Coordinating Committee and Training Team

Alabama Safe Schools Coalition

Gloria W. Anderson is a certified school counselor, licensed professional counselor, and certified addiction counselor.  She served as Director of Student Services for Mountain Brook Schools until her retirement.  In addition to serving on the coordinating committee of the Alabama Safe Schools Coalition (ASSC), she also serves on the board of the YWCA of Central Alabama. She has received the Outstanding Alumnus in Counseling from the University of Alabama in Birmingham and the Chi Sigma Iota Zeta Chapter Outstanding Service & Leadership Award. She is also the recipient of the Wilbur A. Tincher Humanitarian and Caring Person Award, the highest award given by the Alabama Counseling Association. A strong advocate for sexual minority youth, Ms. Anderson has made numerous presentations at professional meetings and school in-service workshops on ethical and legal issues in creating safe schools for all youth.

Dr. Glenda R. Elliott is associate professor emerita of the UAB Counselor Education Program and currently the chair of the ASSC Coordinating Committee. She is a licensed professional counselor, certified counselor supervisor, and national certified counselor with over thirty-five years experience as a counselor educator, counselor, and educational consultant. While at UAB, Dr. Elliott received the Ingalls Award for Excellence in Teaching and the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. She is the co-founder of the Association for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues in Counseling of Alabama. Awards received from the Alabama Counseling Association include the Professional Development Award, the Professional Service Award, and the Wilbur A. Tincher Humanitarian and Caring Person Award (twice received). She is the author of “Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Issues in Counselor Education and Supervision: A Call to Advocacy”, published in the ALCA Journal, 2005.

Dr. Carly Friedman is Visiting Assistant Professor in Developmental Psychology at Lenoir-Rhyne University in Hickory, N. C. She received her Ph. D. in Developmental Psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 2008. Her dissertation examined young women’s experiences with sexist and heterosexist discrimination, identity development, and activism. Dr. Friedman also studies the development of stereotyped attitudes and the impact of social support on well-being in adolescence and young adulthood. She serves as the research consultant for the Alabama Safe Schools Coalition.

Dr. Bob Palmatier is the former President of Virginia College at Birmingham and Vice President of External Relations for Education Corporation of America (ECA). Between 1981 and 2001, his positions with Birmingham City Schools included responsibility for coordination of the system reading programs, elementary and high school principalships, and management of curriculum and instruction for the system. Previous experience includes 13 years as a professor at the University of Georgia and Northwestern State Louisiana. He has served as a consultant to public schools, state departments of education, colleges, publishers of educational equipment and tests, and the U. S. Office of Education. Currently a consultant with colleges and accrediting agencies, he serves on the Boards of Equality Alabama and AIDS Alabama.

Patty Rudulph is the Executive Director of PFLAG Birmingham, a national organization dedicated to providing support, education, and advocacy for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender individuals and their families. PFLAG Birmingham offers monthly peer to peer support groups which provide families in crisis the accurate information needed to dispel myths about sexual orientation and gender identity. Mrs. Rudulph received her M.S. degree in speech pathology from the University of Alabama and spent 20 years working with stroke patients and speech impaired children. She is married and has two grown children.

Rhonda Thomason is a National Board Certified teacher who taught in public schools for 26 years. Her commitment to youth and joy in teaching has garnered awards including the Montgomery Reading Teacher of the Year, Montgomery County Elementary Educator of the Year, Alabama State PTA Elementary Educator of the Year, and the Equality Alabama Education Award. She is a proponent of community therapy and founded the Open Hearts and Minds Lecture Series and Book Group. She serves on the Board of Equality Alabama and the National Safe Schools Roundtable Steering Committee in addition to serving on the Alabama Safe Schools Coalition Coordinating Committee. She has also worked with the Teaching Tolerance Program of the Southern Poverty Law Center where she helped develop resources and grant projects for educators to improve intergroup relations and equity in schools.

Anna Tuckett is currently a senior at the Alabama School of Fine Arts with a major in Creative Writing. She is vice president of ASFA’s Gay-Straight Forum and has coordinated her school’s Day of Silence since her eighth grade year. She is also active as a Birmingham Zoo volunteer in addition to serving as the student representative on the Alabama Safe Schools Coalition Coordinating Committee.

 Alabama Safe Schools Coalition