Barbara H Mullen Reed grew up in the picturesque Finger Lakes region of upstate New York. She was awarded a BS degree by the State University of New York and received permanent certification as a teacher. As a Research Associate at Cornell University, she was part of the initial studies that resulted in the formation of the national programs known as Home Start and Head Start. As a teacher and the mother of four, she studied at Marywood University in Scranton, Pennsylvania and received an MS in Religious Studies. As her teaching career advanced, Reed operated a school for disabled pre-school children and received an EdD degree from the University of Sarasota in Sarasota, Florida. As a Chaplain at Cornell University and as a Pastoral Associate at a Catholic parish, she periodically led small groups of students in visits to examine social justice issues in Guatemala and Haiti.. She is presently retired and living in Arizona where, as a member of Amnesty International, she is a volunteer participant on the team of the PACT project at Arizona State University that is seeking to develop transcultural interactions in the area of transborder matters.