Please join us in welcoming Randy Maldonado, LCSW, as the new Chair of the DDPI Racial Equity Social Justice (RESJ) Committee.
Shani Sephton, BA Social Work, MSc Psychology, PG Cert Attachment Studies, stepped down after 18 months in the role in May 2021. She is a founding member of the DDPI RESJ and packed a decade’s worth of intense work into her tenure as Chair.
She spearheaded the selection of Nikkia Young, Ph.D. to provide racial equity consultation to DDPI and shaped the curriculum for our community’s year long Racial Equity Workshop series, BIPOC affinity space and anti-racist discussion groups.
Shani championed the creation of the Community section on the DDP Network website, and was the creative director and current final editor for the racial equity Reflection Article series. Beyond these public achievements, Shani has tirelessly worked to begin to create safe, thriving and supportive spaces for BIPOC and LGTBQ+ DDP community members. She will remain as the organizational lead for the Nikkia Young Workshop series and a very active member of the RESJ Committee.
The RESJ Committee is fortunate to now be chaired by another founding member, Randy Maldonado, LCSW.
Randy has spent the last 7 years of his career as an in-home family therapist and then clinical supervisor at Esperanza, which is a non-profit organization that provides alternatives to incarceration for court-involved adolescents in New York City.
Many of you might have had the privilege to hear Randy speak at the June 2021 DDP International Conference for his talk on racial bias in clinical work titled, “Historias De Mis Padres (Stories of my Parents)”. In addition to his work at Esperanza and DDPI, Randy serves as a Racial Equity Consultant for other organizations and is an active community organizer, dedicating his time to anti-oppressive, anti-racists causes in his community.
If you would like to reach out to congratulate or connect with Randy, you can do so using the email resj.chair@ddpnetwork.org.
