by Lorna Harris

From July 27th to August 1st, 2025, 51福利社 proudly hosted a for 49 high school students on the Cheney campus. This marked the program鈥檚 first return to the east side of the state since 2019. Students lived on campus and were able to experience college student life, and 57% received a scholarship to attend. Throughout the week, students from across the state immersed themselves in a hands-on, team-based experience designed to simulate the real world of business. Divided into teams known as 鈥渃ompanies,鈥� students collaborated to manage their own mock businesses, and provided stockholder presentations which culminated in a trade show.

Local professionals volunteered their time as Company Advisors, providing coaching, mentoring, and facilitated learning throughout the week. The WBW program featured a dynamic mix of guest speakers, interactive sessions, and team-building activities focused on key themes such as leadership, teamwork, and entrepreneurship. Participants earned two college credits, walking away not just with valuable knowledge, but a head start on their academic journey. In fact, 56% of participants left the camp interested in attending 51福利社!

We couldn鈥檛 provide this opportunity without the support of 51福利社 Admissions, Housing and Residential Life, College of Professional Programs, School of Business, the Washington Business Week team, and all the faculty, staff, and students who worked and volunteered to make this a meaningful experience. Looking forward to our second camp in summer 2026!

By Brynne Irish

The College of Professional Programs is excited to congratulate Kimarie Fox on her acceptance to the X-Culture Global Business Week Conference!

Kimarie is a senior at 51福利社, majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies with an emphasis in Workforce Management and is now expected to graduate in June 2025. Originally from Tucson, Arizona, Kimarie moved to Spokane when she was 14 years old.

In Winter Quarter 2025, Kimarie took the IBUS 470 International Business course with Professor Abrahim Soleimani, and had the opportunity to participate in an X-Culture Project. She explained how this project teaches students how to work with people from other countries to create a professional report helping a company with an issue or to improve in some way. Kimarie mentioned that she was in a group with the following international students: Lauren from North Carolina, Shashank from India, Vicky from Hong Kong (studies in Canada), and Emilien from France.

Kimarie expressed how she enjoyed meeting new people from different countries, but that they did experience struggles working on this project in coordinating Zoom meetings because of all of the different time zones. However, she shared that they made it work and still managed to write an outstanding report. Kimarie took on a leadership role in her group, and she ended the project with a high peer evaluation score. This led her to being invited to apply to the X-Culture Global Business Week Conference in Vaasa, Finland.

I decided to apply even though I might not be able to afford it, because the invitation itself would be a great accomplishment to share with future employers.

The describes the X-Culture Global Business Week (Global Symposium) as an event that brings participants together from across the globe, chosen from the best of the best. Students from around the world from international teams that meet initially online and finally in person, to finalize their work in solving a real business problem. The selection process is competitive, with a limit of 150 students. Preferences are dependent on student applicants who have demonstrated excellence in past X-Culture programs, with consideration given to maximizing geographic and cultural diversity.

Kimarie鈥檚 X-Culture team chose the company Vivavoce, which is a medical clinic in Italy that specializes in speech therapy, other vocal cord related treatments, and rehabilitation. Their goal was to expand their services to other markets in different countries and once they analyzed those markets, they ended up recommending Japan. Kimarie credits Professor Abrahim Soleimani as being very helpful in assisting her group through any questions, feedback, or concerns they had.

Professor Soleimani had a Zoom call meeting with me, assisting me with any edits I should make, which I then relayed to my team. I could not have done it without his help.

After completing and mastering this class project, Kimarie was encouraged to apply to the X-Culture Global Business Week Conference in Vaasa Finland, and she was accepted! She states that, 鈥淭his achievement means so much to me because it feels like my hard work was worth it. I was so excited when I found out and wanted to tell everyone I know.鈥� This accomplishment additionally led Kimarie to start thinking more about if International Business is something she would enjoy pursuing in the future.

I really challenged myself with this project because of the leadership role I took on. I am normally not much of a leader, but I wanted to show myself that I am capable so that I can advocate for myself in my future career that I am leadership material, and that paid off as well.

For anyone else who may be interested in the X-Culture Project, Kimarie advises those students to step out of their comfort zone. She states, 鈥渨hile you can’t force anyone in your group to work hard, you control how hard you work and that matters.鈥� She also recommends holding yourself and others accountable because it is important to make sure you finish the project with an end result you are proud of. She added that 鈥渢his project is unique and so helpful for people that want to pursue International Business, it is worth participating in.鈥�

Lastly, Kimarie added that she loves the Interdisciplinary Studies program because she is continuing to gain knowledge in multiple subject areas, which has allowed her more flexibility when job searching. Her long-term goal is to start a career and eventually be able to buy her own home.

The College of Professional Programs is thrilled to recognize and honor Kimarie Fox for her accomplishments and acceptance to the 2025 X-Culture Global Business Week Conference in Vaasa, Finland.

By Brynne Irish

The College of Professional Programs is excited to recognize Ryan Finner for March’s Student Spotlight. Ryan is a junior in the Interdisciplinary Studies program.聽

Ryan is in his junior year here at 51福利社, he is majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus in Sociocultural Anthropology and minoring in Africana Studies. He plans to receive his Bachelor鈥檚 degree in June of 2026. Ryan is also a student council member in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion where he shows his dedication to fostering inclusive environments for marginalized communities.

After growing up in Ontario, California, Ryan and his family moved to the Spokane area when he was 11-12 years old. He attended middle school and high school locally which is where he then got the chance to attend 51福利社 as a Running Start student. Ryan decided to continue his studies here because he had found his community and felt engaged in the environment here at 51福利社. One of the reasons Ryan was interested in the Interdisciplinary Studies program is because of the flexibility it gives him. He expressed that since he is a person who has multiple different interests, this program allows him to combine all his interests into a degree that will help him in the future since he will have multiple skills from different disciplines.

Through his experience at 51福利社 so far, Ryan shared that he has had multiple great mentors at Eastern.

Thanks to Dr. Okera Nsombi (Africana Studies Department) and Cori Jaeger (McNair Student Advisor) I have been able to get where I am. They have encouraged me every step of the way to authentically myself and to put my all into everything I do.

One challenge that Ryan faced during his journey was finding a community that he felt truly a part of. When he first became a college student here, he was trying out several different ways to find his community here at 51福利社. After so long, he thought about giving up, however, Ryan did overcome the feeling of not being a part of a community by being a part of multiple.

Getting the opportunity to be a part of multiple different communities and organizations has truly helped me develop a diverse lens and perspective on the things I do every day.

Now, Ryan鈥檚 greatest accomplishment is being able to become a McNair Scholar here at 51福利社. This is the federally-funded TRIO Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program at 51福利社. For Ryan鈥檚 McNair research, he will be focusing on how bilingual and multilingual undergraduate students are navigating their academic spaces. His research interests also include multicultural identity, cultural interpretation, environmental justice, and linguistic variations across cultures.

Something Ryan shared that he has learned during his program is to take advantage of the opportunities of experiential learning.

Having the opportunity to participate in experiential learning is extremely important and allows you to test out different professional and/or academic fields.

Ryan believes this will apply to his professional future as he already has knowledge and skills in the field he is going into, which is Sociocultural Anthropology and higher education. Additionally, he has done internships, seminars, and been a teaching assistant, which have helped him become more passionate about using research and teaching to make a meaningful impact.

His advice for others interested in the Interdisciplinary Studies Program is to consider your future goals and interests and ask yourself 鈥渨hat do you hope to do with this degree?鈥� Ryan said that once you figure that out then consider if having multiple skills from different disciplines could be helpful as a working professional.

Ryan also recommends becoming a part of Psi Chi to those who are a psychology major/minor or just interested in psychology. He emphasized that It will definitely help in your studies and allow you to make connections with others in the field. Another place Ryan encourages other students to check out is the JLR Multicultural Center in the PUB. 鈥淓veryone there is extremely welcoming, and it is a fun spot to hang out or relax.鈥�

Lastly, 5 years from now Ryan sees himself two years away from completing his Ph.D. in Sociocultural Anthropology and being a part-time professor while doing his studies!

The College of Professional Programs is pleased to acknowledge Ryan Finner for his achievements, aspirations, and efforts as CPPs March Student Spotlight!

51福利社 partnered with Spokane Public Schools to launch the 51福利社 Reading Club at Grant Elementary. This special collaboration aims to improve reading skills and foster a love of reading among elementary students.

Throughout the year, 51福利社 education majors meet weekly with students from 1st to 6th grade at Grant Elementary, working together to enhance literacy. This initiative not only helps young students develop essential reading skills but also provides valuable hands-on experience for future educators.

The Reading Club recently hosted an event to promote literacy at Grant Elementary, demonstrating the positive impact of this partnership. The 51福利社 faculty point of contact for the Reading Clinic is Ashley Lepisi, who can be reached at alepisi@ewu.edu.

On this Giving Joy Day, we would like to announce the creation of a new scholarship to support students going into the behavioral health field. The Jeff Thomas Behavioral Health Scholarship was established to honor the legacy of 51福利社 alumnus, Jeff Thomas, former CEO of Frontier Behavioral Health, by Coordinated Care. Coordinated Care aims to improve access to higher education for underrepresented populations in health care related fields.

Recipients must:

• Be undergraduate or graduate students majoring in behavioral health programs including Social Work, Psychology, Counseling, Addiction Studies, or earning a Behavioral Health Support Certificate.
• Recipients must also meet at least one of these following requirements:
  • Demonstrated financial need, with preference to those with financial need outside of Pell Grant eligibility
  • First-generation college student
  • Non-traditional student
  • Come from an underserved or underrepresented community

Congratulations are in order for the Delta Sigma Chapter of Beta Alpha Psi (BAP) at 51福利社!聽 At the organization’s mid-year meeting in San Diego, they placed 3rd in the Best Practices competition in the Community Service area for their work as volunteer financial auditors for the Spokane County Superior Court Guardianship Monitoring Program.聽 The Spokane County Superior Court website states that “financial auditors review court-ordered accountings of the vulnerable individual’s finances, submitted to the court by the guardian/conservator/trustee, to ensure that the vulnerable individual’s finances are being handled properly and in their best interest.”

Student members Finnegan Syrie (senior finance major and BAP Chapter President), Marin Johnson (Masters in Professional Accounting Student and BAP VP), and Thilmer Maland (junior Professional Accounting major and BAP member) presented at the mid-year meeting,聽 and were joined by BAP Advisor Dr. Bill Shaw, Assistant Professor of Professional Accounting and Associate Dean for CPP.

Shaw states that the chapter “finished behind Cal State Fullerton (1st) and University of Nebraska (2nd)” and that “the mid-year meeting saw ten schools selected to present their work. Those ten schools were selected in early December from all the proposals submitted.”

To apply to become a “Candidate” Member of the Beta Alpha Psi Chapter, click here.

To view BAP events on EagleSync, .

To Learn more about volunteering opportunities through the Guardianship Monitoring Program, .

Congratulations to MSW student Mariah Brigman for winning the Native American/Indigenous Student Research Abstract Award at the in October 2023.聽 Mariah鈥檚 graduate poster presentation was titled 鈥淓ffects of COVID-19 on Housing among American Indian/Alaska Native Adults鈥� and featured in the Psychology and Social Sciences category. The conference was organized by the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS).聽 On the impact of winning this award, Mariah states:

蕯a x虒蓹st sx虒lx虒alt (Hello, good day) The impact this award had on me was confidence in my work. I appreciate the recognition in the work so much. The work is important especially for Native people where there is such a huge lack of research, that I now feel more confident in my abilities and in furthering Indigenous research with all the support I received.

 

I remember first starting college where I already felt imposter syndrome coming from a rural reservation, I would do research projects for class and wanted to do my projects on Indigenous issues. I could never find any research on Indigenous people or anything and it felt very frustrating and insignificant as though us Native Americans didn’t exist anymore, and it did not help the imposter syndrome go away. But we are still here, and I really appreciate the support and recognition and furthering Indigenous research and it feels like such a huge accomplishment for us all.

 

This also helped open up doors in not only the research and academic world but in the career field as well and it’s such an honor. Lem’lemt (Thank you)

by Mya Brossoit

The College of Professional Programs is excited to recognize Nathan Bradford for November鈥檚 Student Spotlight.

Nathan is currently attending 51福利社 as a Senior on the Cheney campus, majoring in Social Work. He plans to receive his Bachelor鈥檚 degree in June of 2024.聽 After growing up in Selah, Washington, Nathan sought out an affordable and practical option for higher education. When considering what university to attend, he ultimately decided Eastern was the best option with its overall lower cost, and convenient location.聽 When asked why he chose Social Work as a major, Nathan shares his deep desire to use his abilities to support others in a positive way.聽 The vast opportunities 51福利社鈥檚 Social Work program offers is what then convinced Nathan to take the next step and apply to the Bachelor of Arts in Social Work (BASW) program.

Though Nathan accomplished his goal of coming to college, the journey as a whole has not been entirely easy. As with many students during their college years, discovering how to manage mental health as a new adult can be a great challenge amidst the pressures of school. Not to mention, as a student managing the stressful changes during the Pandemic made it all the more difficult.聽 Nathan describes the debilitating anxiety that surrounded him during his first couple years of college. Battling panic attacks and unpredictable emotions was a challenge Nathan has learned to manage in a healthy way as he finishes out his college degree. He shares the importance of having support and tools in your life in order to set yourself up for success. Though these mental health struggles are still present at times, Nathan testifies to the great amounts of improvement he has seen over time.

Bradford recommends other students take full advantage of their education while attending school because all that the content taught by professors in class is directly applicable to a career in social work. He states that:

All of the professors I鈥檝e had in the school of social work have been great. I鈥檝e learned so much from each of them.

One of his greatest accomplishments since arriving at Eastern has been the multiple ultramarathons he has run over the years. Not only has he been able to finish these tough races but recently soared higher as he crossed the finish line of his very first 50 miler run. Through his discipline and hard work, Nathan exemplifies the grit and strength that comes with being an Eagle.聽 Nathan also credits his community through the on-campus organization, Cru, as it remains an influential support in his life. He also expresses his gratitude towards all of his professors that have helped him along the way:

Bradford is grateful for the many lessons he has learned throughout his Social Work program. One thing specifically he has discovered is the valuable connection between social work practice and social work policy. When considering his line of work during his required practicum classes, Nathan has grasped the considerable essentials of macro-level social work.聽 Looking towards the future brings great hope to Nathan as he reflects on the meaningful work he dreams of doing. He shares:

I know I want to be dedicated to helping people and making the world a better place in a tangible way.

The College of Professional Programs applauds Nathan for all of his hard work and deep compassion towards others as he soars into his future!

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