Alexandra Wells
Co-Create Engaged Research Specialist
Sandie Thao
Co-Create Researcher
Adrienne Theune
AmeriCorps Community-University Engagement Specialist
Student team members
Prerna Rana, Co-Create Graduate Research Assistant
Vivien Ahrens, Co-Create Graduate Research Assistant
Linnea Hjelm, Co-Create Graduate Research Assistant
Tianna Gray, Co-Create Graduate Research Assistant
Nilvio Alexander Punguil Bravo, Co-Create Graduate Research Assistant
Chandani Bhandari, Graduate Student Outreach and Infrastructure Intern and Co-Create Project Assistant
Giselle Monette, Co-Create Undergraduate Research Assistant
Doniqua Smith, Co-Create Undergraduate Research Assistant
Lindsey Mathews, Co-Create Undergraduate Research Assistant
Laura Evans, Graduate Research Assistant and Co-Create Graduate Assistant
Mai Chia Xiong, Civic Health of Wisconsin Intern
Garret Zastoupil, Special Projects Graduate Assistant
Kayleigh Dietz, Graduate Student Web Manager
Mallory VanMeeter, Communications Graduate Assistant
Sophie Herrmann, Operations Undergraduate Assistant
Kate Wallner, Administrative Undergraduate Intern
Janessa Thao, Undergraduate Fundraising and Development Intern
Kelly Fagin, Undergraduate Fundraising and Development Intern
Cuauhtemoc (Temo) Guizar, Undergraduate Outreach and Administration Intern
Bethy Olson, Undergraduate Outreach and Administration Intern
Student alumni
Jessica Fischer served as our Outreach and Administration Graduate Student Lead from 2018 to 2020 and is currently a fellow at Global Giving in Washington, D.C.
Grace Armstrong served as a Co-Create team member from 2018 to 2020 and is currently a medical student at UW-Madison.
Molly Wirz served as part of the CommNS Communications Team and performed responsibilities as the Website Manager. Molly graduated in 2021 and is currently a Design and Evaluation Analyst at the UW-Population Health Institute with the County Health Rankings & Roadmaps team.
Dr. Troy Williams is a graduate of the Civil Society and Community Research PhD program. Troy worked as a lead project assistant for the POWER Collective.
Betsy Parker is planning to return to her position as Nature Net Director at the Aldo Leopold Nature Center – but with a new sense of understanding of and commitment to human ecological connections and meaningful nonprofit governance. She is looking forward to applying her skills and learnings in this position and potentially in other leadership opportunities as they (surely will) arise. Betsy worked for the CommNS as a Special Projects Graduate Assistant.
Alexa Heller served as a Co-Create Undergraduate Research Assistant.
Leo Kin-Chong Chao worked for the CommNS as a Co-Create Graduate Research Assistant.
Akshay Kaura served as a Co-Create Undergraduate Research Assistant.
Lauren Wood worked for the CommNS as a Co-Create Communications Intern.
Sophie Morris served as the Communications Undergraduate Assistant during her time at the CommNS.
Dr. Bakari Wallace served as the inaugural CommNS Teaching Team Graduate Assistant and helped to design and deliver our first round of Professional Skills graduate-level courses. Dr. Wallace also served as a graduate student member of the Co-Create team.
Ruby Bafu, Alicia Iverson, Elizabeth Skora, and Allison Hellenbrand worked for the CommNS as Co-Create Graduate Research Assistants.
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.
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
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
Advisory board
External advisors who connect the CommNS to stakeholders in Wisconsin and the world while advising on opportunities and trends in the sector.
Bob Sorge, President, Madison Community Foundation; CommNS Planning Group Member; Inaugural Board of Advisors Chair
Diane Ballweg, President, Endres Manufacturing Company Foundation and Board Member of various area nonprofit and philanthropic organizations; teacher and pilot
Julie Bauer, Executive Director, Alliant Energy Foundation
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
Eugenia Podesta, Director, Economic Empowerment and Entrepreneurship, Vital Voices Global Partnership; Co-Owner, Synergy Co-Working
Noah Salata, American Family Insurance, Community Investment Consultant
Mark Schar, Senior Researcher and Lecturer, Stanford University; Managing Director, One Page Solutions
Tony Shields, President and CEO, Wisconsin Philanthropy Network
Stephanie Schlecht, Executive Director, Schlecht Family Foundation
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!
Erin Peot
Kasey Keeler
Boyd Rossing
EG Nadeau
Alice Pauser
Dani Rischall
Paul Mross
Laurel Lunde
Karen Reece
Molly Tomony
Jason Kauffeld
Mari Gasiorowicz
Troy Washington
Abby Pansch
Ginny Hughes
Angela Rose Black
Robert Mayer
Mary Crave
Michelle Kwasny
Elizabeth O’Callahan
Geoffrey Swain
Cynthia Burnson
Elizabeth Harris
Stephanie Harrison
Amy Gilliland
Annette Miller
Nathan Larson
Dr. Siphokazi J. Ntetha