Announcing 2008 Urban Service-Learning Institute Speakers

Keynote Speaker

 Josie Johnson, an educator from the Twin Cities area, values the importance of engaging African American youths in education, focusing on programming that intertwines culture, leadership, and youth development. Johnson’s expertise draws from a wide scope of experiences, including administration, fundraising, communication, postsecondary teaching, research, consulting, and community service. She served as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs with Special Responsibility for Minority Affairs and Diversity at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. She has been a consultant with Minneapolis Public Schools, Minnesota State College System, State of Colorado Career Education Advisory Committee, and other national organizations. She serves on the board of directors for many community organizations and has written numerous research articles and papers. In 2007 Johnson was the recipient of the Hubert H. Humphrey Public Leadership Award and the 2007 Women of Distinction Award DFL Women’s Hall of Fame. 

Nadinne Cruz, internationally
respected speaker, author, and consultant on public service education

As
director of the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University, Cruz
founded the Public Service Scholars program and taught a range of
service-learning courses.  Before her time at Stanford, Cruz was a professor of
social change at Swarthmore College, where she piloted
service-learning in the political science department. For 10 years, Cruz served
as executive director of the Higher Education Consortium for Urban Affairs in
the Twin Cities, where she provided leadership for community-based learning
programs locally, in Latin America, Scandinavia, and other parts of the world. Currently, Cruz
is consulting on various projects, writing a book on service-learning, and
mentoring former students, staff, and emerging leaders in the
field. She was the 2005 receipient of the Alec Dickson award.

Featured Speakers

Ta-coumba Aiken
Since Ta-coumba Aiken moved to Minnesota, he has used the neighborhoods in which he works as a canvas, and their people as collaborators and for inspiration. Consequently, Aiken's artwork has become entwined with Twin Cities architecture and can be viewed at Minneapolis' Central High School and Central Library, in parking ramps and skyways, and in many other public places. A founder of the Saint Paul Art Crawl and Lowertown Lofts, he is an activist and teacher who says he uses his artwork "to heal the hearts and souls of people and communities by evoking a positive spirit."

Rawan Hamade
Rawan Hamade was born in Beirut, Lebanon, where she lived until she moved to Minnesota at age eight. Class of 2007 valedictorian at Al-Amal School, she is currently a junior in the College of Biological Sciences at the University of Minnesota majoring in genetics, cell biology, and development. Hamade's extensive involvement in the Twin Cities community includes work with Minnesota Muslim Writers, a group of prominent Muslim writers in the community, and as an outreach director for Yar’s Campaign to End Child Abduction, a student organization dedicated to ending child abduction in South Sudan. Among all of her responsibilities, she most prizes being a role model for her two younger siblings and for other young leaders.

Sean Kershaw
In 2003, Sean Kershaw became just the sixth Citizens League president in its 50-plus-year history. Kershaw had been a member of the Citizens League Board of Directors since 1996, and co-chaired the Citizens League's 50th Anniversary report, Doing the Common Good Better. Previously, Kershaw chaired then-Mayor Norm Coleman's e-Government initiative and coordinated Coleman's information technology, charter school, and education initiatives. He describes his life work as building the institutions necessary to "make policy public," and he is passionate about active citizenship, civic organization, and good public policy. He is a founding member of the Active Citizens School for Young Adults, a young-adult civic leadership program, and is currently working on nonprofit civic leadership efforts through the Minnesota Active Citizenship Initiative.

Joan Lennon Liptrot
Joan Lennon Liptrot is the executive director of the Institute for Global Education and Service Learning in Levittown, Pa. The IGESL is a nonprofit training organization that creates service-learning programs in collaboration with schools and community organizations across the country. In her 20 years of education experience, Liptrot has helped youths and adults develop, expand, and enhance their service-learning practice. Co-author of “Getting Started In Service-Learning,” Liptrot has many affiliations, including serving as director of the Atlantic Region for the International Service-Learning Exchange.

Mohamed Osman
Mohamed Osman began his career as an educator whose career path included roles as teacher, principal, university lecturer, and dean at Lafole College of Education, Somali National University. A Somali native, Osman was forced to flee Somalia due to civil war and worked as an English Language Learner coordinator and social studies teacher in the Minneapolis Public Schools. Osman has also been busy building supportive organizations that help bridge the relationship between the Somali refugee community and local institutions. He is a founder of the Confederation of Somali Community of Minnesota, the Somali Parent-Teacher Association of Minnesota, Dugsi Academy Charter School, and the Somali-American Education Program.

Nicole Webster
Nicole Webster is an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Extension Education at Pennsylvania State University. Her research focuses on service-learning and civic engagement among youths and adolescents in communities in the United States and in the Caribbean. She has developed and analyzed research studies used to inform public policy in various communities. Webster’s work has been published in several peer-reviewed journals and books focused on youth and community development.