STEM ILLINOIS
DIRECTORS
Dr. Ruby Mendenhall
Dr. William Patterson
ADMINISTRATION TEAM
Carileigj Jones is a doctoral student in Sociology at the University of Illinois at Urbana. In 2018, she graduated from Hampton University, Summa Cum Laude. Her research interests are urban sociology, social inequality and crime and violence. She is a member of Dr. Ruby Mendenhall's lab South Chicago Black Mothers' Resiliency Lab. She cconducts research on how gun violence affects Black mothers' mental and physical health.
Carileigh Jones
Paul Redman
Greg Anderson is a Director of Budget and Resource Planning for the College of Fine and Applied Arts my role involves budgeting, financial management, human resources, facilities, and grant support.
Greg Anderson
AFFILIATE ORGANIZATIONS
Kenneth Hill
Dr. Calvin Mackie
EVALUATION TEAM
Dr. Rodney Hopson
Larry Washington is a doctoral student studying Higher Education and Education Policy, with a focus on African American student success, persistence, retention, and graduation. Trained in mixed evaluation methodology. Current evaluation projects include STEM Illinois, Illinois Cyber Security Scholars Program (ICSSP), and Culturally Relevant Evaluation and Assessment.
Larry Washington
Molly obtained a B.A. in Sociology from Grambling State University, a Historically Black University (HBCU) in Louisiana. Molly is currently working on her doctoral degree at the University of Illinois in Education Policy Organization and Leadership (EPOL). Her research, activist, and professional interest can be categorized in four ways: (1) inequities in education, (2) evaluation, (3) mass incarceration and (4) liberation.
Molly Galloway
Melissa Rae Goodnight is an Assistant Professor of Evaluation in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She received a PhD in education from the University of California Los Angeles. Her research and teaching focus on research design, monitoring and evaluation, social justice theories, and education for underserved and historically marginalized communities in the United States, India, and Global South contexts. She began doing health and educational work abroad as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Kingston, Jamaica. Melissa’s publications include a 2017 article on the translation of critical race theory for analyzing the persisting social justice issues within India’s school system. Her upcoming book Ethnography of Monitoring and Evaluation Efforts: Large-Scale Data and Citizen Engagement in India’s Education System details the considerations and benefits of ethnography for conducting research on evaluation.
Melissa Goodnight
ADVISORY - COMMITTEE
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SCHOLARS-IN-RESIDENCE
Brogan McKay
Dina Nwaokai-Beecham
Marquis Sewell is a 21 year old Chicago native, who majors in Biology at Morehouse College. His career goals include becoming a Physician Assistant and becoming an actor/filmmaker. His hobbies include photography, videography, video editing, and studying biology and zoology.
Marquis Sewell
Ava Meux earned a BA in Political Science and a MA in Liberal Studies in the Humanities from Indiana University Northwest. She graduated from University of Illinois at Chicago with a MA in Criminology, Law, and Justice in May 2019. She currently teaches sociology at Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana. She is now looking to pursue a PhD in sociology or similar field of study to conduct research on street gangs, violence, and community. Other research interests include ethnography, racism, crime, prison abolition, gender & sexuality, music, and (pop)culture. She enjoys yoga, biking, music, shopping, hanging out with other people, and Indian, ethnic, & garden food.
Ava Meux
Charles Kubinski is working towards a bachelor’s degree in psychology, with a concentration in Behavioral Neuroscience. In recent years, more light has been shed on the on-going mental health crisis, and it has become a passion of his to help combat these illnesses. Working on these issues is both something he strives for with the University of Illinois community, and something he plans on doing in the future after transferring into his career.
Charles Kubinski
ENTREPRENEURS-IN-RESIDENCE
Joe Bradley is clinical assistant professor in the Department of Bioengineering, a teaching assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical and Translation Sciences, and a lecturer in Business Administration at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on technology management, product development, entrepreneurship, and entrepreneur formation - examining how information is used and managed within new STEM ventures. Bradley earned a BSE in aerospace engineering from the University of Michigan and an MS in mechanical engineering from Iowa State University. He went on to earn two degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, an MBA and a PhD in systems & entrepreneurial engineering.
Joe Bradley
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ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE
Kelli Stretesky
Xin (Ruby) Ran Wang
Jenny L. Davis is a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation and an Associate Professor of Anthropology and American Indian Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign where she is the director of the American Indian Studies Program. After earning undergraduate degrees in English and Spanish from Oklahoma State University, she obtained a MA and PhD in Linguistics University of Colorado, Boulder. Before coming to UIUC, she was a Henry Roe Cloud Fellow in American Indian Studies at Yale University, and a Lyman T. Johnson Postdoctoral Fellow in Linguistics at the University of Kentucky.
Jenny Davis
Cociesha Collins is 25 years young, from Virginia but currently based in Illinois. Art is something she is very passionate about. She got into art at the age of 4 and never looked back. She set out to be the best self-taught artist by learning new techniques on her own. She specializes in many art forms from illustrative, painting, photography, etc. She grew comfortable with mediums such as acrylic paints, gouache and watercolors. Her goal was to have her art reach many diverse people. She wanted people from all walks of life to see her work and gain something from it. Whether it was a feeling or a new take on an idea, she wanted to make people think, feel, and even dream because of her work. She’s been selling art pieces recently and it's been a great experience for her. It has given her a chance to get one on one with people and get their stories and transfer that into something they can physically touch and see. That is very rewarding for Cociesha. She has hopes of attending Art College (to expand her knowledge) soon. She is fully immersed in her craft and she is always up for the challenge of growing as a person and as an artist.
Art Saved My Life -2020 - Blvck Gxdezz Artz
Cociesha Collins
PRE-MED SCHOLARS-IN-RESIDENCE
Neil Kelekar is a senior studying Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is originally from a northwest suburb of Chicago called Palatine and he chose to matriculate here at the University of Illinois for the opportunity to chase his dream of becoming a physician, something he has been interested in since he was around 8 years old. Niel is passionate about helping members of his community with living healthy and fulfilling lives and is a proponent of creating safe and open spaces here at the university that will encourage cooperation and collaboration between both students and peers as well as students and faculty.
Niel Kelekar
Teniola Oyindamola
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MEDICAL STUDENTS-IN-RESIDENCE
Tracy Kao is a first year medical student at the Carle Illinois College of Medicine. She is from Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, where she began her educational journey before studying Biomedical Engineering and Medicine, Science, and the Humanities at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, culminating in a Master's degree in Robotics. She is interested in how technology, the arts, our history, and our environment shape our experience of health and illness. She is excited to join collaborators in improving the healing and care of individuals and populations.
Tracy Kao
Kanesha Overton was born and raised in Washington, DC. At the age of 18, she moved to Norman, OK to attend the University of Oklahoma, where she majored in Industrial & Systems Engineering Pre-medicine. After graduation, she worked for 2 years at 3M as a Product Engineering and worked at Ulta Beauty another 2 years as an Industrial Engineer Manager. In her positions, she was responsible for driving all facility improvement projects, establishing and maintaining labor standards, and developing training plans for associates. She had the opportunity to redesign departmental layouts in the warehouses to improve process flow, optimize space utilization and work efficiency. Additionally, she managed the of 2nd-grossing product line in the division.
Kanesha Overton
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FOSTER GRANDPARENTS-
IN-RESIDENCE
A natural helper and educator. Robin is a public and human relations specialist, from Chicago, and graduate of Bradley University in Peoria Illinois. Robin worked in the field of Truancy and community service for 30 years and is now a retired Administrator from Public Education. While working as the Coordinator of Truancy and Attendance Improvement for Champaign Unit 4 schools, Robin improved the attendance rates of students to 90% across all ethnicities and garnered many community relationships through her care, honesty, and dedication to help promote change. Since retiring she has been sought after as a consultant for attendance improvement, as well as interpersonal relationships within the Unit 4 Transportation department.
Robin McClain
Audrey Mock
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DESIGNERS of RESILIENCY
& WELL-BEING
Youths
Nabeel Bashir is a senior at University Laboratory High School. He enjoys playing soccer, listening to music, spending time with friends, and much more. He is fascinated by the field of global health and how technology and STEM related fields can improve access to healthcare for people around the world, viewing it as a potential career path for him. He worked on a documentary about Dr. Mendenhall's research on gun violence. He assisted Dr. Mendenhall on the South Chicago Black Mothers' Resiliency project that examines how living in neighborhoods with high levels of violence affects mental and physical health. He is also helping STEM Illinois to develop a platform for youth to share their stories and STEM experiences.
Nabeel Bashir
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DESIGNERS of RESILIENCY
& WELL-BEING
Adults
Lisa Goodpaster is the Associate Director of Project Management with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s nascent Carle Illinois College of Medicine. Lisa’s experience spans training and development, community health, management, coaching, consulting, and project and program management and has been in the healthcare sector for almost 30 years. Lisa has also been certified and trained with the Red Cross, American Heart Association, and the Bayer Institute. She has presented and been an advisor to her organization’s leadership development institute, a National Advisor for the Association for Talent Development and currently serves as a mentor at the Illinois Leadership Center.
Lisa Goodpaster
Claudia Roberts recently graduated from the University of Illinois where she studied Human Development and Family Studies. During her undergraduate career, she embarked on many different endeavors including becoming a Ronald E. Mcnair Scholar. Under the advisement and guidance of Dr. Ruby Mendenhall, Claudia participated in research projects pertaining to Black mother’s descriptions of relationships in coping with role strain. Additionally, during her time at Illinois, she worked to support the STEM Illinois initiative. In the fall, she will be pursuing her masters in Couple and Family therapy at the University of Maryland where she hopes to use her skills to eventually work towards a Ph.D. researching race relations, family relationships, and equitable solutions for black families. Claudia hopes to continue to apply her passion for supporting resiliency through STEM Illinois.