Meet our team
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Aya Inamori Williams, PhD
Aya Inamori Williams is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Counseling Psychology in the Child & Adolescent Mental Health track.
Dr. Williams is passionate about research on bilingualism and how we can leverage multiple languages to improve mental health, especially for immigrant families and communities. Williams is excited to tackle questions such as how to effectively provide mental health services for multilingual and multicultural communities.
LAB MANAGER
Stephany Garcia, B.A.
Stephany Garcia is a graduate student in Counseling Psychology at Santa Clara University, currently training to become a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) with a concentration in Latinx Counseling. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of California, Riverside.
She is passionate about increasing access to mental health services for under-resourced and historically marginalized communities. Stephany is dedicated to supporting research focused on developing resources for multilingual families, aiming to expand the availability of mental health tools that are accessible and relevant to their needs.
LAB MEMBER
Dao Doan, B.A.
Dao is a graduate student in Counseling Psychology at Santa Clara University, where she is training to become a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Public Health from the University of California, Davis.
Her academic interests focus on the intersection of mental health and cultural identity, particularly reducing stigma and expanding access of care in underserved communities. She hopes to integrate research, advocacy, and clinical practice to bridge cultural gaps and promote more inclusive approaches to mental health.
Ever Zhang, Ed.M.
Ever is a graduate student in Counseling Psychology at Santa Clara University. She holds a master’s degree in Learning Design, Innovation, and Technology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from McGill University.
She is deeply interested in how culture and language shape the development of mental health challenges and inform the design of effective experiential interventions, and the evolving role technology plays in these processes.
Rasarea Chan
Rasarea Chan graduated from UC Berkeley in 2022 with a B.A. in Psychology. She brings persistence and a passion for creating equal opportunities to her academic and community work. Outside of research, she volunteers as a mentor for teens and with inclusive theater programs for children with special needs. Rasarea plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and joins the Kaizen Lab with curiosity and excitement to learn both from others in the lab as well as from the research itself.
Djory "Jo" Charles B.A., LVN
I am a Haitian-American immigrant with five years of experience in healthcare who is currently studying to be a Marriage & Family Therapist. As a licensed vocational nurse, I have had the privilege to work alongside interdisciplinary teams in long-term acute, psychiatric, and school settings. I also learned to educate, communicate, and learn alongside others as I earned my Bachelor’s in English Literature.
Yuki Kioka
Yuki has always been curious about understanding the why of human behavior. His interests in psychology are how multicultural backgrounds and different experiences may influence a person's behavior in social and personal situations. He completed his bachelors of arts in Psychology from the University of California, Riverside in 2025. On off days, he likes to play and watch basketball, soccer or play the piano.
Zara Shaikh
Zara is deeply passionate about mental health, particularly with a focus on trauma, attachment styles, and multiculturalism. She is interested in working with children, adolescents, and young adults as well as immigrant communities. She completed a double major in Psychology B.A. and Communications B.A. from the University of California, Davis.