Client testimonials
We Should Talk
1. Do You Suspect that Micro-Aggressions are Invading Your Work-Place or Learning Environment?
3. Is Your Organization Too Willing to Relinquish, rather than Retain its Black Students or Professionals?
4. Are the Challenges to Maintain Your Identity Holding You Back from Building Critical Allies to Moving Your Community's Growth and Development Forward?
If you answer "Yes" to any of these questions, then our workshops on,
Mastering the Inter-Racial Contexts within the worlds of works, universities, and community groups will be a guide to your success.
2. Are you concerned that your students or employees are not prepared to compete in an internationalized environment?
Our Philosophy is that the Journey to Success is the Responsibility of Individuals, and Public and Organizational Policy Initiatives striving together to Empower rather than to Encumber.
“It has been my absolute pleasure to live a history of ‘standing-in-the-gap’ for under-served populations too often undervalued, marginalized, or minimized by 'culturally unresponsive' patterns of practices and policies".
“I began to see early on among too many professionals, how the absence of cultural competencies impacted performance measures; moreover, the lack of interests in responding the needs of under-served individuals and their communities--whether employees, customers, or students".
C.E.O. Dr. Alvin L. Killough
Alvin Killough is an Associate, Tenured Professor and Distinguished Faculty at the University of Minnesota Crookston. His equity, education, and cultural work as a cultural-ecological and organizational psychologist has put him on a path of service around the region, the nation, and the world.
Dr. Killough and his team engages opportunities to change the trajectory of lives: From organizational change efforts to increase
retention rates of Black college athletes; consulting for West African immigrants and African Americans facing communication challenges negotiating medical conditions in treatment settings (e.g., clinical depression Ebola bereavement, breast cancer recovery, HIV, ...); community group development to confront transportation issues; to major stakeholders seeking systems-change through programmatic Federal grant efforts to enhance client engagement.
Eryn Killough is a published author and public speaker on Ethno-centrism and the African-American in educational systems in the US. Her expertise is in re-conceptualizing social, economic and political pathologies, and organizational practices in the context of race. She was asked to join Dr. Killough in 2008 as a Translational Research Specialist given by her book chapter co-authorship “ 'I Too Matter' The Peril of Old Crossing: Ethnocentrism, and the Paradigm Clash Between White- and Native Americans".
Our client list includes:
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Duke University Medical Center Chronic Pain Management Program,
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U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration,
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U.S. Departments of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs,
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Institute of Education Sciences,
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University of Minnesota Crookston (UMC),
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and community serving non-profit organizations.
Alvin Killough grew up in the rural south on a family farm during the 60’s. He was accepted as an undergraduate by University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1970 and graduated with a B.A. degree in International Affairs. He went on to serve in the United State Navy as an officer, later earning his M.A. in Organizational Psychology at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, and Ph.D. in Psychology of the Public Interest at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. He has traveled internationally to Australia, Canada, Egypt, France, Haiti, Jamaica, Kenya, South Korea, and Taiwan; and of course, across the United States.
Through scholarly research, public speaking, and designing local workshops, Dr. Killough has leveraged opportunities and allies, resulting an extensive array of scholarship activities and organizational accolades:
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27 Publications: Author / co-authorship in social and behavioral medicine, including issues in social justice, and 11 publications by students mentored.
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Over 60 Public Engagements: Presentations, Posters, Exhibits, and Workshops.
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30 Media Citations.
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5 External-Organizational Acknowledgements: Diversity, and Scholarly Community Engagements.
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Eleven Internal-Organizational Acknowledgements: Honors, Diversity and Instruction.
About Our team
Selected lIST
PUBLICATIONs AND WORKSHOPS
1. Killough, A., Killough, E., Walker, E. (Work in Progress). Examining the delicate balance of maintaining one’s blackness as a Black professional on the Predominantly White Campus.
3. Edwards, C.L., Bryson, W.J., McCabe, M., Trambadia, J., Scott, D., Muhammad, M., Killough, A., Sudhakar, S., Keys, A., Feliu, M., McNeil, J., Barker, C.S., Wood, M., Reif, R., Hill, L., O’Garo, K.G.N., Bulthuis, C., Peasant, C., Kidd, A.C., Robinson, E. (2014). Treatment of PTSD in an HIV-Positive Rwandan Woman with a Recent Stroke: A Case Report on The Role of Culture, Norms, and Expectations for Psychotherapy. Research, 1, 980.
4. Killough, A. L., & Killough, E. G. (2008). “I Too Matter” The Peril of Old Crossing: Ethnocentrism, and the Paradigm Clash Between White- and Native Americans. In David Marshall (Ed.) Treaty At Old Crossing: To Invite Enlightened Understanding, Section II, pp. 16-23. © Association of the French of the North (AFRAN), Box 101, Red Lake Falls, MN.
2. Killough, A., Killough, E., Edwards, C.L. Burnett, J. (2014). Beyond America’s White Hegemony: In Response to a Rapidly Emerging Global Multi-Cultural Learning Community. International Journal of Science, Commerce, and Humanities, 2(5), 93-110. ISSN: 2053-5295 (Online) 2052-6164 (Print).
1. Killough, A., Killough, E., Edwards, C., Burnett, J. (January 30, 2015). Workshop. The Psychology of Culture, Performance, and Coaching the Black Student Athlete in High Profile Sports During the Transition from High School to the Predominantly White College. Sports Center 139, 2900 University Dr., Crookston MN.
2. Killough, A. and Killough, E. (Feb. 18, 2015). Workshop consultancy. the “Elephant in the room” (race and motivation), cognitive schemas about “the game”: what is “the game” about and how it is to be played; and Reframing the Education Paradigm (i.e., Schools as a Necessary, but Insufficient Condition). Sports Center.
3. Killough, A. and Killough, E. (Feb. 24, 2015). Workshop consultancy. Challenges of Being a Black Student Athlete on U.S. College Campuses. Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, 2012, 5, 40-63 40. © 2012. Sports Center.
i. Development and introduction to the “Killough Three Factor model”: Race and the Motivation Process.
ii. Introduction to the Association of American Colleges and Universities, America's Unmet Promise: The Imperative for Equity in Higher Education (2015)
4. Killough, A. and Killough E. (April 14, 2015). Workshop consultancy. Marketing Topics. April 14, 2015. Sports Center.
i. How we share our message.
ii. Corporate B.S.: How do we get student athlete into programs where they can see value?
iii. The importance of understanding what goes on in culture: things that can cause a kid to shut down.
iv. You cannot expect to make a change in a kids’ life if you do not connect with them first.
5. Killough, A. & ACER (2012). Partnership building with immigrant communities and African Career, Education and Resources, Inc. (ACER). (March 2012).
6. Killough, A. & ACER (2012). Working with community groups and ACER to obtain State funding to increase their exposure during major decisions regarding implications to community due to transportation infrastructure changes (March 2012).
2016-“As an assistant football Coach at UMC, I have served the University for five years and I have seen lots of missed opportunities that have contributed to a University wide issue of retention..….Dr. Killough has played the lead role in helping us to retain first-year students by developing a team of professionals to make a significant impact on retention on our football team. Dr. Killough and his staff were able target critical factors within our program that could be modified to encourage retention of new recruits”
SEAN KNOX,
Defensive Pass Game Coordinator
University of Minnesota Crookston Football