Our Team

Founder and President

Dr. Colleen Cira is a licensed clinical psychologist and staff therapist at Gersten Center for Behavioral Health. Dr. Cira has always been very passionate about fighting for the rights of women. Once beginning graduate school, she found herself drawn to trauma work, specifically working with girls and women who experienced sexual abuse and/or assault. These two missions combined when Dr. Cira founded The Global Sisterhood: Girls Empowering Girls Around the World in January of 2010.

Dr. Cira is a graduate of the Illinois School of Professional Psychology. She completed her predoctoral internship Dreikurs PSC, focusing on general clinical psychology. She has experience working with children, adolescents and adults in a variety of settings including hospitals, private practices, community mental health centers, and University counseling centers. Special interests include adolescents, women’s issues, trauma and couples.

Vice President of Operations

Nick Cira is a Graphic Design Specialist at Guaranteed Rate in Chicago. Nick graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelors in Fine Arts with a concentration in Graphic Design. Nick has designed for some of the most successful and prestigious companies in the world, including the National Football League (NFL), Starbucks, Target and Ghiradeli Chocolate. Nick has also managed a team of designers at every company that he has worked for. Nick is passionate about human rights and enjoys the operational aspects of helping to run a successful organization.

Psychology Intern

Krystal Robinson is a third year clinical psychology doctoral student at the Adler School of Professional Psychology. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in experimental psychology from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Her research and practice interests include trauma and psychosocial issues facing adolescent girls, race and gender construction in ethnic minorities, maternal stress and mental health factors in African American women, as well as health disparities for ethnic minorities. Her professional goals include advocacy and research concerning mental health issues for minority individuals as well as community mental health service. In Krystal’s spare time she enjoys traveling and spending time with family

Psychology Intern

Vanessa Salvato is a third year clinical psychology doctoral student at Roosevelt University. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from Loyola University (Chicago) in psychology with additional concentrations in sociology and women’s studies. Her research and practice interests include adolescent risk behaviors, clinical child and family practice, child and adolescent behavioral disorders, family dynamics, and assessment. Her professional goals include clinical work with children and families, especially regarding disadvantaged groups. In Vanessa’s spare time she enjoys spending time with family, friends, and her 2 year-old Australian shepherd, Harley.

TGS Developer

Steven Wanderski is a passionate Web designer and developer based in Chicago. He builds Websites which scale from small personal sites to large corporate e-commerce stores. His main areas of expertise include HTML/CSS, jQuery, PHP, and Drupal, as well as new design trends and emerging Web practices. Steven resides in Chicago's Ukrainian Village and is enthusiastic about discovering new music, fine dining and learning new technologies.