“I got my first professional job because of AH. I think AH has prepared me because of the network and the contacts that I have made. It had helped me gain more confidence as far as planning and organizing events. I know I can raise money and not be afraid to ask big time corporations or whomever I need to for money. I learned to be the professional, all around person that every employee seeks to be. I think the transition from college, from the academic, to the workforce has been easier through my experience in American Humanics.”
- Donica Beckett, Volunteer Coordinator
The mission of American Humanics is to prepare and certify nonprofit leaders. Since 1993, the American Humanics Program at the University of Houston has certified almost 200 people, most of whom are actively working in nonprofits locally and around the country. Thousands of other AH students have been certified over the nearly 60 years since the national organization was founded.
As an AH certified professional you’ll have a national network of colleagues waiting for you after graduation! Many of them have gone on to earn graduate degrees in Social Work, Public Health, Public Affairs, and Public Administration and Business and are now in the position to bring new hires into their organizations.
Our UH alumni are currently employed in social services and the arts, including:
- The AIDS Foundation
- The Alley Theatre
- American Red Cross
- Big Brothers Big Sisters
- Boy Scouts
- Boys & Girls Clubs
- Catholic Charities
- Childrens’ Protective Services
- Communities in Schools
- DePelchin Childrens Center
- Ft. Bend Family Services
- Girl Scouts
- Girls Incorporated
- Goodwill Industries
- Houston Hope
- Interfaith Ministries
- Junior Achievement
- MHMRA
- Neighborhood Centers Inc.
- Opera in the Heights
- Planned Parenthood
- The United Way of Greater Houston Monica Rivera, MSW (AH 2004)
- Volunteer Houston Birmingham, England
- Volunteers of America protective services worker
Many more have positions in hospitals, universities and schools.
Alumni Heather Sutter and Katharine Ligon
pose with Margaret at the annual AH Alumni-
Student Holiday Mixer
Sampling of Graduate Employment
Class of 2008
Heidi Alaswad Wuertz: Gulf Coast Blood Center
Ines Alvarez Calderon: Graduate College of Social Work (GCSW)
Ariana Campos: Epilepsy Foundation
Yunchiu Chang: Americorps Member, Houston Hope
Tabinda Ghani: GCSW
Deidre Thomas: Aspiring Youth of Houston
Crystal Zamora: GCSW
Class of 2007
Whitney Arp: YES Prep Academy
Sherry Bernard: YMCA M.D. Anderson
Lauren Bryce: Bering Omega Community Services
Melissa Harbich Hauser: Sheltering Arms Senior Services
Alicia Hicks: American Red Cross
Yvonne Meza: AVANCE
Shelley Pleasant: WestLake Child Development Center
Megan Sharp: GCSW
Flor Sifuentes: AVANCE
Nicole Standley: South Houston Elementary
Chrystal Thornton: I Have a Dream Houston
Tuan Tran: Houston Grand Opera
Natasha Wade: Houston Hope
Class of 2006
Kathryn Childress: Neighborhood Centers Inc., Development Associate
Melissa Gutierrez: Healthy Family Initiatives and GCSW
Melissa Harbich Houser: Sheltering Arms Senior Services
Christina Gonzalez: AVANCE
Janet Gonzalez: Neighborhood Centers Inc.
Brittnee Morgan MacIntyre: Menninger Clinic
Andrea Murray: Reach Unlimited
Allyson Ozmer: National Farm Workers Service Center
Melissa Rodriguez, MSW, GCSW-UH
Tiffany Shepherd: Neighborhood Centers Inc.
Class of 2005
Carlie Brown, MPH: Baylor College of Medicine
Tiffany Bryant, MSW, GCSW-UH
Janice Colburn, MSW, GCSW-UH: Humble Area Assistance Ministries
Claudia Duran: Neighborhood Centers Inc.
Margie Ketchand: Alley Theatre
Kay Walser: Ten Thousand Villages
Class of 2004
Eduardo Garces: Neighborhood Centers Inc.
Lori Godwin: University of Houston, AH Program
Allen Grundy: University of Houston, Office of Veterans Services
Kim Hollard: Greater Houston Community Foundation
Katharine Ligon: DePelchin Children's Center and GCSW
Nicole Peralta: Rice University
Monica Rivera MSW, GCSW-UH
Nancy Rocha: Covenant House Texas
Class of 2003
Anamichelle Lopez: Serenity Retreat for Healing and Spiritual Renewal
Amber McCarthy:GCSW
Class of 2002
Catherine Barry: University of California – Berkeley, student
Erin Baskin: Highbridge Voices Corporation
Mandy Heilman, MSW-UT Austin: Project Transitions
Cora Weaver: AIDS Foundation Houston
Class of 2001
Michele Armstrong: Houston Grand Opera
Aya Ealy, MPA: City of Grand Prairie Housing and Neighborhood Services
Christy Radney: Stand Up for Kids
Veronica Vela: Communities In Schools
Class of 2000
Eric Carrera, MSW-MBA, GCSW-UH: United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast
Buck Dodson, MSW: Private Practice
Sara Farina: Project Vote
Christina Gloria: National Farm Workers Service Center
Lisa Martinez: Girl Scouts San Jacinto Council
Kristen Schlatre, MA: United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast
Class of 1999
Shelly Dittmar, J.D.: US Dept. of State, Consular Officer for US Embassy
Roberta Leal, MSW, GCSW-UH: Communities In Schools
Timeka Walker, MSW, GCSW-UH: AIDS Foundation
Class of 1997
Brent Arnspiger LCSW,GCSW-UH:, Texas Children's Hospital
Amy Goudy: Deer Park ISD
Quynh-Anh (Tran) McMahan, MSW, GCSW-UH: Rockwell Fund
Class of 1996
Jennifer Battle, LMSW, GCSW-UH: MHMRA
Barbara Slover, MPH: Volunteer Center of Rhode Island