Community Engagement Collaborative

About the Collaborative

The Vanderbilt Community Engagement Collaborative serves as a campus-wide forum to establish shared knowledge, structures, processes and guidelines to inform Vanderbilt’s work in the Nashville and Middle Tennessee communities.

Membership in the Collaborative, which touches nearly all corners of campus, is comprised of faculty and staff with some level of administrative or leadership responsibilities for community outreach and programs. The Collaborative is a network to extend practices and learning more broadly across campus and seeks to identify platforms and resource-sharing methods that facilitate collaboration aligned with shared guiding principles for community engagement.

Purpose: The Community Engagement Collaborative serves as the driving entity for authentic community collaboration and projects that are co-created through relationship building, informed by community need, and aligned with Vanderbilt University’s mission and goals to foster innovation and shared learning.

Core Objectives:

To serve as a working group to build a “Vanderbilt Way” that guides community engagement with an eye toward best practices and evidence-based approaches
To offer support, feedback and communication to ensure the strongest impact and best use of Vanderbilt’s resources, offerings and gifts
To build connections and communication within campus
To establish shared and accessible language, principles and resources

For more information, contact Kathleen Fuchs Hritz, Senior Director of Community Relations in the Division of Government and Community Relations and lead for the Community Engagement Collaborative.

Guiding Principles for Community Engagement

Vanderbilt University is a research institution dedicated to learning for all ages. The Community Engagement Collaborative is made up of a number of community-facing groups focused on using our resources for positive social impact beyond the bounds of education.

Our guiding principles: reflective learning, authentic relationships, impact, continuous work, systems thinking and collaboration

Current Members

Vanderbilt University Staff
- Stacey Bonner, Director of Health, Wellbeing and Belonging Programs, People, Culture and Belonging
- Jori Bryant, Assistant Director of Community Engagement, Athletics
- Aaron Conley, Executive Director of Leadership Programs, Development and
  Alumni Relations
- EJ Edney, Associate Dean, Belonging and Communities, Student Affairs
- Paige Ellenberger, Senior Academic & Educational Support Program Coordinator, Vanderbilt Student Volunteers for Science, Science and Discovery Initiatives
- Lydell Francis, Program Manager, Belonging and Community Engagement, People, Culture and Belonging
- Cara Ince, Director of Research and Innovation Public Partnerships, Office of the Vice
  Provost of Research and Innovation
- Miriam Leibowitz, Commute Concierge Manager, Office of Transportation and Mobility
- Jeff Loudon, Senior Director of Administrative Partnering, Office of Data and Strategic Analytics
- Celeste Malone, Communication Strategist, Communications and Marketing
- Melissa Mallon, Associate University Librarian for Teaching & Learning, Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries
- Andrew Maraniss, Special Projects Coordinator, Athletics
- Adam McKeever-Burgett, Assistant Dean for People and Operations, School of Engineering
- Maria Ornelas, Associate Director, Undergraduate Admissions
- Traci Ray, Assistant Dean for Student Engagement and Leadership, Student Affairs
- Carolyn Roberts, Senior Director of the Office of Experiential Learning and Immersion
- Seth Robertson, Director of Strategic Communications, Jean and Alexander Heard Libraries
- DeAnte' Smith, Director of Student Organizations, Leadership & Service, Student Affairs
- Jermaine Soto, Director of Faculty Development, Office of Faculty Affairs
- Jill Stratton, Assistant Provost for Academic Support and Community Engagement, Office
  of Undergraduate Education
- Rachel Thompson, Program Manager, Curb Center for Art, Enterprise & Public Policy
- Brooke Timberlake, Program Coordinator, Center for Social Ventures, Owen Graduate School of Management
- Presley Townsend, Program Manager, Blair School of Music
- Laine Walters-Young, Assistant Director, Cal Turner Program for Moral Leadership,
  Divinity School
- Katelen Watkins, Assistant Director, Student Athlete Development, Vanderbilt Athletics
- Cheryl Williams, Director of Administration, Divinity School
Vanderbilt University Faculty
- Joe Bandy, Associate Professor of the Practice, Department of Sociology
- Alvaro Manrique Barrenechea, Director, Law School Immigration Clinic, Assistant Clinical Professor, Law
- Avery Dickins de Giron, Executive Director, Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latinx Studies (CLACX)
- Angela Eeds, Director, Collaborative for STEM Education and Outreach
- Erin Henrick, Director, Nashville Partnership for Educational Equity Research, Assistant Professor of the Practice, Peabody
- Leah Lowe, Director, Curb Center for Art, Enterprise & Public Policy, Associate Professor, Theatre
- David A. Owens, Evans Family Executive Director, The Wond’ry, Vanderbilt Innovation
  Center
- Carrie Plummer, Associate Professor of Community and Population Health, School of Nursing
- Paul Stob, Director of Program in Culture, Advocacy, & Leadership, Professor, Department of Communication Studies
- Jessica Trounstine, Professor, Department of Political Science
Division of Government and Community Relations Staff
- Elizabeth Bumpas, Community Impact Officer, Government and Community Relations
- Casey Gymrek, Community Relations Coordinator, Government and Community Relations
- Kathleen Fuchs Hritz, Senior Director of Community Relations, Government and Community Relations
- Midori Lockett, Chief Community Impact Officer, Government and Community Relations
- Donovan Sheffield, Local Government Relations Coordinator, Government and Community Relations
- Jessica Steen, Communications Strategist, Government and Community Relations