Who are you and what are your practitioner sites?
My name is Derrick Kiser, LMHC, Ed.D. candidate, and I am a licensed mental health counselor, educator, behavioral health leader, and CEO with approximately 20 years of experience working across behavioral health, education, and criminal justice systems.
As CEO of Fresh Start Wellness Center, I developed and implemented mental health, recovery, prevention, and reentry programs guided by four pillars: self-care, life skills, community involvement, and intervention and prevention. My practitioner sites and experiences include Fresh Start Wellness Center, Worcester Public Schools, correctional settings, and community-based behavioral health programs.
My work is grounded in both professional and lived experience. I have worked within these systems, developed and managed programs, supervised professionals, secured grants, built partnerships, and learned how these systems operate from the inside. My goal at Clark University is to build on that experience and use my doctoral work to help transform the systems that shape the educational, behavioral health, and life outcomes of young people and underserved communities.
What inspired you to join the Doctoral Program in Transformative Education?
I was inspired to join the Doctoral Program in Transformative Education because my professional and lived experiences have shown me that many of the challenges facing young people and communities are not simply individual problems—they are often connected to the systems surrounding them. After working in education, behavioral health, and criminal justice, I have seen both the strengths and limitations of these systems firsthand.
My work developing mental health and community-based programs through Fresh Start Wellness Center strengthened my belief that meaningful change requires transforming systems, not simply treating the symptoms. I chose Clark’s program because it gives me the opportunity to connect my practice and experience with scholarship, critical reflection, and research. My goal is to use what I learn to create more equitable, preventive, and transformative approaches that improve outcomes for people, families, and communities.
What do you hope the Doctoral Program in Transformative Education will help you accomplish in the future?
I hope the Doctoral Program in Transformative Education will help me turn my professional and lived experiences into lasting systems-level change. I want to strengthen my ability to research, evaluate, and transform the educational, behavioral health, and criminal justice systems that impact people and underserved communities.
Ultimately, I want to use my doctoral training to develop and implement innovative programs, influence policy and practice, mentor future professionals, and create systems that focus more on prevention, self-care, life skills, community involvement, and early intervention. My goal is not only to work within existing systems, but to help change the systems themselves so they better support individuals, families, and communities.
