We are thrilled to welcome a remarkable group of individuals who have joined our community at Pacifica Graduate Institute. Each new hire brings their unique expertise and passion to our institution, enhancing our commitment to depth psychology, myth, and transformative education. Get to know our exceptional new colleagues below.
New Hires:
Corion Douver
Admissions Coordinator
Corion Douver was born and raised in Los Angeles. From a young age Corion served the community through volunteer work and helping others better themselves. Corion is a motivator and loves to inspire with his voice as a Singer/Songwriter jazz and blues his favorites. He also has past work experience in Admissions at LA Film and Recording School, Marinello Schools of Beauty, EI school of professional makeup, Theatre of arts acting conservatory and most recently Platt College, with over a decade of serving students. He loves to Travel and connect with friends he is a big people person. Corion has a French Bulldog dog named Roxy and Lives in Pasadena area of Los Angeles Corion is honored to be joining the Pacifica team!
If you need to contact Corion Douver, his email address is Cdouver@pacifica.edu or Ext. 332
Kai Cordell
Associate Director of Campus Operations
Kai was born and raised on Oahu, Hawaii and lived in Telluride, Colorado before moving to Santa Barbara in 2008. He completed his college education at Cal State Long Beach where he received a BFA in Film & Electronic Arts Production. After working in the film industry for a number of years in Los Angeles, he made the move back to Santa Barbara. Kai has a background in Property Management, Estate Management, Project Management and Logistics. In his free time, he enjoys the outdoors and ocean sports. He also has a passion of live music and attends concerts regularly. He recently got engaged to his fiancé, Kat, while sailing around the islands of Greece this past June. Kai and Kat currently live in Carpinteria along with their one-year-old golden retriever, Oz.
If you need to contact Kai Cordell, his email address is KCordell@pacifica.edu
Kathleen Rodgers
E-Learning Administrator
Kathleen (Kat) Rodgers previously graduated from Otis/Parsons School of Design with a BFA in Photography. She originally was accepted as a fashion design major but rediscovered her passion for photography. She has worked in many fields including audio and video, which include black and white photographic printing, publishing of a music magazine, shooting bands and album covers, shooting and directing a music documentary. Outside of photography she loves vintage clothes, vintage cars, vintage cameras and cats. She currently lives in Ventura with her boyfriend and Jones the most amazing rescued Persian who might be about 18 years old.
Aujinel Verdon
Admissions Coordinator
As a first-generation college student, Aujinel is passionate about education and opportunity. By sharing her college experience and talking with students, she motivated future high school graduates who were a part of the College Track program, which played a vital role in shaping her character. While studying psychology at the University of San Francisco, she worked in the graduate admissions office helping prospective students meet program deadlines and supported graduate events. After graduating, she focused on equity within schools and joined ConnectEd California to help integrate Linked Learning into various school districts across the US. She supported consultants through their journeys of becoming certified Linked Learning coaches and analyzed data to improve the courses. Aujinel’s passion for education and project management drives her work to find effective systems that support office flow and the students who use these systems daily. Continuing to help others achieve their educational goals, she is thrilled to have joined the Pacifica community and graduate admissions team!
Jackie Levy, MEDes
Executive Assistant to Dr. Leonie Mattison
Beyond being a systems thinker, Jackie is also a professional artist and designer. Over the past thirty years, Jackie has applied her artistic & design thinking to homes, events, physical & virtual spaces, branding and marketing campaigns, as well as leadership, education and non-profit systems-thinking. She enjoys working with teams that embrace and model ways of being in the world that are generative as well as aware of their narrative within the dominant culture. Jackie recently finished a two year Fellowship with the Garrison Institute; previously in her career, she has performed roles at companies such as Nike, rag & bone, iHeart Media, Soho House, Urban Outfitters, as well as non-profit arts institutions such as the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation and the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice, Italy. She received her Master of Environmental Design from the School of Architecture at Yale University, and her Bachelor of Science in Architecture from University of Virginia, with a double major in American Studies.
Jackie is originally from the East Coast, and now lives in Ojai, CA. She is the mother to two teenage daughters and has an active mindfulness practice; she is also currently enrolled in a Medicinal Herbal Garden program in Ojai. Jackie is honored to be joining the Pacifica team!
If you need to contact Jackie Ivy, her email address is JIvy@pacifica.edu or Ext. 396.
Aaron McFarlin
AV Support
Aaron lives in Ventura with his wife Mai who is a citizen of Japan; they are currently working on getting her Green Card. Aaron’s love for photography and adventure has led him more than 30 countries over the last 25 years, with the majority of that time spent living and working in India. For the last 8 years, he and Mai have been rotating between India, Nepal, Japan, and Northern California, involved in their joint partnership, a Slow Fashion project making upcycled clothing and bags, which are currently selling in Japan, Europe, Australia, and the U.S. Aaron and Mai have been settled in Ventura now for less than a year, and plan on sticking around.
Although having had a wide range of jobs in his life, the overarching thread has been around photography and printmaking. Aaron has also studied music since his teenage years, plays a classical Indian drum called Mardala, and recently enjoys playing around with electronic musical gadgets such as synthesizers and the like.
Aaron McFarlin can be contacted at amcfarlin@pacifica.edu, or by calling the AV Hub.
Cerese Levy
Admissions Advisor
Cerese was raised in Southern California and lived in various parts of California before settling down in Redondo Beach in 2015. She completed her undergraduate education at Mount Saint Mary’s College and graduate education at Pepperdine University. After working in Student Services as a student worker at Mount Saint Mary’s, Cerese moved onto to work in Higher Education for over 20 years. Her professional experience in includes Student Counseling, Career Development and Admissions’. In her free time, she enjoys traveling to various parts of the world with family and friends. She has a passion for culture and the Arts, which makes weekends in the Greater Los Angeles enjoyable. Her most recent travel was to Cairo, Egypt, Athens and Santorini this past December. Cerese currently lives in Los Angeles along with her 13 year old son Maxwell.
If you need to contact Cerese Levy, her is email address is clevy@pacifica.edu.
Vanessa Conte
Institutional Effectiveness Associate
Vanessa Conte has been working in academic assessment and institutional research for over six years and specializes in creative approaches to representing student success using multiple perspective and methodologies. In her previous roles as Director of Assessment and Associate Chair of a liberal arts department at a school for film and performance, Vanessa enjoyed working directly with faculty to serve a diverse student body of arts professionals. She was also a faculty member for over 20 years, teaching at various colleges in Southern California and abroad. Vanessa is also a professional artist and exhibits her work internationally. She is very happy to join Pacifica and is looking forward to meeting the community!
Katherine Cohen
Library Assistant III
KC graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism, concentrating in Photojournalism. She worked as the staff photographer for Boston Children’s Hospital until 2018, when she got tired of the snow and moved back to her hometown of Carpinteria. Prior to joining the team at Pacifica, KC worked at the Montecito branch of the Santa Barbara Public Library. Her hobbies include hand sewing for her Etsy shop, studying the esoteric and occult, organizing anything and everything, and spending time with animals.
