Civic Engagement & Democratic Learning
My civic engagement and democratic learning work focuses on helping students, institutions, and communities connect participation, service, dialogue, and leadership development. Through previous roles at Bowling Green State University, I supported nonpartisan voter engagement, service-learning, poll worker recruitment, deliberative dialogue, and civic leadership initiatives designed to strengthen student agency and public purpose.
This work is grounded in the belief that civic engagement is not only about participation in a single event, election, or program. It is about building the knowledge, habits, relationships, and reflective capacity people need to contribute meaningfully to their communities. Through program leadership, grant-supported initiatives, teaching, and community partnerships, I have worked to create structures that make civic learning more accessible, practical, and connected to students’ lived experiences.
The projects below demonstrate my ability to design and support civic engagement efforts that are nonpartisan, educational, community-centered, and developmentally meaningful. Together, they reflect a through-line in my work: democratic learning becomes more powerful when students are invited to connect action with reflection, service with purpose, and leadership with the common good.
01
BGSU Votes
Nonpartisan Voter Engagement | Democratic Learning | Student Civic Participation
Through my previous role with the C. Raymond Marvin Center for Student Leadership and Civic Engagement at Bowling Green State University, I helped lead and support BGSU Votes, the university’s nonpartisan voter engagement initiative. This work included campus-wide efforts related to voter education, registration, early voting awareness, student participation, and democratic engagement. The initiative was supported through multiple civic engagement grants, including funding from Ask Every Student, Campus Vote Project, and the Andrew Goodman Foundation, which strengthened the program’s capacity to expand nonpartisan student voter engagement efforts. Most notably, BGSU Votes received a NASPA Excellence Award in the category of “Civic Learning, Democratic Engagement, Community Service, Service-Learning, and related,” recognizing the program as an exemplary national model in the field of higher education civic engagement. As a civic engagement and democratic learning sample, this project demonstrates my ability to connect student leadership, institutional coordination, grant support, and nonpartisan democratic participation into a recognized, high-impact campus initiative.
02
BGSU Poll Worker Program
Civic Infrastructure | Student Leadership | Election Support | Workforce Development
Through my previous role with the C. Raymond Marvin Center for Student Leadership and Civic Engagement at Bowling Green State University, I supported the development and implementation of the BGSU Poll Worker Program, which recruited, prepared, and supported students in serving as poll workers during election cycles. Supported by the Help America Vote College Poll Worker Program award, this initiative connected student civic learning with a real community need for trained election workers. The program created an opportunity for students to move beyond voter participation and contribute directly to the civic infrastructure that supports democratic processes. As a democratic learning sample, this project demonstrates my ability to connect funding, institutional coordination, student development, and public service into a practical civic engagement model.
03
National Student Voting Summit
Student Voting | Cross-Campus Partnerships | Democratic Engagement | Field-Level Practice
Through my previous civic engagement work at Bowling Green State University, I participated in the National Student Voting Summit at the University of Maryland, a national gathering focused on strengthening student voting, democracy, and civic engagement programming. During the summit, I co-presented with Erich Heppner on building strong cross-campus partnerships, highlighting Ask Every Student co-designer resources created to help institutions develop deeper, more coordinated civic engagement strategies. The session focused on how colleges and universities can move beyond isolated voter engagement efforts and build broader institutional partnerships that support student participation and democratic learning. This experience demonstrates my ability to translate campus-based civic engagement work into field-facing practice, contribute to national conversations on student voting, and support tools that help institutions strengthen civic pathways for students.
04
LEAD 4800: Civic Engagement in Higher Education
Course Design | Teaching | Civic Learning | Applied Leadership
Through my previous instructional role at Bowling Green State University, I designed and taught LEAD 4800: Civic Engagement in Higher Education. This course connected civic engagement, leadership development, and higher education practice, helping students examine how institutions foster public purpose, service, participation, and democratic learning. As a course design and teaching sample, this project demonstrates my ability to translate civic engagement concepts into structured learning experiences with clear developmental goals. It also reflects the teaching side of my civic work: helping students connect leadership, service, democratic participation, and community impact through academic reflection and applied learning.