department of Counselor Education. His research interests and recent research highlights include addictions, trauma, grief & loss, and multicultural topics. He recently submitted revisions on a manuscript about colonial mentality (internalized oppression) and mental health help-seeking of Filipino Americans (which was a study funded by his NBCC Doctoral Minority Fellowship Program/Award).

Leila Warraich

Counselor Education and Supervision.

Leila completed her MS in Counseling from Johns Hopkins University in May 2018. While in her masters, she interned at Advanced Behavioral Health providing therapeutic services to children, families, and adults on Medical Assistance in Baltimore City. Leila is very passionate about mental health and especially in eliminating stigma surrounding treatment. Leila’s research interests include Multicultural Competency in Counseling and Supervision.