Savannah-Jane Griffin, Planning Committee Chair
Savannah-Jane is the Associate Director of Community Engagement at Stetson University. She served as the lead administrator for hosting the 2011 and 2012 conferences at Stetson and is serving as the chair of the Planning Committee. Savannah-Jane has worked at Stetson for the past four years focusing on building relationships with DeLand’s community partners, educating students and faculty on the importance of community engagement, and enhancing a number of community engagement programs on Stetson’s campus. Savannah-Jane Griffin graduated from Stetson University with a Bachelor’s in Business Management in 2007 and a Masters in Business Administration in 2008.
Lorrie Brown, Workshops Subcommittee Chair
Steven Carrillo, Speakers Subcommittee Chair
Steven was born and raised in central New Jersey, later moved down to Florida, and was a first generation student at Stetson University. During his undergrad years he volunteered with various non-profit agencies focusing on youth empowerment and ultimately founded his own elementary school program in Pierson, Florida. Steven graduated with a Bachelors degree in Psychology and a minor in marketing. He currently works at Stetson University as an AmeriCorps VISTA, advises a student organization, serves on the Deland Unity Coalition, is a proud member of Toastmasters International and is the BIGGEST Spider-man fan you’ll ever meet. Steven’s ultimate goal is to go across the country as a motivational speaker, spreading his personal philosophy that we must find the “why” in what we do.
Ashley Farmer-Hanson, Workshops Subcommittee
Ashley has served as the director of Civic Engagement at Buena Vista University since 2008. She holds a masters in Student Affairs Administration and is currently a doctoral student at the University of South Dakota, intending to graduate this May! In addition to her work and school responsibilities, she serves on the Iowa Commission for Volunteer Services as the chair of the program development committee for the governor. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and their dog Zoey.
Sonia Gonzalez, Outreach Subcommittee
Sonia is a fourth year Sociology major at the University of Chicago. She is currently researching the relationship between a new charter school and the surrounding neighborhood community. Sonia is an alumna of KIPP Academy Middle School and KIPP Houston High School. She interned for the KIPP Foundation (KIPP School Leadership Program Learning Team) from 2009-2011, was part of UChicago’s Community Service Leadership Training Corps (CSLTC), and co-founded UChicago Mentorship by Correspondence. Sonia hopes to work for a nonprofit in the field of education, social work, or public service. This will be her third year on the Planning Committee.
Trisha Gott, Sponsorship Subcommittee Chair
Trisha Gott is a faculty member at the School of Leadership Studies at Kansas State University. She completed both a bachelors and masters degree through K-State. Professionally, Gott is passionate about connecting service-learning and applied learning opportunities within higher education.
Kristine Kengor, Outreach Subcommittee Chair
Kristine Kengor is currently a Housefellow and Coordinator of Residential Service Learning at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has also worked at Bucknell University and Penn State University in student affairs and service-learning. Kristine first attended the IMPACT Conference in 2008 and then served on the planning committee in 2009 and 2010. In her spare time she enjoys reading and walking her retired racing greyhound.
Dustin Killpack, Speakers Subcommittee Chair
Dustin is currently serving as a graduate assistant for Residence Education and Academic Programming at Texas Tech University. He is a first year graduate student seeking his Masters degree in Higher Education Administration. Dustin is particular interested in the promotion of nonviolence philosophies and the inclusion of popular culture into the classroom. In his free time he enjoys spending time with friends, pondering absolutes, or making up jokes.
Imani Lewis, Outreach Subcommittee
Imani Lewis is a junior at Emory University and an AmeriCorps Bonner alumna from Oxford College. She is an African American Studies major and Theatre Studies minor and pre-law student at Emory. Last summer Imani worked at the Bonner Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey as an intern and learned a great deal about alumni networking and social media. In her spare time, Imani loves to bargain hunt, jam to 90s music, attend plays and concerts, meet new people, and travel to new and exciting places!
Maverick Marquardt, Social Subcommittee Chair
Maverick Marquette is a junior at Stetson University, majoring in Accounting and Finance, with a minor in Family Business. Maverick is the Vice President of SigEp and is the Vice President of Community Engagement on the Inter-fraternal Council
Amanda Nix, Registration Subcommittee Chair
Amanda Nix serves as Stetson University’s Bonner Program Coordinator. In this role, she supervises the long-term service placements of 50 to 60 Bonner and mentors student leaders who keep the program running smoothly. She attended her first COOL conference at Vanderbilt in 2006 and has been to three IMPACT conferences since. Amanda graduated from Stetson University with a Bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies and Sociology in 2009 and plans to graduate with her Master’s of Business Administration shortly after IMPACT 2012!
Claudia Ortiz, Social Subcommittee
Claudia Ortiz is a senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign studying Communication and Psychology. She is from Addison, Illinois, a Northwest Chicago suburb. On campus, she served as the Office Manager of Volunteer Illini Projects, as well as on its Board of Directors. Claudia attended the IMPACT Conference in 2010 in Little Rock, Arkansas. In her free time, she enjoys reading, taking her dog to the local dog park, and volunteering on campus.
Caroline Ouwerkerk, Webmaster
Caroline Ouwerkerk is the project manager of the University of Chicago Urban Network. The Urban Network is a faculty-led initiative that is devoted to spurring innovation in urban research and improving communication among individuals and organizations working in urban research and policy. She has an M.S. Ed. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Pennsylvania and an AB in history, from the University of Chicago. Caroline has been a member of the IMPACT Conference planning committee for the past five years and currently serves as the webmaster for conference. In her free time, Caroline enjoys traveling and writing and is currently pursuing a certificate in creative nonfiction at the University of Chicago Graham School.
Alex Sanchez, Marketing Coordinator
Alex Sanchez, a Puerto Rico native, is a Senior Intern of the Bonner Program at Stetson University. He serves as the Marketing Chair for the IMPACT Conference; in this capacity he creates all the marketing materials used for outreach initiatives and the official conference shirts.
Alex is currently working toward earning a degree in Elementary Education with a minor in Psychology at Stetson University, which he will obtain in May 2012. Alex is passionate about education and service; for over three years, he has worked towards increasing student community engagement at Stetson through his service in the Center for Community Engagement and the Bonner Program.
Shawna Peters, Workshops Subcommittee
Shawna Peters is studying Family Studies and Human Services with an emphasis in Non-Profit Leadership Studies and American Ethnic Studies at Kansas State University. After living and serving in a rural community in Mexico, she began working for the International Service Teams program as a student coordinator. This experience, in addition to being raised in a rural Kansas community, has been the driving force in her future interest of teaching in low-income communities both in the United States and internationally.
Jessica Price, Workshops Subcommittee
Mary Kay Sigda, Workshops Subcommittee
Mark Kay Sigda was born and raised outside Philadelphia and was a first generation student at Dickinson College in the 80′s. After graduation, she left the country for 21 years where she lived and taught in Mexico, Kenya, Niger, France, the UK and Poland. She returned to the USA in 2006 to pursue her MA in Intercultural Service, Leadership and Management at SIT Graduate Institute. She currently work in Graduate Admissions at SIT and teaches a course called Training and Design for Experiential Learning to grad students. She is married to a lovely man named Greg, has a sweetheart 14 year old daughter named Gabriela, and also shares her home with 3 wacky cats and a crazy foxhound.
Jamie Schendt, Social Subcommittee, Social Media Coordinator/Chair
Jamie Schendt is a graduate of Kansas State University where he studies History, Anthropology, and Leadership Studies. At Kansas State University, Jamie was involved with the School of Leadership Studies in a number of capacities including serving as a student program coordinator for the International Service Teams.Jamie is currently enrolled in graduate school at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in the Master of Arts in Teaching program where he is pursuing a career in secondary social studies education. Jamie is passionate about education, service, leadership, & politics which has led him to be serve on the IMPACT conference planning committee for two years now.
Erin Schroeder, Sponsorship Subcommittee
Linh Tran, Workshops Subcommittee
Linh Tran is a senior at Stetson University, majoring in Psychology. She is also minoring in Education and obtaining a Certificate for Community Engagement. This coming IMPACT Conference will be the third one she has attended and the second one as a committee member. Currently, she is working on her Senior Research Project in which she is attempting to analyze the correlation between one’s mood and memory recall. Upon completion of her classes, she is excited to graduate on May 12, 2012.
Tiffany Walker, Workshops Subcommittee
Tiffany is serving as a Stetson University AmeriCorps VISTA member this year. She works to coordinate issue areas, plan large events, supervise and mentor student leaders, and connect students with community partners. She has attended three IMPACT conferences and is very excited to be a part of the planning committee this year, specifically working with the workshop committee.
Maria Wrabel, Sponsorships Subcomittee
Maria Wrabel is a senior at Stetson University in Florida, although she originally hails from Connecticut. She is pursing a self-designed major in Global Development Studies and a minor in English. Through participation in the Bonner Scholars program, she has engaged with a number of community partners in empowering children and working against poverty and food insecurity. Maria also leads the Oxfam Club and is an active member of the Student-Homeless Coalition on campus, among several other organizations, and serves as the Global Issues Issue-Based Site Leader in Stetson’s Center for Community Engagement. This is her first year as a part of the Planning Committee.
Kristen Wright, Sponsorships Subcommittee
Kristen was born and raised in East Aurora, NY, just outside Buffalo. Her involvement in community service began as a kid when her grandmother involved her in her work with Meals on Wheels, but it was not until college that her passion for service really began. She graduated from Baldwin-Wallace College (near Cleveland, OH) in 2009 and then began a year with AmeriCorps VISTA at the College of Charleston. As a part of AmeriCorps, she coordinated their Bonner Leader Program. After AmeriCorps, she moved to Washington, DC and began her job with The Fund for American Studies serving as the Coordinator of the Institute on Philanthropy and Voluntary Service. The Institute on Philanthropy and Voluntary Service is an academic internship program for students interested in internships within the nonprofit sector. In addition to interning, the students take classes at Georgetown University that are focused on philanthropy and the nonprofit sector.
