William Besson Email & Phone Number

San Francisco Bay Area

Provided oversight and guidance to the College's AmeriCorps VISTA project sponsored through the CILSA department. Built VISTA project relationships collaboratively with 4 partner Universities and 29 partner nonprofit/public organizations. Prepared and submitted narratives and performance measures for annual federal grant continuation application in collaboration with all partners. Maintained federal grant compliance by enforcing regulations, and by collecting and reporting evaluative data. Recruited, trained, supervised, and mentored 8 cohorts of 80 AmeriCorps VISTA members, including personal and professional development. Engaged in program development to strengthen the College's collaborative efforts with nonprofit organizations.

Assisted with administration of the Akoben Research Lab, which focused on addressing practical social justice issues using culturally grounded quantitative and qualitative research. Established and administered a Slack workspace to facilitate team communications, and a shared Google Drive to organize lab files. Assisted with the facilitation of lab meetings. Assisted in the development of items for a psychometric instrument and presented related posters at APA conferences in 2018 and 2019.

Analyzed & interpreted data, presented findings in poster & lecture format, and wrote a grant proposal accepted by SMC School of Science for 2015 Summer Research Program. Assisted in design, created materials, and implemented EEG experiment on implicit association learning, including a pilot study on implicit perception, tested 84 participants individually.

Moraga, California

Provided administrative support to students, community partners, and faculty in the College's mandatory Community Engagement courses. Conducted orientations, evaluations, and reflections with students. Supported the professional development of fellow Facilitators as Senior Program Intern for two years.

Singapore

Developed and implemented lesson plans designed to teach primary & secondary school students teamwork, leadership, and foundational engineering & programming skills through robotics projects and competitions using the LEGO Mindstorms platform.

Singapore

Led an elite team of soldiers in execution of training missions in harsh terrain under extreme physical and mental pressures. Ensured field discipline, combat proficiency, and safety of colleagues.

Master Of Arts, General Counseling, 4.0

Activities and Societies: Akoben Research Laboratory; Counseling Department Graduate Student Organization

Bachelor Of Science (B.S.), Psychology, 3.92

Activities and Societies: CILSA Student Leader; Student Researcher in Cognitive Neuroscience; Psi Chi (Psychology Honors Society)