School of Social Work Alumni Updates

Category: College of Health and Society October 15, 2020

	Laura Manzano Since graduating in 2016, my husband and I moved to Battle Ground, WA. I was hired as a therapist and have been able to work from home due to COVID-19. My husband bought me a puppy in 2017 and we bought a house last March! Life is good!
	Lauren Pelletier, LMSW "After moving back to Connecticut from Oahu in 2017, I got a job with a huge non-profit and I got pregnant with our second child in the same week. Toward the end of 2019 my husband and I decided to become foster licensed so that we could adopt an infant cousin who was placed in the system. It has been a very long process but he is home with us now and we should be able to legally adopt by the end of 2020. I was asked to move to a program coordinator position at the end of 2019 as well, for the extended day treatment program I was a bilingual assessment clinician for. I started the position in February and a month later everything stopped and shifted to telehealth. It was a big curveball but we are continuing to provide services to our clients and families. This time has given us a unique opportunity to attend more trainings and really evaluate best practice from documentation to family work and diagnostic formulations. I'm learning how to supervise for the first time and I'm creating some great relationships along the way!"
	Terry M. Jasper Jr. Terry is a class of 2019 graduate and is currently working as a Social Worker with the Judiciary State of Hawaii Family Court of the First Circuit, Juvenile Client Services Branch Specialized Services Section, Kids First Program. Terry is in a relationship with a HPU class of 2018 MSW Honors Graduate who works at OCC in the Department of Public Safety as a Social Work Pretrail Officer and currently has two kids.
	Kirsten E. Thornton, MSW "I graduated from HPU's MSW program in 2015. Since then, I spent four years with the City and County of Honolulu's Dept. of Community Services, WorkHawaii Division as the Manager of the Youth Services Center. In 2018, I gave birth to an amazing little boy, and then moved back home to Renton, WA. I began working with the Renton School District as the GEAR UP District Coordinator. GEAR UP's mission is to drastically increase the number of first generation, low-income, and students of color attending and succeeding in post-secondary education. I also sit on the Equity and Inclusion team for the Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment department in my district. Recently, I was asked by Paul Tran to participate with four other HPU SW alumni to sit on a panel to discuss institutional racism and the Black Lives Matter movement and their global impact with students and professionals from Vietnam. I recently completed my Program Administrator Certification from Seattle Pacific University, and will hopefully be attending the Education Doctorate program the Spring of 2021, focusing on educational leadership through the lens of equity, language and inclusion. I am a huge advocate of work-life balance. I have been incredibly fortunate for the professional and educational opportunities that have come my way. More importantly, those opportunities have not taken away from my biggest joy in life, being a part of my son's growth and seeing his joys come to life."
	Trey Halliday Fenton "Aloha Hawaii Pacific University Ohana, It is great to reconnect with all of you. I am still on Oahu in Honolulu living life to the fullest. I have obtained both my LCSW and CSAC and I am now in Private Practice. My office is located in Eaton Square in Waikiki and I also conduct telehealth sessions. My specialities include gender, sexuality and addictions. I continue to write for fun everyday and still have a passion for helping our world’s most vulnerable populations. I also enjoy speaking in the community and online educating others and advocating for those in need. I hope you are doing excellent, I think of you often and reminisce about all the fun memories we shared at our time at HPU. I am sending lots of aloha your way. Thank you for all the incredible work that you do everyday. A hui hou. Trey"
	Katrina Ann Clark (Perez) "Hello HPU! My family and I moved to Portland, Oregon shortly after MSW graduation in 2017. I started my private practice doing individual therapy with adolescents and adults. I am also a clinical consultant for a foster care youth program conducting staff trainings on trauma informed principles, self-care and tools to build resiliency in youth. My goal is to develop a programs as a continuing education course for other helping professionals in the field of social work."
	Adam Fabel "I graduated from HPU school of Social Work in May of 2017. After graduation I began working for U.S. Army Garrison Hawaii Department of Family, Morale, Welfare and Recreation (DFMWR) as the Special Needs Program Manager for Children and Youth Services (CYS). This role has allowed me to utilize the many skills learned while attending HPU and meets my desire to work with the military population while promoting inclusion of children with special needs. While the job requirements of my role as a Special Needs Program Manager vary day by day, my favorite part of the job is the ability to work children who have a special need and watch them thrive when given the opportunity. After graduation I got married in lovely ceremony in beautiful Waikiki in October of 2019. We are now expecting our first child, a baby girl in November 2020. I look forward to the opportunity to be a parent. I know this next chapter will be both wonderful and challenging, but with a strong support system it will undoubtedly be the most rewarding yet."