Robert Horton is the founder and main presenter of the UNtraining. He is a white male with a passionate interest in undoing racism and a belief that this process begins with oneself. Robert has been working with Rita Shimmin since 1994, studying her approach to multi-dimensionality which she calls Racism, Diversity and Risk of the Self. The UNtraining is based on their work together. Robert studied Process Work with Arnold Mindell and has practiced Tibetan Buddhism for more than 25 years.

Robert has led on-going private UNtraining groups since 1995. He has made individual presentations and led workshops at numerous schools and organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area, including JFK University, Institute for Transpersonal Psychology, San Joaquin Delta College, Berkeley Psychotherapy Institute and Spirit Rock Meditation Center. He also works with individual clients around racism and social issues. More about Robert and How The UNtraining got started.

Rita Shimmin is a teacher of multi-dimensional consciousness. She is the source and inspiration for the UNtraining. She continues to support the process of its development and acts as on-going mentor to leaders in the UNtraining. Multi-dimensionality is the basis of the work she has developed called Racism, Diversity and Risk of the Self, and is a key part of the UNtraining.

Rita has been a teacher, trainer and coach for more than 35 years. She has worked within educational institutions, at all levels—with kindergarteners and university management teams—and with business entities, including community-based non-profits and national investment firms. In recent years, she has co-directed the Bay Area Black Women's Health Project and served as Interim Executive Director for Lyon-Martin Women's Health Services in San Francisco.

Rita currently works with a large faith-based social agency in San Francisco. She is also an organizational consultant, teaching the development of multi-dimensional consciousness through group programs and individual coaching. She is available through referral only. More about Rita

Bob McIntosh has helped guide the UNtraining since its inception. He calls himself "Two Worlds" since he is biracial and grew up in both white suburbs and black inner city projects. As a high school math and computer science teacher-leader for many years, Bob has extensive experience in curriculum development and facilitating change efforts, and has been involved with diversity awareness and training programs in public schools. He has served as Mathematics Specialist for Curriculum and Instruction for the Washington State Department of Education. He leads workshops to help educators implement equitable teaching methods and problem-based learning. Currently he is developing a model math curriculum for a school district in Olympia, Washington.

Janet Carter has been a participant in the UNtraining since it began, and as Robert's life partner, she supports the work in many ways. She acts as sounding board, edits UNtraining materials, and helps develop communications. She also hosts and assists at introductory meetings. Janet is a writer, editor and historical researcher. She is currently writing a book called Good Little White Girl, investigating her personal, family and cultural heritage as an exploration of how the "white training" is handed down.

Nancy Arvold is a licensed marriage, family and child therapist. She has worked in private practice, with nonprofits, and with county and city governments, as a counselor and case manager since 1994. She is a PhD candidate at the Institute for Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, California and has been intensely involved in diversity work there. Her dissertation topic is "Doing Our Own Work: White Women's Struggles with Becoming Sensitive and Competent in Multicultural Dialogue and Action."

Nancy came to the UNtraining in 1997 through a growing frustration at the failure of dialogue between white people and people of color, and her awareness of the obstacles created by her own and other white people's guilt, sensitivity and defensiveness. She believes that racism is the glue that holds the oppression of the world in place and that white people's unconscious racism keeps this system of inequity going. Nancy became an UNtraining teaching assistant in 1998 and is certified to lead the UNtraining.

Swan Keyes is a psychotherapist, consultant, and anti-oppression educator based in the San Francisco Bay Area. A woman of Caucasian Jewish descent with an MA in psychology and extensive training in drama therapy, Theatre of the Oppressed, and over 15 years of Vipassana meditation practice, Swan integrates expressive arts with other forms of experiential study to create dynamic learning environments for people of all ages to challenge racism, sexism, homophobia, classism and other forms of oppression. She specializes in working with youth and offers workshops and lectures for colleges and social justice-oriented organizations in the US and abroad. Check out Swan's website

Rae Mary worked in the field of affordable housing for many years, including a stint as the Director of the Housing Department of the City of Dallas, Texas, and retired from the City of Oakland, California, where she oversaw the programs for hunger and homelessness. She is a long time housing advocate, and civil rights and feminist activist. Her participation in the UNtraining since 1997 arose from her increasing awareness of her own unconsciousness about her white racist training and the adverse impact it had on others. She works in many areas toward a world where we honor the needs of everyone as well as the resources of our planet.

Rae was a teaching assistant from 2000 through 2005 and is now certified to lead the UNtraining. In 2005 she moved to the Midwest where she grew up, and is working to bring the UNtraining to the area where she lives—Rock Island, Illinois, one of the Quad Cities, which also include Davenport, Iowa; Bettendorf, Iowa; and Moline, Illinois.

Teachers in Training

Michael Katz is a Jewish man, a feminist and third generation teacher. He came to the UNtraining through his search to find a community of white people who consciously sought to explore, challenge and re-envision their conditioning as white and what it means to be a white anti-racist. The work has led him to be greater ally to himself and, in turn, others.

Deborah Marks is a body worker and movement teacher, attends Quaker Meeting, and has lived in a collective household for 15 years. White, owning-class, female and Jewish, Deborah has been learning about privilege and oppression from many directions. She is joyously committed to allyship with other white people in unlearning our white training.

Caren Ohlson is a Marriage & Family Therapy intern who works with teens and adults in the East Bay. She has been involved with the UNtraining for over five years and is deeply committed to working with other white people to re-learn the curiosity, respect, love, and accountability that our white ancestors lost so long ago. Caren is also committed to using this new learning to be an active participant in political work with white people and people of color to dismantle structural racism in our society.

Kathleen Rice has been involved with the UNtraining since 2000 as one way to learn how to relate to the multiple forms of unearned privilege she receives. Her motivation is to live more equitably in the world, build trust in authentic relationships across differences, and be her full self. The UNtraining has had a profound effect on reducing her feelings of self-righteousness in her anti-oppression work.

In her work-for-pay, Kathleen serves as an independent consultant, facilitator and trainer on issues of diversity, leadership, community service learning and community change. Kathleen has pursued formal educational opportunities by earning degrees in elementary education, higher education, and college student development. She has worked in several universities and for the Corporation for National and Community Service.