Meet the 25-26 Mid-Career Learning Community cohort

Claudeline Chery is a results-driven Project Director with extensive experience in the K-16 and non-profit sectors. Specializing in strategic initiatives that enhance student life, civic engagement, and institutional partnerships, she currently serves as Associate Director of the Center for Community Partnerships at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Claudeline is known for her bias for action and commitment to building thriving communities through impactful, results-oriented work. Before joining RISD, Claudeline held roles at Brown University and Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where she expanded pre-college programs and championed diversity initiatives to foster inclusive environments for diverse student populations. She holds a Global Master of Arts in International Education and Management and a Bachelor of Science in Sociology. In addition to her professional achievements, Claudeline serves as Board Chair for CityArts! and participates in various planning committees. Passionate about empowering students, she advocates for innovative approaches that strengthen community connections and encourage lifelong civic participation.

Margaret Kelly has taught at the University of Minnesota since 2002. For the last fifteen years she has taught 1-3 courses per semester that include community engaged learning. She currently teaches in the department of Family Social Science where she also holds the administrative role of Director of Undergraduate Studies. In addition to this work, she teaches in the First Year Experience program in the College of Education and Human Development where she also leads the training and onboarding for instructors in that program.

Kimberley Persons, DHS, OTR/L, CLA joined St. Catherine University's Occupational Therapy Department in August 2020. She teaches in the both the master's and doctoral program and mentors master's projects. Kimberley's current research is exploring community-based practice and the role of the Academic Fieldwork Coordinator in occupational therapy education. In 2018, she became a Certified Leader in Academia. She has been an occupational therapy educator for more than 12 years including 6 years as an AFWC. Her clinical background is working with adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in community-based setting. She is an active member of many professional associations and serves as the Minnesota Representative for the American Occupational Therapy Association Representative Assembly.

Dr. Meggan Lloyd serves as the Director of the Office of PittServes at the University of Pittsburgh, in Pittsburgh, PA. Dr. Lloyd has a decade of experience in working within higher education and community engagement, including serving as adjunct faculty for a number of community engagement courses.

Olihe Okoro is a social and behavioral scientist, and community-engaged researcher. She has years of experience working collaboratively with Black/African American communities and patient populations to investigate root causes of health disparities and implement community-based health interventions. Olihe is committed to integrating structural and cultural competencies into pharmacy education and practice. She is also passionate about providing relevant mentoring and instrumental support for students of color who aspire to healthcare and allied professions. Through these efforts, Olihe’s work continues to contribute to enhancing health and healthcare for underserved populations, towards the goal of achieving health equity for all.

I am a community-engaged scholarship professional, educator, social science researcher, and designer of community-engaged educational spaces and digital learning resources. Since 2016, I serve as a program manager with the University of Colorado Boulder's Office for Public and Community-Engaged Scholarship. In my current position, and through over two decades as an educational researcher in k12 classrooms, informal learning environments and digital learning spaces, I have focused on the development of mutually beneficial partnerships across university actors and nondominant groups (e.g. low income, Latino, immigrant, rural, women). A key element of my community-engaged scholarship and professional practice is bringing diverse expertise, perspectives and interests into conversation and collaboration across multiple contexts. The goal of my work is to develop and support programs that honor and leverage participants’ funds of knowledge and that are personally, academically and socially consequential. I received my PhD in Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies with a minor in Anthropology at the University of Arizona and was subsequently a postdoctoral scholar in the School of Education at CU Boulder. My scholarship and professional positions, in the past and currently, represent a wide array of community-engaged scholarship practices. I am supported in my learning journey by members of my multicultural family who are educators and activists, and by my third generation, ethnically Jewish-American parents who are firm believers in equity, inclusion and self-determination for all regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender and more. I am grateful for how living and working in Mexico, South America, and the US Southwest, and teaching in k12 environments with majority immigrant and BIPOC students in San Francisco, CA, Tucson AZ, and Colorado have informed my relationship to myself and others. I am happiest when collaborating with partners who bring a multitude of experience and backgrounds to a shared endeavor.

Catherine Cotrupi (she/hers) serves as the Assistant Dean of Student Services, Inclusion, and Strategic Partnerships for the Graduate School at Virginia Tech. She is passionate about community engagement, DEIJ, antiracism, and justice-based efforts and has served in professional and personal roles working to bridge the these to leverage the resources of each for the benefit of the others. Her professional work and passions lie at the intersection of community engagement and DEIJ efforts. Her previous professional roles include working for VT Engage, the Center for Service Learning, Leadership Education, and Civic Engagement; and Multicultural Programs and Services (now the Cultural and Community Centers) at Virginia Tech; and as Community Engagement Manager at the University of Southern Indiana. She uses her experience and expertise to support antiracist and social justice efforts on campus and off. Catherine earned both her doctoral degree in Higher Education and her master’s degree in Sociology from Virginia Tech and she earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Clemson University. Her dissertation research focused on white faculty members’ actions to resist upholding whiteness and white supremacy culture in their community engagement efforts. Her personal, professional, and academic interests include individuals’ actions toward actively addressing inequity and hegemony. Demographic information White, queer, ciswoman, economically and educationally privileged, member of the disability community.

Maria came to the Program for Community-Engaged Scholarship (ProCES) in 2013 after teaching English in France for several years and working at the University’s John H. Pace, Jr. '39 Center for Civic Engagement. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University with a triple major of English, French, and Theater and her master’s degree from Drexel University in Global and International Education. She is a 2016 recipient of the University's Donald Griffin '23 Management Award and in 2017 she was a Lead NJ Fellow. Maria has served on the boards of the Cherry Tree Club, a preschool for children whose families were experiencing homelessness, and The Father Center of New Jersey, a Trenton-based organization that strengthens families by serving and supporting fathers. She taught English to non-native adult speakers for several years in Lawrenceville and Trenton with the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund (LALDEF) and The English School at the Lawrence Road Presbyterian Church.

Jacen Greene is the co-founder and assistant director of PSU's Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative, a multidisciplinary research center dedicated to addressing issues related to homelessness through a racial equity lens. He previously designed and managed social innovation programs in PSU's School of Business, and is an instructor, speaker, and author on social entrepreneurship. Jacen's books include The Rule of One: The Power of Social Intrapreneurship and Elevating Impact: Case Studies in Sustainable Business and Social Entrepreneurship. He has contributed chapters to four other books, published in Social Enterprise Journal, co-authored multiple award-winning case studies, and led research and writing on numerous reports. Jacen has led workshops for Mercy Corps, the Fulbright Program, and AmeriCorps, and has presented at the Net Impact Conference, VentureWell OPEN, Engagement Scholarship Consortium, CUMU Conference, Ashoka U Exchange, and Social Enterprise World Forum, among many others. Jacen graduated Beta Gamma Sigma with an MBA in sustainability from Portland State University and magna cum laude with a B.A. in China Studies from Willamette University. He has worked or taught in Uganda, Tunisia, India, China, Cambodia, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

My academic journey has taken me on a diverse path, culminating in a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Brown University in 2010. Over the span of two decades, my fieldwork and research expertise has centered on health, family dynamics, and Islam, with a particular focus on Tanzania, Kenya, and the United States. My doctoral research is a result of extensive ethnographic fieldwork and concentrates on the intersection of gender, religion, and health in East Africa. I've published articles and chapters on various topics, including reproductive health, the influence of Islam on bioethics, marriage dynamics, and intimate relationships within Pare and Swahili communities. Collaboration lies at the heart of my work. I've had the privilege to collaborate with numerous local and national organizations as well as local and global communities, placing a strong emphasis on equity-focused public health education that translates theory into tangible, real-world change. My teaching philosophy is built on the principles of social justice and hands-on, transformative learning experiences. By fostering meaningful connections between academia and the community, I aim to make a lasting impact in the field of public health.

Rachayita Shah (Ph.D.) is Director of Community Engaged Learning at The Bonner Foundation. She works with about 65 institutions of higher education across the U.S. that have adopted the Bonner Program, a four-year service-based scholarship program. In this capacity, she collaborates with a wide range of constituents within the Bonner Network including community engagement professionals, faculty, and students to build institutional structures for reciprocal campus-community partnerships. Rachayita’s areas of expertise and research include teacher professional development, community-engaged learning, and multicultural education. At Bonner, she has developed new resources for faculty, staff, and student leaders, including curriculum for faculty development in community-engaged learning and in course design. She brings a rich background and teaching experience in curriculum and instructional design.

Alyssa Melby has been St. Olaf’s Program Director for Academic Civic Engagement (ACE) and Community Based Work Study (CBWS) since Fall 2017. She is responsible for matchmaking between community organizations and the college for both curricular courses and student employment opportunities that connects more than 50 community organizations, 600 students, and 45 faculty each year. In addition, she facilitates faculty professional development on engaged pedagogy and scholarship and works alongside faculty on developing and assessing ACE courses. At St. Olaf, she serves on several committees and working groups, such as the Election Engagement group responsible for civic engagement and voting on campus. In the wider community, she serves as Voter Services Chair for the League of Women Voters and the Healthy Community Initiative. As a lifelong learner, she has co-facilitated and participated in many communities of practice through Campus Compact. She presented at the 2019 Midwest Campus Compact Conference with four faculty members on the ACE Faculty Community of Practice, a project funded by To Include is To Excel, a multi-year grant initiative from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Dr. Wendy Wagner is the Director of Community Engaged Scholarship at the Honey W. Nashman Center for Civic Engagement and Public Service. She provides support and professional development training for GW faculty whose scholarly work and teaching has public benefit outcomes and occurs in partnership with community organizations. Dr. Wagner also directs the Civic House Scholars program and teaches the Civic Leadership course that grounds that program. Wendy’s scholarly background is in college student learning and development, particularly leadership development experiences and facilitating learning through community-engagement. Her published work includes co-authorship/editorship on: Leadership for a Better World: Understanding the Social Change Model of Leadership, Leadership Development Through Service-Learning, and The Student Leadership Handbook. Her most recent research resulted in a typology of community-engaged faculty, which sheds light on the diverse perspectives and motivations of faculty who choose to align their scholarly work with community-benefit outcomes.

Lisa Morde is passionate about working with students as they consider their role in community engagement and social change. She is the Associate Director of Civic Engagement at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, and holds an M.Ed. in Social Justice Education from the University of Massachusetts, at Amherst. Lisa has worked in higher education and community engagement for over a decade at colleges and universities in New England and the Midwest, as well as international non-profit organizations based in Washington, DC and San Jose, Costa Rica. She currently overseas a suite of co-curricular programs including the Alliance of Civically Engaged Students, and the Northeastern Votes Coalition of faculty, staff, and students.

Kate Adams is the Assistant Director of the Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) at Salem State University. In her role she manages the daily operations of the CCE. Her work focuses on community, advocacy, civic learning, and political engagement. She works deeply with students, faculty, and community partners to provide a wide variety of educational experiences and programs. Kate has over a decade of experience in youth development and is passionate about investing in the next generation of community leaders. She loves to support students in sharing their stories and lived experiences to create positive, long-term change at the university and in the Commonwealth. She believes that civic engagement is at the heart of supporting student wellness. Civic Engagement helps students find community, belonging, and empowers young people to discover their voice, power, and civic identity. Along with her passion for civic engagement she is an avid traveler, urban farmer, and passionate advocate for holistic health and wellness. Kate also strongly believes in the important role of nutritional food as medicine. Her graduate research explored the benefits of mindfulness-based practices in higher education at the community college level. Kate holds an M.Ed. in Community Engagement.