MA in Social Entrepreneurship and Change (SEC)

Stephen Kirnon, EdD

Program Director

Stephen Kirnon heads the Northern California office of Strawn Arnold Ashpitz Groover, a life science executive search firm, and serves on several biomedical boards. With more than 25 years of operational experience in biomedical organizations, Dr. Kirnon was the founding Program Director for the SEC program in addition to his role as Adjunct Faculty.

Kirnon is a firm believer in the idea that social entrepreneurship should be a part of every for-profit business model and has long been involved in both education and transformational leadership development.

John Barton, PhD

Visiting Associate Professor

John D. Barton (Ph.D., Makerere University, Uganda) is Director of the Center for Faith and Learning at Pepperdine University where he also serves on the faculties of Seaver College's Religion and Philosophy Division, GSEP's graduate program in Social Entrepreneurship and Change, and the Straus Institute of Dispute Resolution at the Pepperdine School of Law.

John formerly served as provost of Rochester College and currently serves as president of Kibo Group, a nonprofit which pursues poverty alleviation in East Africa. 

Brandon F. Shamim

Instructor

Brandon Shamim is an award-winning strategist, business coach and college lecturer. His career spans the globe for over two decades- working with leading Fortune 500s, diverse privately-owned businesses, public agencies, and nonprofits.

Having honed his talents in government service and corporate settings, Brandon has managed multiple business advisory/talent development companies; conducted public affairs at a market leading Fortune 100 financial services company; advocated for policy reforms at a think tank and led the U.S. Department of Commerce initiative at the University of Southern California, where he was responsible for $50M in capital assistance and procurement for 2000 small businesses. 

Jacqueline Johanna Macias

Adjunct Professor

Jacqueline (Jackie) Macias is a senior executive with a proven track record in large public companies, start-ups, and non-profits, playing significant roles in strategy-setting, M&A, brand-building, and governance. With diverse experience and qualified expertise in accounting and finance, organizational leadership and governance, Jackie now provides C-level advisory services.  She also shares her talents as faculty for Pepperdine University’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology Social Entrepreneurship and Change graduate program.

Antony Collatos, PhD

Associate Dean of Education | Professor of Education

Dr. Collatos is a research associate with UCLA's Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access and the University of California All Campus Consortium on Racial Diversity (UC/ACCORD). His research involves the Futures Project, an eight-year longitudinal study that examined alternative pathways for first-generation urban youth to more effectively navigate the K–16 educational pipeline. Dr. Collatos is also the director of the Urban Parent/ Teacher Education Collaborative and the Youth and Empowerment Research Seminar Program. He has published several articles and book chapters and regularly presents his research to educators, to community groups, and at national and international conferences.

Susan Cotton

Adjunct Professor

With a strong track record of creating high-impact brands and businesses as a corporate executive and entrepreneur in health-related industries, Susan's goal is to accelerate the development of successful social business strategies that seamlessly integrate purpose with profit.

Margaret Weber, PhD

Professor of Education

Weber has a strong background and belief in faculty development and program innovation. As part of her scholarly work, she has published articles on such topics as multicultural leadership and diversity; defining scholarship, mentoring, and socialization of graduate students; and the value of investment in faculty.

Weber began her career as a junior high teacher in a small rural Illinois community. She then decided to complete her graduate education, and earned a doctoral degree in education from the University of Missouri. 

Rich Little, PhD

Adjunct Instructor

Dr. Little has taught in the SEC program for 12 years and currently works at Thomas Safran & Associates, one of Los Angeles’ largest affordable housing developers providing housing to low-income families, seniors, veterans, and LGBTQ+ youth and seniors. He concurrently works for Housing Corporation of America, a 501C3 non-profit that provides social services and events for residents living in over 100 properties owned by HCA.

Zarik Boghossian, EdD

Professor

Dr. Zarik Boghossian is a passionate and accomplished technology entrepreneur and serial innovator with over 30 years of experience designing and developing advanced technologies and innovative solutions, including aerospace systems. Zarisk lives life unconditionally, and treats people as human beings and achieves loyalty, respect, and results.

Zarik was responsible for the development of the mission-critical Electric Power System Flight Software for the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA. This system was successfully launched by NASA, and has successfully been orbiting the earth for the past decade.

Sonya Sharififard, PhD

Faculty

Dr. Sonya Sharififard (she/her) serves on the Board of the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society and is a faculty member at Pepperdine University. Her current research explores leadership development and global food systems, a project she completed as part of the AMPLIFY fellowship program with the Pacific Council.

Previously, Dr. Sharififard served as a postdoctoral research fellow and Managing Editor of The Scholarship without Borders Journal at Pepperdine University and Lecturer at California State University, Sacramento.

Nii-Quartelaii Quartey, EdD

Nii-Quartelai Quartey is a political journalist, Pepperdine University professor and prominent convener in the fields of dialogue and social change. Throughout his career, he has been featured on various media outlets, including The Oprah Winfrey Show, MSNBC, CNN, CBS News, NewsNation, SiriusXM, TheGrio and as a daily news anchor for FOX Broadcasting and FOX SOUL. Now he serves as Host & White House Correspondent for "A More Perfect Union" radio talk show and podcast produced by KBLA Talk 1580. Before returning to his passion for political journalism, for almost two decades Dr. Quartey had developed his expertise in national affairs by being actively engaged in policy advocacy efforts on issues ranging from civil and human rights to childhood obesity to senior issues. These experiences have been foundational to Dr. Quartey's distinctive approach to this work - always aspiring to humanize leaders, listen for teachable moments, cautionary tales, and challenge underlying assumptions. 

Veronica Escalante, PhD 

Veronica Escalante is a social entrepreneur and educator committed to fostering collaborative leadership and inclusive communities. As the founding executive director of the SHARE Foundation, she developed the Horizontal Approaches model for social change, promoting trust, empathy, and mutual support across diverse groups. Dr. Escalante has trained more than 24,000 educators and partnered with over 80 organizations worldwide, earning recognition from Ashoka, the BMW Foundation, and How Women Lead for her contributions to social entrepreneurship and leadership development.

Kent Rhodes, EdD

Kent Rhodes brings extensive executive and consulting experience to his work with Pepperdine’s doctoral and executive graduate programs. In addition to teaching at GSEP, he serves as Practitioner Faculty at the Graziadio Business School and as a Senior Consultant with The Family Business Consulting Group, where he advises family enterprises on aligning business and family strategies. A former CEO, Dr. Rhodes founded and led an Internet-based education company later acquired by a Silicon Valley firm.

Lashawn Taylor, EdD

Lashawn Taylor has worked in the education and social sectors for over 15 years. She currently serves as a Director of Consulting with the Nonprofit Finance Fund, where she advises mission-driven organizations on strategic financial planning, organizational development, and long-term sustainability.

Throughout her career, Dr. Taylor has partnered with foundations, public agencies, community-based organizations, and national nonprofits to strengthen financial capacity and advance community development initiatives. She has supported more than 100 organizations in building strategies to address complex social challenges, and she also brings several years of experience leading youth workforce development programs and higher education initiatives.

Shahab Kaviani 

Shahab Kaviani is an entrepreneur, executive coach, and educator specializing in social entrepreneurship, innovation, and startup leadership. He teaches in Pepperdine’s MA in Social Entrepreneurship and Change program, drawing on more than 20 years of experience founding and scaling SaaS companies including HyperOffice, CoFoundersLab, and Breezio. A former instructor at the University of Maryland and the University of Pennsylvania, Kaviani now coaches startup founders through SaaS Academy and FounderWell, helping leaders drive both market success and social impact.