About Dr. Becki Cohn-Vargas

Dr. Becki Cohn-Vargas is an independent consultant who has spoken on the subject of how to combat bullying, create identity safe classrooms, and positive school climates at conferences, schools, and universities across the United States. Becki's book, Identity Safe Classrooms: Places to Belong and Learn, co-authored with Dr. Dorothy Steele, was published by Corwin Press.

She has worked as Director of Not In Our School (NIOS), a bullying and intolerance prevention project of The Working Group. She also has spent over 35 years in public education in California. She was a preschool director in Healdsburg, teacher and principal in the Oakland Unified School District, Elementary Curriculum Director for the Palo Alto Unified School District and Superintendent of the Luther Burbank School District.

Currently, she presents on identity safety, creating safe school climates, and bullying prevention. She also works to develop standards-based curriculum and has developed curriculum and lesson guides. She has presented and coached over 60 schools and colleges across the United States as well as in Germany and Nicaragua. She has been hosted at the White House twice where she briefed President Obama’s education staff. Her efforts have included partnerships with the PTA, NEA, Facing History, and the United Sikhs.

Becki co-owns the Makengue Preserve, 190 acres of virgin rainforest in Nicaragua near the border with Costa Rica. She has been organizing and bringing college student groups for the last four years to do research and community service projects.