Maryellen Whittington-Couse, BA, MA International Administration, CCDP/AP

Maryellen is a workshop facilitator, leadership coach, educational administrator, and community volunteer, who lives in New York’s Hudson Valley.  She has been part of the Opening Doors facilitation team since 2001 and has co-facilitated the workshop regionally, nationally, and beyond.  She has a Master’s in International Administration, and a Bachelor’s degree in Educational Studies, leadership development certifications through Franklin Covey, and is a Cornell Certified Diversity Professional/Advanced Practitioner. She has spent most of her career preparing and supporting educators of immigrant students. For the past ten years, she has directed a regional program that serves the children of migrant farmworkers.  With a deep commitment to creating the policies, practices, and networks for actualizing partnerships, Maryellen works collectively with individuals, groups, and organizations.  This level of commitment has made her not only a valued resource in the Hudson Valley, but someone sought out for guidance and support. 

As a young person, in an attempt to understand a world that did not make sense to me, I asked questions that went unanswered or dismissed.  Living outside of the United States for an extended period of time helped me to answer some of those questions and challenged what I had learned about my own and other group identities and experiences.  Reclaiming and redefining my whiteness required me to explore my ethnic history and to see my story within a historical context. I have often heard participants say that they felt more committed and better equipped to engage in the work of making their homes, workplaces, and communities more inclusive and equitable after participating in an Opening Doors workshop.  It has been the same for me. As well,  becoming part of the Opening Doors team has expanded my capacity to engage in difficult conversations, create learning communities, and hold complexity. It has also helped me to be more comfortable with not knowing, though I will keep asking questions.