related to COVID-19 Community Education Partnerships central theme or topic. It includes links to
< label for="login"> closed all local schools, (OCEP)—led by the dynamic duo of Northwestern-developed resources—such
Chicago Public Schools, DePaul, STEAM bassadors added “mentor” to is not participating in STEM activities like and Northwestern, Pinkard and her OCEP their screen names, and soon the middle robotics or coding club, the data suggest team also created the digital infrastruc- schoolers followed suit. When mentor that no matter how she does academically, ture for My CHI. My Future. Malik Madkins saw a screen full of chil- she won’t decide to pursue a STEM major Several program participants say the dren with “mentor” as a part of their in college,” Pinkard says. experience clarified what they hope to do names, he grew emotional. in the future. Sharif King, a social work “I never knew I could do that much to “I cried a little bit” major at Truman, calls his STEAMbassa inspire the kids to change who they are, OCEP’s STEAMbassadors program is part dorship his training wheels: “Someday to be a role model,” Madkins says. “I cried of Chicago Youth Service Corps, a signa- I want to have my own agency where kids a little bit, but they didn’t see the tears.” ture component of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s can get help from me and have someone My CHI. My Future. initiative, which, like to look up to,” he says.8 SESP WINTER 2021 9 How OCEP Pivoted during the Pandemic
SESP’s Office of Community Education Partnerships improves learning and well-being in Northwestern’s home communities of Evanston and Chicago—and beyond. When schools were forced to go remote last spring, the OCEP team adapted and even expanded several key programs.
STEAMBASSADORS BAXTER CENTER FOR SCIENCE EDUCATION PANDEMIC PIVOT: Mentors used the pro- Uri Wilensky’s Radical Vision Takes Root MISSION: To help college students discover bcse.northwestern.edu gram’s existing online platform to deliver and strengthen their STEAM interests and MISSION: To provide direct support for sci- narrative stories that follow a virtual Digital share their passions with youth through ence educators, including free classroom Youth Divas group as it overcomes various mentorship and creative activities. supplies and professional development challenges. PANDEMIC PIVOT: All training for STEAM programs. bassadors and all youth programming went PANDEMIC PIVOT: The Baxter Center CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE IN COMPUTER virtual. STEAMville’s playlists—including created a weekly teacher virtual learning SCIENCE EDUCATION faculty projects like TunePad, FUSE, and series to discuss research-based principles cecse.northwestern.edu Digital Divas—were critical resources. The for online learning and the challenges of MISSION: CECSE addresses the inequities program borrowed 170 laptops including moving to remote classes. The Baxter Box in coding and computer science learning 50 from Northwestern’s Center for Talent Program, which provides teachers with opportunities, from programming Development and 20 from the Center for free lab equipment, was modified education for youth to profes- Excellence in Computer Science Education. for at-home use; the new sional learning and skill The City Colleges of Chicago also loaned Baxter Box@Home pro- building for teachers. laptops. After the summer program ended, gram allowed teachers to With a focus on nearly 20 STEAMbassadors successfully borrow a demo version advanced computer found jobs in Evanston and Chicago to sup- of the Baxter Box, science courses, the port STEAM learning. which includes center provides free OCEP PARTNERS: City Colleges of Chicago, pipettes, a gel box, a professional develop- led by Truman College; DePaul University; thermocycler, and an ment for educators Chicago Park District; Project Exploration; entire classroom set of and supports computer and dozens of community organizations and lab reagents. science and coding pro- nonprofits including the Evanston Public OCEP PARTNERS: Baxter gramming with city and Library, Chicago’s Peggy Notebaert Nature International Foundation, community partners across Museum, creative writing and tutoring cen- Lindblom Math and Science Academy Chicago. ter 826 Chi, and AeroStar Avion Institute, a in Chicago’s West Englewood neighbor- PANDEMIC PIVOT: CECSE supported One nonprofit that promotes awareness of avia- hood, and Round Lake High School in Summer Chicago’s app-development pro- tion career pathways. Chicago’s northern suburbs. gram for youth as it transitioned to an all-virtual experience, providing training and DIGITAL YOUTH DIVAS resources for its 21 instructors and support- ing its end-of-summer virtual showcase of MISSION: To support a learning ecosystem the apps and documentary shorts created of college-age mentors, resources for fami- by participants. CECSE also helped facili- lies, and community support by offering a tate the donation of nearly 7,000 Osmo research-based weekend STEAM program hands-on learning games to children, for girls beginning in fourth grade, with out- educators, and community organizations comes tracked through high school. in Evanston and Chicago. OCEP PARTNERS: Computing and technol- OCEP PARTNERS: Lane Tech College Prep ogy professors Sheena Erete and Denise on Chicago’s North Side and Chicago Public Nacu of DePaul University’s College of Schools. Computing and Digital Media.
10 SESP WINTER 2021 11 ri Wilensky realized more than 40 years ago that knowing how to frame problems with a computer is no less a core skill for school-aged kids than reading, ’riting, or ’rithmetic.
His programmable NetLogo modeling knowledge is represented in an incomplete environment has helped hundreds of thou- way.” sands of students, teachers, and research- Computational representations—or the He envisioned teaching this approach to ers tackle complex ideas ranging from depiction of knowledge as computer code— all students, not just those enrolled in the formation of crystals and galaxies to help illustrate how complexity emerges computer science classes—a select few the patterns of wealth distribution, when elements in a system interact, which in American K–12 schools of the 1980s. inequality, and segregation in a city. in turn “reveals more of what’s actually Then, as he waited for the world to catch going on,” Wilensky explains. To keep our up to this unusual idea, he began to make ACTIVE BEATS PASSIVE ecology in balance, for example, we need it happen. Rather than memorize equations and to see how global transportation networks Today Wilensky, the Lorraine H. Morton apply formulas to solve problems, people can allow a random plant or animal to Professor of Learning Sciences and Com using Wilensky’s computer programs arrive in a foreign ecosystem, invade it, puter Science at SESP and the McCormick create, explore, and test simulations. and dominate it. School of Engineering and Applied Science, An active experience, as opposed to a Wilensky also believes that education is the father of a worldwide movement to passive one, imparts context and meaning is most effective when lessons are based such transformations “restructurations” says Wilensky’s colleague Mike Horn, harness the power of computer modeling to learning, says Wilensky. “In order to on students’ interests and intuition. Or in of knowledge. With the advent of powerful associate professor of learning sciences URI WILENSKY and simulations and foster the mindset solve societal problems—such as epidemics other words, “We should have logic on tap, computation, they said, representing ideas and computer science. BY THE NUMBERS known as “computational thinking.” or traffic jams—we need to understand the not on top”—to quote the late Seymour as computer code could improve computa- Wilensky, who came to Northwestern The intellectually voracious son of two world as thickly connected, as composed Papert, the renowned learning theorist, tional literacy in the same way that mov- in 2000, has long argued and demon- More than $40 million university professors has drawn on his life of networks, random events, and emergent mathematician, and educational technol- ing to the Hindu-Arabic system increased strated that when younger students learn in grant money raised experiences, international upbringing, phenomena,” he says. The more abstract ogy visionary who was Wilensky’s the power and accessibility of arithmetic. conceptual science, technology, engineer- and thirst for usable knowledge to moti- the idea, the more likely we are to deem doctoral adviser at the Massachusetts ing, and math (STEM) content through a Over 350 scholarly vate, teach, and empower students from it genius, he continues, but often “abstract Institute of Technology. NETLOGO computational modeling approach, they publications pre-K to graduate school—and beyond. ideas are hard to grasp because the Wilensky and Papert’s groundbreaking NetLogo, designed by Wilensky in 1999, can grasp the material as well as college work involved studying the historical was the vehicle he and Papert needed to students do. Over 400 validated development of representations and tech- test their theory. NetLogo helps users His research also suggests that it’s computational models nologies to see how introducing more understand and visualize complex and easier to train teachers in computational His book An Introduction powerful systems impacts learning and interconnected phenomena, from the thinking in their subject areas, such as to Agent-Based Modeling, knowledge. spread of diseases like HIV/AIDS and chemistry or history, than to train and coauthored with William Rand Prior to the 14th century, for example, COVID-19 to the ways species interact retain full-time computer science teach- and first published in 2015, the use of Roman numerals made it hard and compete in stable ecosystems. ers, who are in short supply. This strategy has been reprinted five times. for most people to do basic math. As soci- The software enables users to control of including many subject areas ensures ety gradually moved to the current Hindu- the actions of agents—infected people, that more students, including tradition- Arabic system, even young children could predatory animals, and so forth—in a sim- ally underrepresented groups, will have learn how to multiply, divide, and more. ulated setting. A student using NetLogo opportunities to learn computational that children could learn difficult concepts Wilensky and Papert hypothesized that would tell the agents how to behave, then thinking. with the help of computers in general. But novel ways of representing ideas can fun- watch what happens as they interact. In the 1980s, however, the precursors of after more than two decades of continuous damentally alter how people learn—what “NetLogo is not just software and not what would become NetLogo could only development, Wilensky’s free, open-source they can grasp and do—and who is capable just a programming language. It’s an envi- run on multimillion-dollar experimental tool is now the world’s most widely used Sample models from NetLogo’s programmable modeling environment library of doing it. The duo coined a term, calling ronment that changes the way you think,” research computers. People also doubted agent-based modeling software.
12 SESP WINTER 2021 13 NetLogo is not just software and not just But Wilensky never forgot his parents’ “My first impression of Uri was of a dedication to their students. “Both of my whirlwind of creative engagement with , NetLogo BY THE NUMBERS a programming language. It s an environment parents were really, really good teachers, the understanding of ideas,” says Levy, and I caught that bug,” he recalls. He now senior lecturer at the University Millions of users worldwide that changes the way you think. returned to school, earning his PhD at of Haifa and director of its Systems MIT, and never looked back. Learning and Development Lab. “I was Over a million student users totally amazed by Uri’s ability to take any LAUNCHING LABS AND CAREERS topic and ask pertinent, careful questions Thousands of scientific In the 21 years since NetLogo’s debut in to get at the underlying structures.” research users “REALLY, REALLY GOOD TEACHERS” northern Israel where girls generally to prayer and Talmudic study, Wilensky K–12 classrooms, Wilensky has inspired Inside Wilensky’s lab were people who Wilensky’s path to academia was perhaps didn’t attend school past eighth grade. She loved literature, psychology, philosophy, scores of graduate students to pursue were “passionate about the quality and Over 2,000 scientific articles preordained, yet he at first resisted the successfully lobbied her parents to let her mathematics, science, and science fiction. careers in learning sciences and computa- depth of learning theories, educational on studies using NetLogo calling. enroll in a high school in Jerusalem, and “I questioned a lot of my teachers’ ideas— tional modeling. He is the founding direc- technologies, and artificial intelligence,” across all disciplines His father, Mordecai, convinced of an she later attended Hebrew University. not to refute but to poke,” he says. “That tor of the Center for Connected Learning says Paulo Blikstein (PhD09), a professor impending Nazi invasion, left Poland in After meeting and marrying Mordecai, didn’t go over very well.” and Computer-Based Modeling, a research at Columbia University’s Teachers College. 1934 as a teenager and settled in the moving to Boston, and receiving a hard- After graduating from Brandeis Univer group that develops tools, learning envi- “We cared about student empowerment, Palestine/Israel region (then under the won doctorate from Harvard, she eventu- sity with degrees in math, philosophy, and ronments, and curricula. He also founded about building knowledge by actively people to unexpected heights and results British mandate); his family later perished ally became a trailblazing philosophy theater, Wilensky questioned whether and codirects Northwestern’s joint com- constructing things in the world,” in people becoming fast and true friends,” in Nazi death camps in Poland. Mordecai professor and a long-serving department academia was his destiny. He began puter science and learning sciences doc- Blikstein says. “Uri was adamant on those Levy adds. “Uri’s unbound love of life, eventually received the first PhD awarded chair at Haifa University. designing commercial computer-aided toral program—the first of its kind in the principles. We cared about public educa- his always searching for—and finding— by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Wilensky spent most of his early child- design systems, collaborating with US—and was a cofounder of the North tion and social justice. It wasn’t just wonderful ways to experience the world, and went on to teach history at Harvard, hood shuttling between Boston and Israel, high-flying architects such as I. M. Pei, western Institute on Complex Systems. research for its own sake. It was also part are a constant inspiration for me.” Oxford, and Haifa Universities and where his parents settled when he was 14. which convinced him that humans and Working with Wilensky had such a of a larger idea of making schools more Hebrew College of Boston, among others. They sent him to study at a yeshiva, hop- computers can develop partnerships—and strong impact on postdoctoral fellow equitable and less oppressive.” BY LISA STEIN Wilensky’s mother, Sarah, the daughter ing he might continue the family’s rab- that these alliances were the way forward Sharona Levy, she switched fields to Beyond the work, however, Wilensky of a rabbi, grew up in Tzfat, a small city in binic line. Although his days were devoted for science, society, and learning. study learning complexity. “creates a social environment that grows
Teachers Learn How to Add Computational Thinking to Their Classes
ongtime Chicago Public Schools The free, four-week professional devel- “The partnership is truly 50-50, with the Juhl and one of her codesign partners special education and biology opment summer workshop brings teachers Northwestern team using computational modified a NetLogo model to create a teacher Sue Juhl has a self- together with the CT-STEM team to brain- tools to help teachers make what and how COVID-19 pandemic simulation (right) that described “unhealthy fear of storm ideas and cocreate curricula that they teach more powerful and engaging,” lets students control the number of people Lcomputers and any kind of programming.” teachers can use in the coming school year. Wilensky says. infected who remain symptom-free. But after just four weeks working with Even after the official training ends, the “Every scientific discipline—biology, Modeling shows how the virus spreads Northwestern learning and computer sci- Northwestern team supports teachers in chemistry, physics—heavily uses compu- when parameters regarding infectiousness entists and curriculum developers, Juhl the classroom and online. The codesigned tational methods and tools,” says Horn. and behavior are changed. unveiled a timely and relevant new class curricula are then reviewed by instruction “Computer coding is how scientists deal Juhl’s curriculum, designed for special that combines computer models, data, design experts and made available for with large and small amounts of data. education and English-language learners, and algorithms with social-emotional public use on the CT-STEM website. We’re trying to bring high school science includes seven lessons that can be used for learning to help students recognize and Led by SESP professors Uri Wilensky in line with real science and bring it alive.” students in grades six through ten. mitigate the risk of COVID-19. and Michael Horn, the CT-STEM program Students use Wilensky’s NetLogo com- “COVID-19 is more than just a scientific Juhl was among the more than 70 educa- builds on a decade of work with high putational modeling environments and phenomenon,” Juhl says. “It is also a social, tors who have learned how to incorporate school science teachers. Wilensky and Horn and Wilensky’s NetTango blocks- financial, and emotional one. So we built newly acquired computational tools and Horn also codirect the world’s first joint based interface to explore an array of this into the model to personalize it and skills into their curricula through North PhD program in computer science and questions, including how diseases spread, help kids discuss it.” western’s Computational Thinking in STEM learning sciences. how lines move at the grocery store, and program (ct-stem.northwestern.edu). how quickly forest fires burn.
14 SESP WINTER 2021 15 “ By addressing trauma and basic life needs, [Olson] is chipping away at what made these women susceptible to this in the first place.” —Tabitha Bonilla
Under nonpandemic circumstances, come into the program, they learn to be the women of Salt & Light gather twice a communicative through yoga.” week in a cozy two-room space in Chicago The women also practice key workplace that formerly housed a yoga studio. The skills like communication, leadership, and program’s first six months include trauma- empathy and start thinking about longer- sensitive yoga, reflection, and meditation term goals such as getting a degree or to help the women reconnect with their starting a business. Personal stylists and bodies and reduce anxiety and stress. life coaches help them gain confidence to They also learn about the crucial roles of reenter the work force. In a role-playing nutrition and exercise in both physical exercise, volunteers act like employers and and mental health. listen to mock elevator speeches. Salt & Light: Yoga changed how Taylor Holm viewed During the program’s final month, her body. “I didn’t see it as a temple, or women entrepreneurs give presentations anything important,” says Holm, 23, who on how to create a business, and the completed the program in 2018 and now women in the program compete in a Shark teaches yoga. “My body was something to Tank–like competition. “The goal isn’t to A Healing Coalition be used, a tool to get something I wanted. launch a company or get an MBA,” Olson Through yoga, I started becoming aware says. “Rather, it’s to stress the point that of how every part of my body felt. Certain something is possible if they dream.” Izabel Olson (PhD14) was teaching a women’s yoga class at Chicago’s positions brought up emotions and trauma, but this helped me start to heal.” A nimble transition Cook County Jail when she learned that many of her students were The program’s second six-month phase Olson’s response to the COVID-19 pan- survivors of sex trafficking. emphasizes education and job training. demic and the statewide shelter-in-place Women work with mentors and start yoga orders was swift, multilayered, and a tes- teacher training—not necessarily to pre- tament to the strength of her partnerships ow was it, she wondered, that jail. I was a single mom by 18,” Olson says. cohort of five women. Prior to the COVID- pare them to teach yoga but to rebuild and her stable of volunteers. she hadn’t gone down the “I realized why I had not been trafficked: 19 pandemic, the program was accepting their ability to communicate. About 20 To maintain community and stability, same path, given that her own education, community, yoga, and faith. I 40 women a year and preparing them for percent of the women do go on to teach she transitioned Salt & Light’s programs early life paralleled those of recognized that if Salt & Light could bring careers in the wellness sector. Participants StreetWise Magazine named Izabel Olson H yoga, Olson says. to all-virtual or hybrid formats; a church one of its 20 most inspiring Chicagoans in some of the incarcerated women? those protective factors to women, we received a Chicago transit card and a sti- “Women who are trafficked are often partner donated tablets to help ensure 2020. In 2017 she received the Illinois That question became the catalyst could help them heal.” pend to help them avoid the leading causes Secretary of State’s Latina Humanitarian told not to speak,” Olson says. “When they that participants could have online access. for the nonprofit Salt & Light Coalition of recidivism: financial pressures and lack Achievement Award. Each woman attended a weekly tele- (saltandlightcoalition.com), a program Addressing trauma and vulnerability of job training. therapy session and received frequent Olson founded to “heal, educate, and Although the underground nature of “Poverty, immigration status, and previ- check-in phone calls from Salt & Light dinner conversations on various facets of empower” survivors of human trafficking. trafficking makes exact figures hard to ous abuse or assault are key risk factors,” staffers. Olson’s partners, including a the human-trafficking problem. The Drawing on both her personal experience obtain, evidence suggests that at least says SESP assistant professor of human It’s a fact: restaurant and another church commu- series, which included powerful personal and the learning sciences doctorate she 16,000 women and girls in Chicago are development and social policy Tabitha Sex or sex and labor trafficking nity, both based in Chicago, helped deliver testimonies from women in the program, earned at SESP, Olson designed a holistic involved in the commercial sex trade each Bonilla, who studies public understanding accounted for nearly 80 percent groceries and restaurant-quality meals also helped families learn how to recog- yearlong curriculum around health and year, according to the Illinois Department of human trafficking and what efforts to of the Illinois trafficking cases twice a week—along with flower arrange- nize signs of trauma and discussed the wellness, spirituality, job training, and of Human Services. fight trafficking look like in communities. reported to the National Human ments on Mother’s Day. role of faith in moving forward. entrepreneurship. Olson’s all-volunteer Salt & Light Coali “By addressing trauma and basic life needs, Trafficking Hotline in 2019. In the spring Olson developed Pass the There were, of course, serious chal- “My own early life was a struggle: I expe- tion, which takes its name from a Bible Olson is chipping away at what made these Salt, a series of webinars in the form of lenges to transitioning the program to a rienced homelessness. My father was in verse, began in 2017 in Chicago with a women susceptible in the first place.”
16 SESP WINTER 2021 17 hybrid model, where half of the partici- “ Many of the women we work with have experienced a pants are on site with masks and the other half take part via Zoom. “We’ve had level of brokenness that doesn’t allow them to believe issues with the offline-versus-online that we are here to support them.” —Izabel Olson dynamic, but we’re trying different equip- ment to see if we can find the right bal- ance,” Olson says. Overall, the online component has COALITION VOLUNTEER NATASHA VASAN worked better than she expected. “The SESP undergraduate Natasha Vasan wrote Salt & Light’s phone check-ins may have made the dif- first successful grant application during her summer ference,” she says. “The structure helped practicum, an experience that changed her life. She now the women get through the quarantine.” hopes to study law “to fight for those whose voices are The switch to online delivery was also taken from them, who are born without a voice, or whose a “great opportunity to understand the voices are inherently quieter or less likely to be heard,” impact of a different medium on our out- she says. comes and attrition rates.” Olson says. An online module that could expand her The women of Salt & Light taught Vasan that “the healing model to reach women across inescapable victimhood, mental and physical abuse, the country is in the works. and subjectification of being trafficked not only made speaking up impossible, it caused them to believe that no one would listen,” Vasan From Rio to Evanston wrote in her application to law school. “I saw firsthand how oppression and subjec- As a teenager in Brazil, where most of her tivity are agents that mute. It is not fair—or acceptable.” extended family still lives, Olson found Although her practicum has ended, Vasan is still volunteering as a grant writer for herself in an abusive relationship. By 18, Salt & Light. “It was a really good feeling to do something outside of school that she was alone and pregnant with her son, made an impact,” she says. Gabriel. It was a hard road, she says, but one that prepared her for what she is doing now. She credits her mother’s unflagging belief in education—and a strong convic- by attending night school in Rio de Janeiro. Olson hit her stride once she began Moving toward the light meet them. I’m there to help them start tion that her daughter could accomplish She spent her days working as a teacher talking about launching a nonprofit. She Even though she already has her PhD in doing things.” whatever she set her mind to—with helping in wealthier parts of the city and volun- had no experience, but “it was like I spoke It’s a fact: learning sciences, Olson has returned to Olson’s data also suggest that the pro- turn her life around. “I had no choice but to teered after work in the favelas, the poorer it into being,” she says. When she met 88 percent of Salt & Light school to pursue a master’s in counseling gram is working, at least initially. In a believe I could succeed, because she was so areas on the outskirts of town. Rosemary Grant Higgins, a retired graduates secure a job at the end through Northwestern’s Center for Applied recent poll of those who had graduated at passionate in believing I could do any- Her learning sciences dissertation, which Chicago criminal courts judge who had of the program. Psychological and Family Studies. least a year earlier, 80 percent were still thing,” Olson says. “Because of her, won an American Education Research presided over commercial sexual exploita- Meanwhile, she wants Salt & Light’s part of the workforce a year following fear was never part of my psychology.” Association award for best student paper tion cases for two decades, things began future direction to be set by the coalition’s graduation. Before starting her SESP PhD program in 2013, examined the relationship between falling into place. community. Two graduates, Holm and “I work three or four jobs, but it feels so in 2009, Olson earned bachelor’s and mas- cognition and culture and looked at how Higgins helped her set up partnerships they leave. The exit interview allows the Patience Roberts, have worked as peer much better working hard for my money ter’s degrees in linguistics and teaching favela dwellers’ social experiences affect and meet key people. Olson sat down and women to give feedback, enabling the pro- support specialists. Graduates also sit on than doing something that’s destroying their thinking about complex situations. wrote the curriculum, drawing on her doc- gram to better serve the next cohort. the advisory board, and their input has me on the inside,” says Holm, who wants Although Olson loved her graduate toral training and her experiences in the Still, about half of the women drop out helped shape the job-training curriculum. to become a certified alcohol and drug work, she wasn’t feeling a natural flow to antitrafficking community. “I noticed before finishing, Olson says. “Many of the “I’m more than just a support system. counselor or a life coach. “I’m so grateful It’s a fact: her life. “There’s a sweet spot between gaps that needed to be filled if the cycle of women have experienced a level of broken- I hold them accountable,” says Holm, who for my life now.” 94 percent of Salt & Light’s working hard and finding the path of least trafficking was to be broken,” she says. ness that doesn’t allow them to believe meets regularly with the women. “They women have histories of resistance,” she said in a Q&A on the web- The curriculum includes a research we are here to support them,” she says. see me a little bit different because I’ve BY JULIE DEARDORFF substance abuse, and 77 percent site Seriously Badass Women. “I call that component, which Olson calls the pro- “Others have issues beyond our control: been through what they’ve been through. have had mental health issues. my rhythm of grace. If that energy is not gram’s backbone. The women complete housing, childcare, several deaths in the I call and say, ‘Did you get your driver’s there in my work, I stop and reassess.” surveys both when they arrive and when family—you name it.” license yet?’ If not, I’ll pick them up or
18 SESP WINTER 2021 19 ALUMNI NEWS
Rachel Dunifon (PhD99) was appointed the Michael Alperin (BS11) was appointed execu- 50s 90s Rebecca Q. and James C. Morgan Dean of tive director of the Brookline (Massachusetts) Rita Mandel Lurie (BS53) says that when Sara Freed Shacter (MSEd90), a former the College of Human Ecology at Cornell Housing Authority. her granddaughter, Dana Lurie, graduates teacher and an active member of the Society of University. Jonathan Ben-Isvy (MSEd11) is managing pro- from SESP in June, she’ll represent the third Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, wrote Betsey Frank (MS99) was named chief learning fessional learning for Chicago Public Schools’ generation of Luries with Northwestern Just So Willow (2019), the story of a polar bear and development officer at law firm Greenberg Curriculum Equity Initiative. degrees. Rita’s late husband was William Lurie who likes things just so—until she realizes it Traurig. (WCAS52, KSM54, L55), and their son Jay Lurie makes her miss out on all the fun. Megan Joyce (BS14, MS16) and Jake Hershman Joey Cuden Miller (WCAS84) is Dana’s father. Jesse Purewal (BS99) was appointed head (MS16) were married on May 19, 2019, in Wilm- Wendy Vergoz’s (MSEd90) latest book of of the high-tech industry sector at Qualtrics, ington, Delaware. They met on the first day of Heather Foster John W. “Jack” Leese (BS57, MS58) was poetry, The Unbinding, chronicles a wom- an experience management company. class in Andrea Bueschel’s higher education named the Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Offi- an’s survival of a 20-year marriage rooted in policy course. They now reside in Philadelphia, cials Association’s 2018 Person of the Year. domestic violence. Sean Radford (BS99, MS16) was hired as exec- where Jake is assistant director of strategic He is a member of five halls of fame, including utive vice president and chief human resource Nadine Day (BS92) received USA Swimming’s analytics at Temple University, and Megan is the Ken Kraft Midlands Hall of Fame, where officer at HALO Branded Solutions. first-ever Women in Swimming Award. She is advanced programs coordinator at Thomas he is the senior tournament coordinator. A Kristi Daeda past president of US Masters Swimming. Jefferson University. Jack Leese Northwestern football and basketball season 00s ticket holder for three decades, Leese is a Anne Marie Suarez-Davis (BS92) was elected Casey Talbot (MSHE15), assistant director Carrie (Heath) Phillips (BS02, MSEd03) became member of NU Loyal and an honorary N Club to the Northwestern Alumni Association Board of student leadership development at the the first senior director of school improvement member. Georgia, his wife of 65 years, isn’t a of Directors in September. She became vice University of Chicago, received the university’s Victor Lee for NWEA, a Portland, Oregon–based nonprofit Northwestern alum, but “she certainly acts president of US snacks marketing at Kellogg’s Outstanding Newcomer Award. Saliha Nelson that develops pre-K–12 assessments and like one!” Leese says. in 2017. professional learning offerings. Carraig Athy (BS16), a marketing operations Jobi Cates (BS93), executive director and manager at Kin Insurance, was named to Heather Foster (BS03), a political strategist 60s founder of Restore Justice, was appointed Chicago Inno’s 2019 “25 under 25” list. Hernando Sevilla-Garcia and expert on race and public policy issues, Kathy Kelley Barger’s (BS65) book How to the Illinois Youth Budget Commission. Kathy Kelley Barger was among three alumni honored by the North- Kristi Daeda (MSLOC19) was promoted to pres- Guinness Found His Family was launched at Joanna “Joey” Cuden Miller (BS95) is a western University Black Alumni Association ident at the Family Business Consulting Group. a Colorado Animal Rescue (CARE) event to licensed clinical social worker who has spent during its annual meeting. Foster, senior Hernando Sevilla-Garcia (MSHE19), senior benefit CARE and Colorado Mountain College. the past two decades providing acute crisis director of policy engagement and strategic diversity relations manager at IES Abroad, Shazia Rafiullah Miller She is working on a Spanish translation and a intervention and individual and couples partnerships at Lyft, also was recognized by received the Association of International children’s play adapted from the book. counseling. Her book Rebirth: The Journey of InStyle Magazine as one of “50 Women Making Educators Region V Diversity, Equity, and Pregnancy after a Loss combines her clinical Rebecca Komarek the World a Better Place in 2021.” Inclusion in International Education Award. 70s experience with narratives from 25 former Christine Choi Moore (BS03) was appointed patients, providing readers with a road map Kimani Isaac Michael W. O’Hern (MS77) is retired and serv- Manulife Investment Management’s director through bereavement. 20s ing on a number of boards, including La Salle of asset management for the Midwest region. Kimani Isaac (BS20) was one of four University’s board of trustees. He is president Saliha Nelson (BS95) is working on her doc- Victor Lee (PhD09), associate professor of students to receive an inaugural Jazzy emeritus of Christian Brothers Investment torate in education at the University of Miami, Rich Elliott learning sciences and technology design Johnson Waw-jashk Student Award from Services Inc. focusing on applied learning sciences. She is at Stanford University, began his term as Northwestern’s Division of Student Affairs. Rachel Dunifon executive director of Urgent Inc. 80s president of the International Society of the The annual award recognizes the work of Michael Alperin Carlee Alm-LaBar (BS98) was appointed Learning Sciences. He recently prepared a student activists. Rich Elliott (MSEd81) is the author of Duck and president and CEO of United Way of Acadiana web-based visualization (see back cover) of Alyssa Spada (BS20) has started a master’s Cover, a collection of 11 short stories about following a second-place finish for mayor- Northwestern learning sciences PhD students program in counseling at Northwestern. kids growing up in the 1960s. His next book, president of Louisiana’s Lafayette Parish. and their dissertation committee chairs. What Mad Pursuit: Short Stories about She was also named a Vanguard Fellow, Runners, is due out in April. which honors rising urban innovators working 10s to make change in cities. Darrin Thornton (BS89) was named interim Rebecca Komarek (MSHE10) received her PhD Send your news to [email protected]. associate dean for academic affairs and Shazia Rafiullah Miller (WCAS89, PhD98) from the University of Colorado Boulder last You can also reach us on outreach at Penn State College of Arts and joined independent social research organi- May. Her dissertation was titled Exploration Facebook (facebook.com/sespnu) Darrin Thornton Carrie (Heath) Phillips Megan Joyce, Jake Alyssa Spada Architecture. Among his research interests zation NORC at the University of Chicago as and Assessment of Leadership Development Twitter (twitter.com/sesp_nu) Hershman are teacher preparation and professional senior vice president of education and in Engineering Students. Komarek is assistant Instagram (instagram.com/sesp_nu) development, learning in ensemble settings, child development in 2017. director of the Idea Forge at CU Boulder. and lifelong music engagement. Thornton is also a performing percussionist, conductor, and church musician.
20 SESP WINTER 2021 21 ALUMNI NEWS
Blogging about Better Masculinity Letter-by-Letter Lessons in Silicon Valley Lingo
Scott Gerson (BS18) is on a mission to get months before he arrived at Loren Girimonte (MSLOC11) is always thinking Her publisher, Chronicle Books, reports men and boys talking—about masculinity, Northwestern as a director of the next big idea. The one that occurred to that only about half of the preorders came intimacy, and the importance of the “cuddle at Camp PALS, a sleepaway her while watching the comedy series Silicon from parents or parents-to-be; other buyers huddle.” camp for teens with Down Valley spawned a side hustle that eventually wanted the book to celebrate graduations, Every week Gerson writes a short post on syndrome. landed her a book deal for U Is for Unicorn: birthdays, and new jobs. these topics and more for the Good Men Until he reached college, The ABCs of Silicon Valley. U Is for Unicorn isn’t Girimonte’s first book, Project, a blog designed to spark cultural Gerson didn’t identify with The witty alphabet book about the lingo of however. As a SESP student in the Master’s in conversations about manhood. Launched in having his own disability: the Bay Area tech industry was a labor of love Learning and Organizational Change program, 2009, the blog collects stories about the attention deficit hyper- for Girimonte, who has a demanding day job she and her team wrote Percival Perkins, defining moments in men’s lives. activity disorder. At North in human resources, two children under of the Particular and Picky Eater for the class Gerson, a global youth engagement special- western, Gerson began to seven, and, until recently, exactly zero pub- Discovering and Designing Innovation. ist with the Special Olympics, began writing advocate for himself as a lishing world connections or know-how. That book, designed to persuade kids to “The Scott Spot” in January 2020 and now member of the disability “I just had a good idea and lots of gusto,” choose a green pepper over a Cheeto, was has a regular column. His pieces cover every- community. He and Carrie says Girimonte, who used LinkedIn to find distributed free to schools and was primarily thing from how to use male privilege for the Ingerman (BS19) cofounded editors and publishers to target with her pitch. an exercise in using books to spread benefit of others to why men need to hug the student group Beyond And that pitch? It was written in 45 minutes information. It put children’s-book writing each other. Compliance to push for while one of her children was napping. on Girimonte’s radar. Gerson says his personal experience with “tolerance, inclusion, and “I want to show other working moms who An alphabet book seemed perfect for inclusivity helped him see the full spectrum radical acceptance” of feel stuck that you don’t need connections, exploring Silicon Valley’s unique lingo and lan- of human abilities. As a 10-year-old, Gerson people with disabilities. an agent, a huge social media following, or any guage rituals, some of which are “ridiculous began volunteering for a Special Olympics At SESP, Gerson took courses in human “Accountability can feel like an attack. It’s publishing expertise to get an actual book and bizarre but a real part of the culture,” Unified Sports tennis program that joined development and psychological services, less alienating if you frame it as a call to deal,” she says. “You can break through.” she says. people with and without intellectual disabili- which he says increased his emotional aware- action—a ‘call in’ instead of a callout—to The book, which features illustrations by While the idea came in a flash, it took ties on the same team. ness even more and helped him build empathy modify and reframe behaviors and change freelance designer Jasmine Wibbens, has a Girimonte a year to pick the perfect pairings By middle school, he was coaching Special in the classroom. “The therapist perspectives.” specific audience: employees at tech compa- for all 26 letters. U was easy: unicorn. F obvi- Olympics teams. skills that came from classes, So far, Gerson has created a simple guide to nies like Facebook and Google. Using disrup- ously had to be for fail fast, a philosophy that to illustrate. Finally, she heard the word moon- When he was 14, as well as my friendships help men know whether chivalry is welcome. tive marketing tactics before the COVID-19 rules Silicon Valley. The letter C was originally shot during a work meeting and scribbled it he was named and relationships during He also called for the recent body-acceptance pandemic hit—such as opening a pop-up shop for cofounder until her colleagues at Elec down. She wondered if the word was part of the 2010 Special college, were extremely movement to extend to men and boys. And he on the Menlo Park campus of Facebook and tronic Arts, the Redwood City, California– the cultural zeitgeist. When she kept hearing it Olympics Volun helpful,” he says. gently encourages readers who have male touting the book as a baby shower gift or as based video game company where she is a around the office over the next few weeks, she teer of the Year His decision to write for privilege to use it for good. “Take your extra swag for new hires—she received orders for people practices lead, coaxed her to change knew she’d found her word. for Maryland’s the Good Men Project was credibility and use it to start conversations 600 copies before the book’s 2021 release. it to cryptocurrency. “This project is my moonshot,” she says. Montgomery born of a New Year’s reso- around misogyny and gender inequality,” M almost made her give up. Monetize was “And I am so glad I reached for the stars.” County. In lution. Instead of distanc- he says. her original choice, but it felt boring and hard summer ing himself from men who Northwestern alumna Lydia Rohde is a big 2014, he were doing or saying fan. She says she shared the articles with her spent things he disagreed with, three brothers and dad because she feels the Gerson says he was they might hear this message better from resolved to engage another man. “Women have been saying some with them. of these things consistently for a very long “I don’t just have time, but sometimes the message just the opportunity to doesn’t seem to get through,” she says. do it, I have the Read Gerson’s column at goodmenproject responsibility to work .com/author/scott-gerson. with men and boys on their own masculinity and what we need to do better,” he says.
22 SESP WINTER 2021 23 ALUMNI NEWS Purvi Shah Why an All-American Pitcher Couldn’t Throw to First Base Using Law to Create Social Change
She was just 13 years old that day, and a good explains, tend to be per- Shah (BS02), who majored in social policy and political science, softball pitcher. When that late-inning ground fectionists, peo- founded the Movement Law Lab to seed a new generation of lawyers ball bounced toward the mound, she fielded it ple-pleasers, and deep who can tackle some of the nation’s toughest justice challenges. handily, then overthrew first base. The batter thinkers. “When they just kept running, running all the way home. mess up once, or simply “I basically lost the game for our team,” she start fearing not living up remembers even now, though the loss dates to to expectations, they the last century. “It hit me so hard. I let every- can’t stop thinking about one down.” it,” she says. She would grow up to pitch for the ’Cats; to That was certainly true earn All-American honors twice and All Big Ten in her case, and the solu- honors four times; to toss three no-hitters and tion was learning how to one perfect game and to post 28 strikeouts in ask for help. Canney’s an 18-inning game against Minnesota; and to teammates and coaches play softball professionally in the United Kate and Carly Drohan, States and Japan and win three gold medals Tori Nyberg, and Amanda with the USA National team. Rivera provided a safe But that moment of overthrowing space for her to be her- first base had hit her so hard, self. She also was aided My parents were the first in their people closest to problems often have the and held workshops across the world. never again would she field a by Darcy Sengewald (BS08), who played third That moment of overthrowing families to come to the US. As a best ideas for solving them. These programs are creating a new army ball and throw it over- base and promised to field all the bunts that first-generation American, I witnessed of lawyers to work collaboratively with first base had hit her so hard, Starting out as a young attorney in hand. Eileen Canney were dropped, and by Garland Cooper the injustice of America up close—in my social movements. Miami, I left my desk to go to taxi (BS07), you see, had (SOC07), who, from her position at first never again would she field a home, school, and city. I grew up keenly stands, restaurant kitchens, tenant meet- Movement Law Lab intentionally the yips, a neurolog- base, “was going to catch ball and throw it overhand. aware of how opportunity is not meted ings, and housing projects to have candid invests in lawyers who come from ical condition that anything I threw. And out equally and how “making it” depends marginalized communities. They see can make even the that’s what I needed to on your zip code, your skin color, where conversations with clients. I learned how their role as supporting movements for simplest of acts feel hear,” Canney says now. you were born and how well you speak to weave litigation, education, media, impossible to do. In the classroom, that can manifest itself in myriad ways: a justice, and they are a part of the commu- English. policy, and protest into coordinated cam- Some 20 years where perfectionism pitcher’s inability to throw a strike, an out- paigns and accomplished far more than nities they work in. We see these lawyers later, Canney is married also lurked, Canney fielder’s inability to hit the cutoff, an infield- At Northwestern, the world opened up I could’ve ever achieved alone in the as the true legal visionaries for the 21st to Andrew Linnehan recalls the ministra- er’s inability to make the easy toss to first and I began to put words and theories to courtroom. century. (J05), who works tions of Susan Olson, base. (Once, back in 1999, New York Yankees what I had seen as a young person. I had in Northwestern’s SESP’s assistant dean of second baseman Chuck Knoblauch had the the great fortune of being a student of We termed this approach “movement If you can’t imagine it and you can’t undergraduate admis- student affairs and an adviser to yips so bad, he fielded a grounder and threw [sociologist] Aldon Morris and was deeply lawyering.” Rather than simply winning believe it, you will not be able to fight sions office, and students in the human development in con- the ball into the stands.) moved by the struggle for Black freedom cases, movement lawyers deploy law for it. You have to keep imagining that it together they’re raising text concentration. “She helped me find Inevitably, she began receiving calls from and the civil rights movement. From the strategically to change culture, systems, is possible for our world to look different. two kids—a six-year- my own voice and passions,” Canney other coaches and players who have the yips. and power. We see ourselves as long-term You have to nurture that in this work. old daughter and a recalls. Still, even after wins, Canney She talks to them about accepting them- stories of Ella Baker, the Freedom Riders, partners to grassroots leaders and three-year-old son— would “feel really alone.” selves, about recognizing that their search and Fannie Lou Hamer, I learned that My desire is to be in the fight for broader movements for change. in Lincolnwood, just In 2013, as an assistant women’s for perfection is “not reality.” She may give ordinary people doing extraordinary human dignity for the rest of my life. softball coach at the University of them mantras to repeat as they take the field things is what has often changed the outside Chicago. Only 3 percent of America’s 1.3 million To have longevity in this work, you’ve got Professionally, Illinois at Chicago, Canney decided to and exercises to do that will trigger the brain course of history. lawyers work on issues of justice and to build intimate spaces of love and resil- Canney is both a bare her soul at a national coaches into letting them perform. poverty, despite overwhelming need. ience and you have to be concerned with private pitching convention. She recounted her “You are not alone,” Canney always tells My father planted the seed for law Most of the other 97 percent represent the humans in your life—not just with coach and a con- experiences with the yips and them. Then comes “the sigh,” she says. “I feel school when he jokingly told me, “You sultant to others advised her peers on this pressure being released over the phone. argue quite a bit, so maybe consider going the interests of the powerful versus the humanity. You have a meal with your afflictedwith how they could There’s no describing it.” into law.” I did go on to study law, but my powerless. The legal profession is in a loved ones and show up for your elders. the yips—that help yips most powerful lessons came from being a crisis of leadership, culture, and values. condition that sufferers. BY SKIP MYSLENSKI community organizer working alongside I teach other lawyers how to use our AS TOLD TO bedeviled her “They’ve got low-wage workers, families of people in skills to create social change. Over the JULIE DEARDORFF for so long. Yips to understand it’s a prison, and young people living on the sufferers, she real thing,” she says, last decade, I’ve run summer academies margins. Organizing taught me that the for law students, taught at law schools,
24 SESP WINTER 2021 25 Nonprofit Organization US Postage PAID Northwestern University
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A MAP BUILT “ON A WHIM”
Victor Lee (PhD09) recently created an interactive map—“on a whim,” he says—depicting interconnections among Northwestern learning sciences faculty members past and present and their PhD students. The professor at the center of the highlighted cluster above is Uri Wilensky, the subject of a feature story starting on page 11. To explore Lee’s map, go to bit.ly/3iE0Fng.