Role

As the Community Action Program Coordinator, I support the operational and logistical scope of Community Action by developing and facilitating training sessions, retreats, and other programming to deepen student learning and strengthen leadership development. I also work to advise students, especially first-years, on pathways for continued service engagement post-CA. 

Background

After leaving my career path in science, my professional career has been dedicated to service and civic engagement in higher education. In 2016, I served as a team leader in AmeriCorps NCCC, where I worked alongside other young adults to strengthen and support communities (primarily following natural disasters). This experience inspired me to further pursue opportunities to connect and educate young adults on sustainably supporting the communities they are part of.  After obtaining my master’s degree, I worked at the Rochester Institute of Technology in the Center for Leadership & Civic Engagement. While there, I was responsible for coordinating sustained and short-term service programming, building relationships with community partners, and chaired the university’s voter engagement initiative. I have earned a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's degree in higher education from Canisius College in Buffalo, NY.

Come Talk to Me About

• One-time service experiences
• Voter engagement
• Connecting and collaborating with community partners
• Event planning
• Sports (Go Bills!)
• Coffee
• Board and video games

What I’m Reading 

I am currently reading The Education Myth by Jon Shelton. The author questions the idea that education represents the best, if not the only, way for Americans to access economic opportunity. As Jon Shelton discusses, linking education to economic well-being was not politically inevitable. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, for instance, public education was championed as a way to help citizens learn how to participate in a democracy. By the 1930s, public education, along with union rights and social security, formed an important component of a broad-based fight for social democracy.

Favorite Community Spot

Not a single spot, but I consider myself a coffee nomad, bouncing between the many different cafes in town looking for my next cup of roasted bean water. I enjoy mixing it up as I believe each location has its own unique atmosphere. The only downside is having to manage the many different punch cards/reward programs!