Kathi Anderson

 

Greetings from sunny San Diego.  My husband, Jesse Rivera (un Puertorriqueno) and I have lived in this border region since 1991.  We have one son, Zachary, 14 years old, who will be entering high school this fall but who is right now in Mexico helping to build an orphanage. 

In 1997, I co-founded Survivors of Torture, International (www.notorture.org) and have served as its executive director since 2000.  I also teach social work courses at San Diego State University in immigration and public policy.  In between Stockton and San Diego, I resettled political refugees in the Bay Area, earned an MA in Counseling at San Jose State University, taught graduate school and administered a hospital department in Idaho. 

Volunteerism is a big part of our lives.  Most recently, I serve on two boards of directors: Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service in Baltimore, Maryland and the National Consortium of Torture Treatment Programs.  I’m also privileged to serve on the advisory board of the School of International Studies at UOP.  It’s been lots of fun returning to campus, hiring some alums and giving back to the institution that contributed to the world citizen I am today. 

 

Kathi Anderson, ECC, 77-81