V-Day Talk Back Panelists
V-Day: We are Speaking!
Talk Back Panelists
Sheilah Philip (Director, Moderator)
Sheilah Philip, Professor emeritus, has been with JCCC since 1989. While she was full-time with the Theatre Department, she started to help build the program just as the Carlsen Center opened, including directing more than 30 productions, facilitating guest artists for the Asner Showcase productions, shepherding students through the scholarship application process, and so forth. Favorite directing projects at JCCC include: Another Antigone, Medea, Stop Kiss and Proposals. At present, she assists Doreen Maronde with the Ruel Joyce and Jazz Recital Series and continues to lead short-term Study Abroad programs for JCCC’s International Education program. She represents JCCC as a board member of both Humanities Kansas and the Greater Kansas City Japan Festival, and she is also the volunteer coordinator for the InterUrban ArtHouse in downtown Overland Park. Sheilah proudly captains JCCC’s champion dragon boat racing team, The China Hands!
Erin Walters (MS, LPC, Counselor)
Erin Walters is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a passionate advocate for survivors of sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and stalking. Prior to joining the JCCC Counseling Department in 2001, Erin served as the Executive Director of the Sexual Assault Counseling and Information Service (SACIS) in Illinois, where she worked for over 15 years. During that time, Erin, in collaboration with two other colleagues, developed and team-taught a course at Eastern Illinois University called “Women, Gender, and Violence,” which qualified students for Illinois state certification in sexual assault and intimate partner violence advocate service provision. Now at JCCC, Erin applies her knowledge and experience in the field of interpersonal violence while working with students, while serving on the Sexual Assault Resource Team, and while serving as the Assistant Chair of the Mental Health Pillar Committee for the Counseling Department.
Dan Robles (Crime Prevention Officer/PIO)
Dan is the crime prevention officer for the JCCC PD. He has been a law enforcement officer for 36 years and enjoys promoting the community policing model the JCCCPD operates under which believes in the police having a great liaison with the college community.
Gladys Mwangi (Ph.D.)
Gladys Mwangi has Doctoral Degree in Clinical Psychology. She has 10 years’ experience teaching various psychology, research, and monitoring & evaluation courses to both undergraduate and graduate students. In this calling she also supervised students writing their doctoral and thesis research at both Daystar and the African International Universities in Nairobi, Kenya. She was also the Head of Department of Psychology at the Africa International University where she led a team of four fulltime faculty and twelve adjunct lecturers. Gladys is currently teaching psychology as an Assistant Professor at the Johnson County Community College (JCCC), where she is also the director of the Fulbright Grants Abroad (FGA) project (2025) and the College Now Liaison person for the psychology department. Gladys is one of the advisors for JCCC’s African Carribean Students Association (ACSA), that was launched recently. In her work, she has specialized in mental health and Quality of Life (QoL) research in under resourced settings and has published scholarly articles on the in selected renown journals.
Further, Gladys has clinical experience in psychological and clinical assessments, and different has administered different forms of therapy including play therapy for children and adolescents who experience early childhood trauma. She has also engaged in forensic psychology assessments at the Clinical Associates, which she conducted Competency to Stand Trial (CSTR) evaluations and restorative services to incarcerated patients in Lansing correctional facility.
Besides her clinical and teaching experience, Gladys has at least 15 years’ experience working in poverty or resource poor settings in 11 countries in Sub-Sahara Africa, including South Africa, Ethiopia, Malawi, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, and Zambia. This collective experience was gained from various international organizations including the Kenya Human Rights Commission, Population Council and CARE International and from consulting services provided to the USAID and the Africa Conservation Foundation. It is this through this work that Gladys gained experience in community organizing, managing, directing, developing and the implementing poverty reduction and women economic empowerment programs. It is also here that she developed a passion for working on mental health programs for women and children who suffered trauma arising from sexual, domestic and war related violence.
Gladys volunteers her time to work with immigrant families on support programs for their mental health needs. She also loves to travel and has been to a few countries, mostly for work or training. These include France, Montreal-Canada, London, Stockholm, Seoul-South Korea, and recently, Geneva- Switzerland.
