Community Engagement Scholars Program Reception

Samsam Adam Ali | Global Studies (CLA)

Eleni Araya | Biochemistry (CBS)

Sristi Chakraborty | Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development, Psychology (CLA, CBS)

Alharith Bilal Dameh | Neuroscience, Developmental Psychology (CLA, CBS)

Anne Davis | Human Physiology, Spanish Studies (CLA)

Anna Sophia DeMarre | Family Social Science (CEHD)

Ayan Fairchild | Neuroscience (CBS)

William Farley | Sociology of Law, Criminology, and Justice (CLA)

Olivia Feist | Psychology (CLA)

Olúwatófúnmi Haastrup | Applied Economics, Healthcare Management (CFANS, CCAPS)

Ahreum Anastasia Ham | Environmental Science, Policy and Management (CFANS)

Arianna Hawkins | Health and Wellbeing Sciences, Psychology (CLA, CCAPS)

Hannah Hebert | Sociology (CLA)

Emma Helgerson | Biology (CBS)

Thomas Hoffman | Psychology (CLA)

Farhiya Khalif | Biology (CBS)

Grace Knapp | Psychology (CLA)

Razi Lawabni | Human Physiology (CLA)

Kao Lee Lee | Medical Laboratory Sciences (CoP)

Ethan Augustine Khoe Lie | Human Physiology (CLA)

Sophia Lou Domingo Mack | Computer Science (CSE)

Anna Francesca Maristela | Psychology (CLA)

Esme Mergendahl | Music Education (CLA)

Sarai Montano | Inter-College Program, concentrations in developmental psychology, family social science, and psychology (CCAPS)

Montian Natrakul | Biology (CBS)

Amanda Nelson | Neuroscience (CBS)

Hailey Pavelka | Biology, Classical and Near Eastern Religious and Cultural Studies, Latin (CLA, CBS)

Abigail Quamme | Public Health (SPH)

Jary Santos Segovia | Human Physiology (CLA)

Emily Schulz | Human Physiology (CLA)

Aarushi Singh | Computer Science (CSE)

Mia Tranowski | Biology, Society, and Environment (CLA)

Kalybe VanWatermeulen | Neuroscience, Biochemistry (CBS)

Varsha Venkatesh | Psychology (CLA)

William S Walstrom | Biology (CBS)

Suweda Warsame | Political Science (CLA)

Scholars complete a capstone called the Integrative Community Engagement Project (ICEP) with a community partner of their choice to address a community identified need or priority. The goal of this project is to use the skills, knowledge, and experience students have gained through their academic training and community work to complete a project that benefits a community organization. View all projects and descriptions below. 

Samsam Adam Ali | PCRF Book Club and Community Iftaar | Palestine Children Relief Fund | My goal was to create a community event for PCRF through a consistent community bookclub. I planned the structure, developed a simple faciliator guide, created a flyer, reached to a coffee shop to collaborate for this event (SipofSilk)

Eleni Araya | Client data collection and analysis for community engagement and grant writing support. | FOCUS MN | I made a data analysis portal that will give statistical analysis on client information and also inform members on demographics and other information relevant to grant writing. This also includes a video on how to update and keep utilizing this portal for additional questions that might arise in the future.

Sristi Chakraborty | Mini-Forest Lesson and Planting Activity | Renewing the Countryside | We worked with Renewing the Countryside to create a lesson plan regarding food webs and tying in how mini-forests contribute to local ecosystems in the Twin Cities area. We then worked with the elementary schoolers to plant tree saplings in their own playground and educated students on how to maintain their new mini-forest.

Alharith Bilal Dameh | Autism Outreach | Help Me Grow | Helped foster awareness around children's healthy development.

Anne Davis | Enhancing Training and Resources for Spanish Interpreters | Phillips Neighborhood Clinic | The overall goal of my ICEP project was to enhance training for Spanish interpreters at PNC to improve interpretation and increase the person-centeredness and quality of patient care.

Anna Sophia DeMarre | English Learning Access | Bricksworth Beer Co. | The core idea of my project is to create language learning access for the kitchen staff who work at the restaurant where I work. I run one hour English Learning classes before our restaurant opens once a week. Our kitchen manager was able to purchase us an ESL Levels 1-6 curriculum bundle that we have been able to use for this.

Ayan Fairchild | Navigating Pediatric Intensive Caregiving | N/A | I hope to create a resource for families and loved ones of pediatric patients who are currently navigating the hospital system and the challenges of caring for a child who is under long-term intensive care.

William Farley | Office Practices Update | City of Lauderdale, MN | Helped the city review its current payroll and HR policies for efficiency and equity and wrote a report for city council on updated policies

Olivia Feist | Neighbor to Neighbor | Episcopal Homes Midway Point | I have spent time interviewing and meeting with the residents to learn about their life highlights and stories from their childhood. I have taken these stories and photos of the residents to put them together into a directory so the residents are able to learn more about their neighbors.

Olúwatófúnmi Haastrup | Personal Financial Literacy of UMN-Twin Cities Underdergraduate Students | Tonia Brinston | The aim of this project is to provide an educational resource in collaboration with the home and financial management department of the U of MN Extension to improve the personal financial literacy of undergraduate students at UMN-Twin Cities.

Ahreum Anastasia Ham | Access and Ethics to the Environment | Como Community Seed Library | Translating English language resources of the seed library to other languages (Spanish) for better accessibility and connection with the Como Community. Overcoming language barriers and increasing better accessibility to the Seed Library, fostering a relationship with the natural environment in urban communities.

Arianna Hawkins | Ongoing Educational Materials for Hospital Volunteers | University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital | I created educational materials for hospital volunteers based of off the initial training presentations. They included information on uniform and attendance policies, hospital codes, isolation protocols, job descriptions, and activities or shift ideas.

Hannah Hebert | Diversity, Recruitment, and Retention at the State | Minnesota Department of Human Services | For my project, I worked on creating the first Annual Report for the Diversity, Recruitment, and Retention team at the Minnesota Department of Human Services. I recorded key statistics to track the team's community impact, areas for growth, retention rates, diversity at the state, and more. Additionally, I spearheaded a social media effort encouraging young adults to work in the state. My main focus was designing and developing targeted marketing materials to spotlight early career pathways. More specifically, I highlighted our summer interns' project areas, opportunities for growth, and future plans on LinkedIn and Facebook. Finally, I worked with the Employee Resources group to elevate the organizational culture and engagement at the state. For example, I partnered with our Veteran, Military Services, and Allies Employee Resource Group to help more Veterans get hired at the state. Whether that was promoting their group on the career connect newsletter or working with the US Department of Veteran Affairs to connect Veterans with career opportunities, job fairs, and resources to get hired at the State.

Emma Helgerson | Promoting Resident Independence Through Community-Engaged Practice at ACR Homes | ACR Homes | My ICEP project focuses on working one-on-one with a resident to build daily living and independence skills. I am creating simple checklists for staff that show step-by-step ways to help residents practice daily skills and participate in fun activities in the community. These checklists will help residents build independence, increase autonomy, and improve their overall quality of life. The goal is to create tools that staff can continue using after the project ends.

Thomas Hoffman | Field Training Overhaul | University of Minnesota Emergency Medical Services | I assessed field training protocols and implemented changes to better train new EMTs and Paramedics, and to better assess competencies through quantitative measures.

Farhiya Khalif | Mutual Aid in Action | Juntos Podemos | The core idea of my project is to help immigrant and Latinx families impacted by recent events to have more access to information and services. Juntos Podemos is a social media platform that has started this initiative and our plan it to support them in their journey.

Grace Knapp | Big Buddy Book | Art Buddies | I am partnering with Art Buddies to create a booklet to help guid volunteers on how to make difficult costumes for their little buddy partners.

Razi Lawabni | Using AI to become a more efficient Teacher | Atawasul Center | I am working with Atawasul Center to hold an educational workshop for teachers to learn how to use AI effectively to aid with their instruction. Through this project, I plan to have a live, recorded workshop that goes through the basics of AI, from common models out there to writing a prompt properly, with a live demonstration and time for questions and answers. I plan to collaborate with a computer scientist and software engineer to verify my work and aid in its presentation, and the recording will be available for future reference for those unable to make the workshop and future teachers at the institution. Along with it, I plan to make a concise summary document for the teachers to reference easily and a document that outlines student AI use and policy, with the overall goal of making teachers more efficient, saving time, improving lesson planning, and supporting communication.

Kao Lee Lee | Mutual Aid in Action: A Volunteer and Resource Guide | Juntos Podemos | My ICEP projects, a Mutual Aid Resource Guide and a Volunteer Self-Guide, are designed to support accessible community engagement by educating future students about Mutual Aid and providing easy guidance for volunteers at Juntos Podemos. The goal is to inform and encourage students/volunteers to get involved in mutual aid organizations through the concepts of reciprocity, meaningful collaboration, and mutual care in their communities.

Ethan Augustine Khoe Lie | Guidelines on Responding to Difficult Topics During Tours | The Raptor Center | The goal of this project was to improve the quality of conservation education that education volunteers bring to TRC. I helped education staff create a guide for volunteers to refer to whenever they encounter difficult topics while leading tours or programs. It contained frequently asked difficult questions and guidelines on how to respond to them. Using this, volunteers could easily and quickly reference official TRC stances and reasoning behind certain topics.

Sophia Lou Domingo Mack | Creating a Virtual Reality Curriculum | Minnesota STEM Partnership | I've created a one day virtual reality (VR) curriculum for high schoolers for Minnesota STEM Partnership. The students who participate will leave the workshop knowing how to build 3D worlds, incorporate basic coding logic and how to run their app on a VR headset. Additionally, the curriculum encourages the students to think about how VR apps can make the world a better place and teaches them how to bring those ideas to life!

Anna Francesca Maristela | Exploring Barriers to Support for Marginalized Student Communities Experiencing Sexual Violence | The Aurora Center | In partnership with The Aurora Center and the Sexual Misconduct Prevention Program, this project aimed to identify barriers that marginalized student communities face when seeking support after experiences of sexual violence. With input from multicultural student leaders, the project identified gaps in campus resources and support systems and developed recommendations for more trauma-informed, culturally-responsive support practices across the University, which will hopefully strengthen awareness, improve access to care, and help create a more inclusive and supportive campus community.

Esme Mergendahl | Brooklyn Center Elementary Mini-forest | Renewing the Countryside | For this project we worked with the fifth grade classes at Brooklyn Center Elementary to learn about and plant a mini-forest. We taught two lessons to the classes ahead of time, introducing mini-forests and some ecological concepts. We then spent a day with all the classes outside in their schoolyard planting the trees for the forest.

Sarai Montano | Bilingual Binder | University YMCA | The Bilingual Binder project focused on creating accessible, bilingual (English/Spanish) resources to better support individuals and families within the community. The goal was to reduce language barriers by providing clear, culturally relevant information that can be easily used by both staff and community members. This project aimed to promote inclusivity and improve communication within the services offered.

Montian Natrakul | Mad Libs Lesson Plan | 826 MSP | Generated a reusable mad libs activity for the kids to learn more about creative writing and grammar, specifically parts of speech.

Amanda Nelson | Social Media Highlights | Open Arms of Minnesota | I have created story and posting content for this organization, with a focus on company information, ingredient spotlight, and volunteer recognition.

Hailey Pavelka | Community Outreach and Volunteer Opportunities | Richard M. Schulze Family Hope Lodge Minneapolis | I created a poster in order to help facilitate UMN connections with the Hope Lodge.

Abigail Quamme | Volunteer Handbook | Ronald McDonald House | I have been working with the volunteer coordinator at RMH to update the information and develop a new volunteer handbook for incoming volunteers.

Jary Santos Segovia | Orientation and Wheel Chair Video | M Health Fairview | MY ICEP involved taking feedback from other volunteers and staff to edit the wheelchair video and orientation handbook.

Emily Schulz | Expanding Access to PAD Screening and Clinical Study Opportunities in Underserved Communities | Neighborhood HealthSource, and University of Minnesota School of Nursing | My project aims to access to PAD screening and diagnostic testing (ABI measurement) by organizing a free screening event for patients at Neighborhood Health Source.

To do this, I was able to facilitate communication between NHS community health and patient care team about PAD diagnostic criteria, as well as informing providers on current studies that their patients may be eligible for. This increases access to free diagnostic testing/screening, as well as experimental treatment such as exercise programs (SET) and lifestyle/nutrition coaching, connecting them with resources that can also help improve compounding health risks as well (hypertension, high cholesterol, high BMI, etc).

Finally, I organized a health promotional event that will be a partnership between NHS and UMN School of Nursing, which will provide access to free symptom screening and ABI testing. Eligible patients will then be connected with clinical trial opportunities to help them slow disease progression and manage symptoms, free of cost.

Aarushi Singh | Minnesota Resources Pamphlet for Queer Transplants | Quatrefoil Library | This pamphlet includes different groups, mental health, and community resources. It also includes a digital registration for membership at the Quatrefoil Library. We plan to hand these out at Pride events and at tabling.

Mia Tranowski | Take Back the Night Student Coordinator | The Aurora Center | My ICEP project surrounds Take Back the Night, an event during Sexual Assault Awareness Month that I want to keep alive at the University of Minnesota. Take Back the Night returned last year, and I had the honor of serving on the planning committee, which I am on again this year. The idea of this project is to create a student coordinator position who will be in charge of ensuring everything goes smoothly during the planning of Take Back the Night. Along with professional staff, they will be the first point of contact on the day of the event. They will coordinate everything to ensure it all goes to plan.

Kalybe VanWatermeulen | Defining and Advocating for Criminalized Survivors in Minnesota Criminal Courts | The Advocates for Human Rights | I conducted policy and criminal case research to create a criminalized survivor demographic and introduce restorative justice statutes from across the world to Minnesota legislation.

Varsha Venkatesh | Sustainable Solutions for Twin Cities Mutual Aid | Juntos Podemos | I worked with Juntos Podemos to come up with some solutions for their volunteer operation, such as making signs at the volunteer site, affixing tags to grocery bags, and creating an online wishlist to streamline the donation process.

William S Walstrom | Healthcare Literacy and Navigation | Menlo Park Academy | I had the opportunity to hold focus groups with students to identify topics within healthcare they personally care about and which directly impact their community. We then developed these identified topics into a broader research project focused on understanding (literacy), accessing community resources (navigation), and making a call to action (synthesizing an outline for social change).

Suweda Warsame | Power of community voices | Education evolving | The project is aimed at exploring the role of community based advocates, and constituents' in the legislative process. I will explore the power of advocacy and ways for people to get involved in legislation. The project will most likely be interactive, I will work on trying to find resources for students, parents and administrators so that they can start advocating on their own behalf.