Michael is a co-founder of Four Worlds
International and is currently a director of
the Four Worlds Centre for Development
Learning which is dedicated to building the
capacity of communities and professional
organizations for sustainable participatory
development.
Michael is a specialist in participatory
change and development processes and is well
known for his writing, innovative training,
consulting and mentoring related to helping
professionals to learn how to work
effectively with communities. He has twenty
years experience working with Indigenous
communities and development organizations,
and has worked in Southeast Asia, the South
Pacific, Africa, the former Soviet Union,
Latin America, the Caribbean and Indigenous
North America.
Michael has also designed and developed a
fully accredeted masters degree program in
applied human and community development
through a joint venture between Four Worlds
and the Alliant International University,
based in California, as well as many other
accredited and non-formal learning programs.
Michael has also served as principal or
co-researcher on many national and
international research studies, has served
as Professional Head of a research
department at a national research institute
and has acted as a methodological coach and
evaluator to many international development
related research projects.
Michael has led many program, planning and
design, implementation, monitoring and
evaluation projects. He has also published
extensively and led thousands of hours of
training on topics related to human systems
transformation, community health, research
methodology and learning for social change.
Michael has a Ph.D. in development education
and a masters degree is in community
development. Judie Bopp,
Ph.D.
Judie is a co-founder of Four Worlds
International, and is currently a director
of the Four Worlds Centre for Development
Learning. Judie is a specialist in
curriculum design and development and
organizational transformation. She is well
known for her expertise in culturally based
and experiential learning, and has designed
and written numerous learning programs for
schools, colleges, and adult training
programs.
She has provided training, technical support
and evaluation services related to program
development and organizational change to
many different types of groups, ranging from
the ministries of national governments to
small non-governmental organizations. She
has worked in Asia, the South Pacific,
Africa, the former Soviet Union, the
Caribbean and Indigenous North America. She
has also provided technical support to many
Canadian and American professional
organizations and Indigenous communities.
Judie has served as principal or
co-researcher on numerous national and
regional research studies, and specializes
in participatory and community based
approaches.
Judie has recently co-authored (with Michael
Bopp) two books, the first related to
community-based sexual abuse intervention
and the other concerning building
sustainable communities.
Judie has a Ph.D. in education with a focus
on learning for participatory development.
Her masters degree is in curriculum
development.
Kelly Dowdell, MA
Program Director
Kelly is a born-and-raised Calgarian and
is thrilled to be part of the CCGC team. She
holds a Master of Arts (Hon.) in Social
Anthropology from the Centre for Research
and Advanced Studies in Social Anthropology
(CIESAS), Guadalajara, Mexico, where she
studied Mexico's democratic transition and
the impact of social movements in the
development of a democratic political
culture. Kelly has traveled to numerous
countries on 4 continents - experiences that
have led her to appreciate the diversity of
cultures we enjoy and the challenges we all
face as members of the human family.
