Core team
Alexandra Wells
Co-Create Program Coordinator
Sandie Thao
Co-Create Researcher
Mikala Wong
Operations Coordinator
Michael Maguire, M.S.
Faculty Associate and
Undergraduate Liaison
Student team members
Prerna Rana, Co-Create Graduate Research Assistant
Linnea Hjelm, Co-Create Graduate Research Assistant
Emma Flanagan, Co-Create Graduate Research Assistant
Chandani Bhandari, Graduate Student Outreach and Infrastructure Intern and Co-Create Project Assistant
Lindsey Mathews, Co-Create Undergraduate Research Assistant
Natalia Iding, Co-Create Undergraduate Research Assistant
Laura Evans, CommNS Teaching Assistant and Co-Create Graduate Assistant
Janel Hutchison, Outreach and Engagement Lead and Co-Create Graduate Assistant
Mallory VanMeeter, Communications and Dissemination Graduate Assistant
Janessa Thao, Undergraduate Fundraising and Development Intern
Eliceo Ruiz Guzman, Graduate Project Assistant, Gente de la Tierra
Kelly Fagin, Undergraduate Fundraising and Development Intern
Cuauhtemoc (Temo) Guizar, Undergraduate Outreach and Administration Intern
Bethy Olson, Undergraduate Outreach and Administration Intern
Steering Committee
A campus governance committee that includes faculty, community partners, and graduate students who oversee our activities and development as a UW-Madison center.
Chandani Bhandari, CommNS Graduate Student Outreach and Infrastructure Intern and Co-Create Project Assistant
Abha Thakkar, Executive Director, Northside Planning Council & Editor of Northside News
Carolee Dodge Francis, Professor, Undergraduate Program Chair in the Department of Civil Society and Community Studies
Carolina Sarmiento, Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Society and Community Studies
Constance A. Flanagan, Vaughan Bascom Professor of Women, Family, and Community & Associate Dean Emerita School of Human Ecology
Jennifer Gaddis, Jane Rafferty Thiele Faculty Fellow, Associate Professor in the Department of Civil Society and Community Studies
Karen Reece, Vice President of Research and Education Nehemiah Center for Urban Leadership Development
Monique Liston, Founder, Joyful Militant & Chief Strategist at UBUNTU Research and Evaluation
Reginold A. Royston, Assistant Professor, Coordinator, AI4Afrika.com, Black Arts + Data Futures Workshop in the Department of African Cultural Studies
Sarah Schlosser, Program Manager, Organizational and Leadership Development Program at UW-Madison, Division of Extension
Thank you to our previous steering committee team members!
Lori Bakken, Civil Society and Community Studies Professor & Evaluation Specialist
Connie Flanagan, School of Human Ecology Associate Dean
David Liners, WISDOM Director
Salli Martyniak, Forward Community Investments Executive Director
Jonathan Patz, UW Global Health Institute Director
Boyd Rossing, School of Human Ecology Professor Emeritus
Ethen Pollard, Civil Society and Community Studies Graduate Student
Matthew Calvert, Youth Development Specialist, UW Extension
Advisory Board & Affiliates
Advisory Board
External advisors who connect the CommNS to stakeholders in Wisconsin and the world while advising on opportunities and trends in the sector.
Stephanie Schlecht, Executive Director, Schlecht Family Foundation; Current Advisory Board Chair
Diane Ballweg, President, Endres Manufacturing Company Foundation and Board Member of various area nonprofit and philanthropic organizations; teacher and pilot
Dave Borghesi, Treasurer, World Affairs Council, Hilton Head; Board Member of various nonprofit and philanthropic organizations in Wisconsin and South Carolina
Rashad Cobb, Chief Operating Officer, Brown County United Way
Steve Goldberg, Owner, Steve Goldberg Consulting, LLC; Board Chair, Wisconsin Philanthropy Network
Jen Hannon, Shareholder, Godfrey & Kahn, S.C.; member of Estate Planning, Estate and Trust Administration Practice Group
Liz Lefkofsky, President, Lefkofsky Family Foundation & Founder the VING project
Meredith Blair Pearlman, Director, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Noah Salata, Community Investment Consultant, American Family Insurance
Nicole Smith, Roots and Wings Foundation
Tony Shields, President and CEO, Wisconsin Philanthropy Network
Lauren Usher, Vice President, gBETA
Thank you to our previous Advisory Board members!
Julie Bauer, Executive Director, Alliant Energy Foundation
Eugenia Podesta, Director, Economic Empowerment and Entrepreneurship, Vital Voices Global Partnership; Co-Owner, Synergy Co-Working
Mark Schar, Senior Researcher and Lecturer, Stanford University; Managing Director, One Page Solutions
Bob Sorge, President, Madison Community Foundation; CommNS Planning Group Member; Past Inaugural Board of Advisors Chair
Sarah Wendt, Greater New York City Area Nonprofit Consultant
Jeanan Yasiri Moe, Director of Strategic Communications, Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation; Board Chair, Give Back Foundation
Affiliates
Collaborators, friends, experts, scholars, and practitioners whose work connects with the CommNS and whose work we strive to lift up!
Angela Rose Black
Cynthia Burnson
Judie Caribeaux
Mary Crave
Mari Gasiorowicz
Amy Gilliland
Elizabeth Harris
Stephanie Harrison
Ginny Hughes
Jason Kauffeld
Kasey Keeler
Michelle Kwasny
Nathan Larson
Laurel Lunde
Robert Mayer
Annette Miller
Paul Mross
EG Nadeau
Dr. Siphokazi J. Ntetha
Elizabeth O’Callahan
Abby Pansch
Alice Pauser
Erin Peot
Karen Reece
Dani Rischall
Paul Roback
Boyd Rossing
Geoffrey Swain
Molly Tomony
Troy Washington