Attended: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Planning Committee Member: 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 (chair)
Savannah-Jane is the Associate Director of Community Engagement and Campus Recreation at Stetson University. She serves as the lead administrator for hosting the 2011 conference at Stetson and is serving as the chair of the Planning Committee. Savannah-Jane has worked at Stetson for the past three 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 Atkins graduated from Stetson University with a Bachelor’s in Business Management in 2007 and a Masters in Business Administration in 2008.
Attended: 2010
Planning Committee Member: 2010 (chair)
Julianne Dunn is the Campaign Manager, Friends & Family Teams for Light The Night Walk at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in San Jose, California.
The 2000 Cherry Blossom Queen of the United States, Julianne Dunn graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City with a Bachelor’s of Arts- Political Science in 2005. During her undergraduate studies, she worked with Jumpstart-AmeriCorps, developing social and literary skills with preschoolers. Following her graduation, she completed Peace Corps service in Ukraine where she worked as a secondary school teacher and cofounded a HIV/AIDS peer education camp. In December 2010, Julianne completed her masters in public service at the Clinton School of Public Service and her masters in public health at the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences.
Attended: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Planning Committee Member: 2008, 2009, 2010; Hosted: 2010
Hunter Phillips Goodman serves as Executive Director of Arkansas Coalition for Excellence (ACE), our state’s association for nonprofit professionals, businesses, individuals, and foundations invested in Arkansas’s nonprofit sector. ACE is about synergy and harnessing the collective power of nonprofits. Since joining ACE in January 2006, Hunter’s work with has emphasized the importance of connecting the nonprofit sector in Arkansas through information and resource sharing, collaborative training and advocacy. She has worked steadily to develop the membership base, programs, and long-term sustainability of the organization. Today, ACE has a membership of 288 members in all four corners and central Arkansas. On behalf of ACE, Hunter also serves on the National Council of Nonprofits board, Arkansas Discovery Network Advisory Board, and Association of Fundraising Professionals-Arkansas Chapter Board of Directors.
Hunter has been an avid participant personally and professionally in the non-profit and higher education sectors. She has a strong interest in state-wide training in education as well as continued strengthening and development of nonprofit resources. Hunter has taught nonprofit management and leadership courses through Louisiana State University Shreveport’s nonprofit management certification program. She also remains active in the national student service movement as an active member of the IMPACT National Student Conference on Service, Action, and Advocacy planning committee. Locally, Hunter is part of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock American Humanics advisory committee to engage college students in nonprofit management education.
Hunter is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi Master of Education program and Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee and alumni of the Bonner Scholars Program. Prior to coming to Arkansas, Hunter worked with the Bonner Scholars Program in South Carolina and the University of Southern Mississippi’s Office of Community Service Learning in Mississippi to build connections, relationships, and partnerships for civic engagement between academia, community, and students.
Attended: 2008, 2009, 2010
Planning Committee Member: 2009 & 2010 (Sponsorships Chair)
Molly is currently a graduate student at Columbia University where she is pursuing a Master of Arts in International Educational Development with a concentration in Latin American and Latino Education. For two years, Molly chaired the Sponsorship Committee of the conference through which she secured over $50,000 in sponsorships. Molly has previously worked for BEBE Language Academy and the United Nations Foundation. Molly was an active student leader at Kansas State University where she earned degrees in English literature and Secondary Education with minors in International Studies and Nonprofit Leadership.
Attended: 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2011
Organized: 1992, 1993, 1994
Hosted: 1990 (as a student leader), 2008 (as the lead campus administrator)
John is Executive Director of the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University. Founded in 2006, the mission of the School is to generate innovative new solutions to public challenges by leveraging relevant research and collaborative problem-solving.
John has over 20 years of experience in non-profit management and higher education. He worked for twelve years with City Year, a national service program that engages young adults for a demanding year of full-time community service, leadership development, and civic engagement. John served twice as a local City Year executive director (San Jose and Boston) and as a national vice president. John developed several national program models at City Year including the Whole School, Whole Child model for transforming public schools and improving the academic, socio-emotional, and civic development of students.
Prior to City Year, John worked for the Campus Outreach Outreach Opportunity League, a national organization that promotes and supports college student involvement in community service. John has visited over 300 colleges and universities and provided consulting to dozens on how to build and strengthen student-led community service programs. John served as the national conference director for the 1992, 1993, and 1994 COOL National Conferences.
John serves as a trustee of the Hyams Foundation. He previously served on the boards of Massachusetts Stand for Children, Asian Americans for Community Involvement, Campus Outreach Opportunity League, the Coro National Alumni Association, and KaBoom!
John earned a BA in Organizational Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles and an MBA from Northeastern University. After college, he participated in the Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs.
Advisory Board
Attended: 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010
Planning Committee Member: 2009, 2010
Xavier Benavides graduated from Texas A&M University with a BA in Philosophy and English and from the University of Michigan with a MBA in Organizational Development and Corporate Strategy. Xavier has spent many years working with the public, nonprofit and most currently the for profit sector. After college, he initially volunteered with AmeriCorps as a Corpsmember in the National Civilian Community Corps in South Carolina and as an AmeriCorps Leader in Seattle, WA with the National Council of Churches in Christ. He then served as a YES Ambassador for the Points of Light Foundation and the OneStar Foundation in Austin, TX working to promote service among young people. Next, he worked in Diversity Education at Texas A&M University, advising students of color and teaching classes on student activism. For the next few years, he worked at Oxfam America in Boston, MA as an Organizer and Training Coordinator leading the national leadership program CHANGE and the Oxfam Clubs Program. While pursuing his MBA, Xavier made the switch to corporate America and has worked for Microsoft, Cisco Systems, and IDEO in HR and corporate social responsibility. Currently, he is employed by Amazon.com as part of the HR Leadership Program working in Compensation & Benefits.
Attended: 1992, 1994, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Executive Director (COOL): 2000-2004
Planning Committee Member: 2008, 2009
Since 2004, Ariane has been the Senior Program Officer for the Bonner Foundation, which works with 85+ colleges and universities around the country. The Bonner Program provides more than 3,000 undergraduate students with an opportunity to engage in intensive community service while in college, and to receive financial support—in the form of scholarships, Federal Work Study stipends, and AmeriCorps Education Awards. The program provides colleges with a replicable model through which to develop students through service, positively impact communities, and build an infrastructure for sustained community engagement.
In 2000, Ariane served as the Executive Director of Campus Outreach Opportunity League (COOL), which aimed to educate, connect, and mobilize college students to strengthen their communities through service, activism, and social justice work and hosted the annual COOL Conference (precursor to IMPACT). At COOL, she helped create a comprehensive campus membership program and civic engagement curriculum, launch the Learning the Lessons from Social Movements Summit and manage COOL’s merger with Action Without Borders/ Idealist.org.
Ariane’s additional experience in the non-profit sector includes four years as Vice President for Program at Jumpstart, where she helped lead the creation of an outcome-based integrated program model; five years as a Program Director and Senior Program Designer and Trainer for the National Academy at City Year; and one year at the Echoing Green Foundation in New York City as the Director of the Undergraduate Public Service Fellowship, supporting social entrepreneurs to launch their own innovative programs.
Ariane was born and raised in South Lake Tahoe, California. She graduated from Stanford University where she explored study-service connections around public policy, funding levels, and educational equity through service work in East Palo Alto, CA. She was also awarded the John Gardner Public Service Fellowship and Echoing Green Fellowship, which enabled her to work in East Palo Alto as the assistant to the Superintendent of Schools.
Attended: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
Planning Committee Member: 2008
Steve Janowiak is the Vice President of Briar Cliff University (Sioux City, IA) where is responsible for responsible for residence life, career development, counseling and health services, security, campus life, campus ministry and student leadership. Prior to Briar Cliff, Steve was assistant dean of student affairs and student engagement program at the University of Idaho. Prior to that he was director of the Leadership Academy, Hartman Center for Civic Education and Leadership at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana.
Janowiak holds a Master of Education from the University of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho, where he majored in educational leadership. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, where he majored in administration and management.
Attended: 2008, 2009, 2010
Planning Committee Member: 2008, 2009, 2010
Jimmy Kelly is a 7th grade science teacher in his second year with Teach for America in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY in May 2009. At Vassar, Jimmy founded and led a community service group that made over $100,000 in contributions to local food pantries. Jimmy also served as student body president in his senior year.
Attended: 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Planning Committee Member: 2008 (co-chair), 2009 (advisor to Coordinator)
Abby Kiesa is currently Youth Coordinator & Researcher at CIRCLE, a national, non-partisan research center on young people’s civic and political engagement. Previous to CIRCLE, Abby organized students around the country as part of a national campaign of Campus Compact to increase youth involvement in public life. Before that she was the Community Service Fellow at Madison House at UVA. She has contributed to several publications and co-edited ‘Raise Your Voice: A Student Guide to Making Positive Social Change’. In 2007 Abby was named an Emerging Leader in Service-Learning, “a two-year intensive experience designed to elevate and prepare a new, culturally diverse generation of service-learning leaders committed to working with traditionally under-served populations, schools, and communities.” On top of full-time work, she is a graduate student in American Studies at the University of Maryland College Park.
Abby grew up 20 miles outside Syracuse, NY. She’s a middle child and has an older and younger brother.
