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. 

  • Health Career Coach, Healthcare Career Pathway

    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.

  • Project Manager, HCP

    Joanne is a second-generation Chinese American who is born and raised in the East Bay Area. She has 6+ years of experience connecting people, processes, and systems during her past career in HR Systems. She is excited for the opportunity to contribute her skills in Project Management, Systems Optimization, and Digital Content creation to help increase equality in our U.S. healthcare system by creating a system that reflects the diverse community it serves. With a strong passion for mental health, Joanne loves building relationships with others in the community. You can also find her making cute sloth art and journal spreads that spread awareness on mental and emotional health!

  • Clinical Supervisor, Sidra

    Dr. Karimah AdisaThomas is a skilled and empathetic mental health professional holding licenses as a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and Marriage and Family Therapist. In addition, she holds an Ed. D. in Learning and Instruction, MS MA, PPSC, and Secondary Teaching Credential. She supports individuals across diverse life stages and sexual orientations in navigating life's challenges. Her expertise spans working with children, adolescents, young adults, and older adults, assisting them in identifying issues and developing coping strategies aligned with their therapeutic objectives. Specializing in crisis and trauma interventions, Karimah employs Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Trauma-Focused Therapy, Mindfulness, and other evidence-based approaches in her practice.

    With a combined background in counseling and education, Karimah leverages her experiences to enhance cultural sensitivity and competence. She values diversity and integrates cultural perspectives into understanding her clients' experiences, concerns, and coping mechanisms. Her clinical work encompasses a broad spectrum of mental health conditions including ADHD, bipolar disorder, autism spectrum disorders, personality disorders, depression, and anxiety disorders.

    Approaching therapy from a client-centered perspective, Karimah begins by inviting clients to share their narratives. She practices active listening without bias, guiding clients to explore the underlying causes of their issues. As a client advocate, she brings empathy, care, and compassion to her therapeutic relationships.

  • Health Career Coach, Health Career Pathways

    Wendy graduated with Business Administration, Management & Operations from Association of Business Executives degree (ABE,UK) in 2018. She has 5+ years of various working experience in recruitment agency, non-profit organizations, the education sector and the nutritious food and beverages service industry. From those experiences, she figured out her passion about people-oriented development and cultivation of their career improvements personally and professionally. To spark and thrive her passion, which also aligns with the vision and mission of DHTI, she joined the team with the purpose of making the impact on the career development of immigrants in health care service and industry by fulfilling their needs and building up their career growth.

  • 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.

  • Outreach Worker, Sidra

    Amad is an outreach worker with advanced degrees in Economics and Political Science, including a master’s degree from Western Illinois University and a PhD from Claremont Graduate University. With extensive experience in the MENA region, Amad is passionate about advocating for marginalized communities and promoting social justice. Fluent in Arabic and English, Amad excels at connecting diverse populations with vital resources, fostering inclusivity, and driving positive change.

  • 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. 

  • 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.