Staff

  • Executive Director

    Sean Kirkpatrick joins DHTI as Executive Director with over 20 years of experience working in health equity and social justice settings in the East Bay area, including 13 years in community-based behavioral health and health equity for un- and underserved immigrant and refugee communities in a non-profit setting. Since 2017 and before joining DHTI, Sean served as the Coordinator of the East Bay Refugee and Immigrant Forum, a coalition of over 30 agencies serving refugees, asylees, and immigrants in the San Francisco East Bay and beyond. He also has worked as a subject matter specialist for The LOOP, a health equity-focused tobacco control project at University of California at San Francisco funded by California Tobacco Control Programs, as an evaluator on various projects, and as a researcher with Prevention Research Center (a part of PIRE) on projects related the cultural, historical, and social contexts of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs use in Bay Area Southeast Asian communities and is a co-author on four published scientific articles on this research. 

     

    Before moving to Oakland in 2002, Sean received a Master’s degree in Urban and Medical Anthropology from University of Memphis, and was a doctoral candidate in Cultural Anthropology at University of Wisconsin-Madison. His three years of ethnographic and historical fieldwork focused on social memory, nostalgia, and identity construction in modern Thailand. He studied Thai and Lao languages for over a decade. 

  • Clinical Supervisor

    Sasha Verbillis-Kolp, LCSW is a licensed clinical social worker and humanitarian with over 20 years of experience working alongside forcibly displaced populations. With advanced certificates in international development and forced migration studies, Sasha has dedicated her career to advancing mental health and psychosocial wellbeing in both resettlement and humanitarian contexts. Her professional journey began in refugee resettlement as a caseworker and evolved into leadership in trauma-informed care, community mental health, and wellness initiatives. Sasha’s expertise spans cross-cultural mental health care, trauma and torture treatment, and gender-based violence prevention and response. Over the past five years, she has led intersectoral efforts integrating mental health and gender-based violence programming in humanitarian settings, while also contributing experience in U.S.-based resettlement and psychosocial services. Sasha is widely recognized for her technical leadership in mental health program design, task-sharing models, capacity development, and evaluation. She has co-authored peer-reviewed publications and developed tools to standardize service delivery, including group psychosocial curriculums, screening-to-care models, and staff wellness interventions. She field-tested a mental health screening tool for refugees, and has served in advisory roles for resettlement agencies, public health departments, and humanitarian organizations. Most recently, Sasha served as Senior Program Manager for HIAS, where she led trauma-informed services across a 31-member affiliate network in North America. Her work supported refugee wellness, gender-based violence prevention, and cross-departmental coordination with legal, resettlement, and global technical teams. A skilled change leader and partnership builder, Sasha brings deep expertise in crisis response, conflict resolution, participatory research, and staff resilience. She is passionate about equipping frontline workers, expanding access to quality mental health care, and designing services that uphold the dignity and healing of individuals and communities impacted by displacement and adversity. 

  • Program Manager, Healthcare Career Pathways

    Sophia is a Board Certified Music Therapist, MBA graduate, and violinist. She received her Master of Music Therapy from New York University and an MBA from International Technology University. She joined the Healthcare Career Pathways team at DHTI in 2021 with a passion for serving the immigrant population and the healthcare industry. She has 8 years of work experience in hospitals, health care agencies, behavioral health institutions, and education as a music therapist clinician, educator, consultant, and program manager. She brings her specialties in healthcare management, program development, and marketing to her current work at DHTI.

  • Health Coach, Healthcare Career Pathway

    Hue is fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin, and Vietnamese, and has extensive experience providing services to populations with diverse needs. Her 8+ years of experience has been in the non-profit and private organizations. Hue collaborates with other organizations to ensure services are delivered, and she loves to see beautiful smiles from the community that she serves.

  • Outreach Worker, Sidra

    Sara Mansouri moved from her home country of Iran to the U.S. to further her education. With a Bachelor’s degree in science from the University of California, Davis, and natural talent in math, she previously taught k-12 students in South Orange County public and private schools. She was known for her love for teaching students with special needs and those who other teachers found to be exhausting and disengaged. Mansouri’s bilingual skills, her love of cultures, and bringing people together across cultures are assets that she hopes to utilize at DHTI. In addition, her passion and desire to help others, and to work in a job and environment that match her aspirations and values motivated Mansouri to accept the position at DHTI. She finds that welcoming and helping Afghan newcomers to the U.S. resonates with her own experiences in transitioning as a newcomer from Iran to America.

  • Program Manager, Sidra

    Alexandra is a Filipino immigrant who moved to the United States when she was 2 years old. She grew up Fremont, CA and moved to Hayward, CA where she received her Bachelor's in Business Administration from California State University, East Bay. Alex has 10+ years in the hospitality industry and has always been passionate about serving others. Alex started as a consultant with DHTI at the beginning of 2023 supporting the HCP team with the Angel Caregiver Program and officially joined the DHTI team in April 2023. She is looking forward to working with DHTI to help support our mission and vision.

  • Wellness Educator, AllyNetwork

    Graduating with a major in psychology in 2018, Nora embarked on a journey of human behavior with the dynamic field of healthcare. Nora is fluent in English and Burmese. She has more than 5 years' experience in non-profit organizations, healthcare industry and HR outsourcing recruitment sectors. From these invaluable experiences, she understands the importance of empathy and effective communication in the healthcare sector. She became part of the team with the aim of positively influencing the career development of immigrants in the healthcare service and industry. Her focus is on meeting their needs and fostering their career growth. In her free time, Nora loves to swim and travel around.

  • Mental Health Specialist, Sidra

    Hanan is a Palestinian-American who was born and raised in Alameda, and went on to study Psychology and Cognitive Science at the University of California, Davis. During her college career, she was a research assistant at the Brain and Social Cognition Lab where she collected infant EEG data in response to emotional stimuli. After graduating, she came back to the Bay Area seeking to positively impact her community and trained to be a Behavior Technician. In September 2024, Hanan became SIDRA’s part-time Mental Health Specialist, serving as an ally to the MEENA community and working towards cultivating a safe space for emotional expression. 

  • Accountant

    Richard was born and raised in the East Bay Area and joined Diversity Health and Training Institute in 2025. With over 10 years of experience in Accounting, Finance, and Auditing, he holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from UC Davis, a Master’s in Accounting from Golden Gate University, and maintains a CPA license (inactive) along with a CGMA designation. Currently, Richard is transitioning into the mental health field while pursuing a Master’s in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Marriage and Family Therapy at the University of San Francisco (East Bay location). “I feel very lucky to be a part of the DHTI team, as the organization aligns with my values of being of service to my community.” Outside of work, Richard enjoys the outdoors and volunteers his time with conservation and research programs.

  • Mental Health Specialist, Sidra

    Nooshin is originally from Iran and moved to the United States with my family in 2015. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Iran and a Master's degree in Migration Studies from the University of San Francisco, with a focus on migration trauma and depression among refugee mothers and their school-age children. She is currently pursuing her second Master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy to expand her skills and better support individuals and families from diverse backgrounds.


    Her career began in Iran 15 years ago, where she worked with small organizations supporting individuals with schizophrenia, as well as those who were blind, deaf, or undergoing rehabilitation.

    She later focused on working with girls who had experienced sexual abuse, many of whom came from refugee backgrounds. These experiences fueled my passion for helping vulnerable populations navigate their trauma and mental health challenges.


    In 2019, she established and managed my own clinic in Iran, leading a team of 20 professionals until the demands of overseeing the clinic remotely made it difficult to continue. After moving to the U.S., she worked as a Prevention Counselor at the International Rescue Committee, where she supported Afghan refugees as they adjusted to their new lives.

    She is committed to supporting individuals through transformative approaches that address both mental health and overall well-being.

  • Health Career Coach, Health Career Pathways

    Sultana Durrani is a dedicated Career Coach with over 12 years of experience in Human Resources, specializing in recruitment, workforce development, and career counseling. She holds a master’s degree in business administration from Bakhtar University in 2015 and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Kabul University in 2010, both in Afghanistan.

    Before moving to the United States, Sultana worked as Head of Human Resource in one of Afghanistan’s largest NGOs (Swedish Committee for Afghanistan), where she contributed to impactful programs in education, healthcare, disability services, and rural development. Her extensive experience in talent management, staff development, recruitment, employee relations, performance management, and HR policy implementation has equipped her with the skills to guide professionals in advancing their careers and achieving long-term success in their respective fields.