TABLE OF CONTENTS

Tidings: From the Director

"Dancing on the Precipice"

Accomplishments

Dana Carhart

Quinn Richards

Andreza Jorge

Aziz Ardic

Heather Nolen

Nicole Nunoo

Jon Catherwood-Ginn

Nada Berrada

Andrea Briceno Mosquera

Brad Stephens

Amin Farzaneh

Kimberly Horn

Vanessa Guerra

Max Stephenson Jr.

Desiree Poets

Molly Todd

Lara Nagle

Mary Beth Dunkenberger

Laura Zanotti

Elhom Gosink

Chris Thorne

Shreya Hari Nurani

Megan Notter

Project Updates

• Leadership and Management Pathways Program (LAMPP)
• Heat Ready, Roanoke! Heat Fair and Climate Change, Heat, and Health Conference
• Calfee Institute
• St. Paul's College 4 Life
• Social Science for Public Good
• Total Action for Progress Pathway Home 5

Conferences & Events

• Dr. Ariel Otruba Leads Global Field Study Course
• Virginia Tech and UVA Collaborate to Explore Maré
• 16th International Society for Third Sector Research (ISTR) International Conference
• Groundbreaking at the Mount Rogers Community Services Behavioral Health Campus
• School of Public and International Affairs and School of Communication Study Abroad Overlap
• NATCon24: Conference in Mental Health and Substance Use Treatment and Recovery

Announcements & Opportunities

• IPG Becomes a research center of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences
• Mini-Grant Application Opens for Urban Agriculture in Virginia
• People of IPG: Amin Farzaneh

Commentaries, Essays & Publications

• Soundings
• Five Pieces Worth Reading
• Recent Publications
• Books, Articles, Chapters and Reviews Under Review/Forthcoming

Faculty Spotlight

Cecily Rodriguez, Associate Director for Research and Organizational Innovation, Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance

Graduate Student Spotlight

Aziz Ardic, Visiting Graduate Fellow and PhD student, University of Istanbul

Alumni Spotlight

Dr. Verónica Arroyave, Vice President of Corporate Responsibility and Global Philanthropy at Baxter Healthcare and Executive Director of the Baxter International Foundation

"Dancing on the Precipice"

BY MAX O. STEPHENSON, JR.

Director, Virginia Tech Institute for Policy and Governance

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

PROJECT UPDATES

Leadership and Management Pathways Program (LAMPP)  

The Richmond IPG group partnered with the Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation (VCBR) staff to deliver a five-day training to explore the unique challenges and dynamics of leadership and management within a sex offender treatment facility. IPG faculty Cecily Peeples Rodriguez and Dr. Anne Zobell Walters led discussions aimed at understanding the offender population, considering ethical concerns, the importance of self-care and resilience and developing effective communication strategies. Participants also learned how to lead their teams in challenging situations and to manage crises effectively. 

Richmond-based Institute faculty and staff are also working with the Virginia Division of Community Behavioral Health Services to teach effective project management skills to two cohorts of employees. The class provides essential training on key project management principles and practices. Participants will learn how to effectively plan, execute, monitor, and close projects. The course covers project scope definition, stakeholder management, resource allocation, risk mitigation, and communication strategies. State employees will also gain valuable skills in budget management, timeline tracking, and quality control to ensure successful project outcomes. 

Heat Ready, Roanoke! Heat Resilience Fair and Climate Change, Heat, and Health Conference

Heat Ready, Roanoke! (HRR) is a partnership led by Carilion Clinic, Virginia Tech, the City of Roanoke Office of Sustainability, and Virginia Clinicians for Climate Action (VCCA) focused on environmental literacy regarding heat illness, climate change, and urban planning for extreme heat. The HRR team hosted a heat resilience fair as part of the Williamson Road Branch of the Roanoke VA Library Ride and Read event on June 8, engaging more than 100 participants, including many children, in a series of activities about preventing heat illness, designing cooler urban spaces, recognizing mental health issues during extreme heat, and the city's climate action plan. Dr. Theo Lim of the Urban Affairs and Planning program of the School of Public and International Affairs leads the project, with Lara Nagle and Dr. David Moore, Associate Director for Strategic Partnerships, of IPG serving as program evaluators.

HRR also hosted a Climate, Heat, and Health Summit for health professionals at Carilion Clinic on June 22 featuring a variety of speakers discussing current research on climate science, urban heat and health implications; case presentations and clinical findings related to vulnerable and at-risk patient populations from medical specialists. The program also shared information concerning how to design public education and information campaigns that connect clinicians and populations affected by extreme heat conditions with available public resources and management strategies.

Photo Credit: Theo Lim

Calfee Institute

Working in partnership with the Calfee Community & Cultural Center, IPG faculty Neda Moayerian and Max Stephenson Jr. and PhD student Brad Stephens have recently completed work on a paper to be presented at the 2024 International Society for Third-Sector Research Conference in Antwerp, Belgium later this month. Entitled "Revisiting the Social Role of Radical Imagination Amidst Widespread Democratic Erosion," their analysis explores how alumni of the historically Black Calfee Training School were equipped with the imaginative capacity to see the world with a sense of possibility and how those values and attributes continue to inform and guide recent efforts to reimagine the historic property. The team conducted interviews with 12 individuals associated with the historic school and the ongoing effort to reimagine the space. The research team is already planning a second paper that will examine more deeply the innovative efforts utilized to stimulate the imagination and foster democratic practice during the development of the new Calfee Community & Cultural Center. The Center’s leadership hopes to host a grand opening for the new facility later this year.

Photo: The Calfee Institute. Photo credit: Wikipedia.

St. Paul's College 4 Life

IPG faculty and graduate students will continue to work with St. Paul's College 4 Life (SPC4Life) into a third year. For its part, SPC4Life is imagining a future for St. Paul's College, a closed historically black higher education institution in Lawrenceville, VA. They hope to have their programming serve as a beacon of hope in a divested place. The IPG group, led by PhD student Brad Stephens, Senior Fellows Andy Morikawa and Bob Leonard and Director, Dr. Max Stephenson Jr., has been helping the organization chart its path and is now providing governing board/leadership capacity building.

Photo: From left to right: Chris Stephenson (President, SPC4Life), Dr. Max Stephenson Jr., Phil Stone (Board Member, SPC4Life), Andy Morikawa, and Brad Stephens outside IPG on June 25, 2024. Photo Credit: Billy Parvatam.

Social Science for Public Good Podcast

IPG Graduate Research Assistants and PhD students in the Planning, Governance, and Globalization Program Brad Stephens and Amin Farzaneh, have begun recording for a special series on imagination for the Institute’s Social Science for Public Good podcast. This will be the first of three-episode arcs in this year's edition of the podcast, with two additional series cohosted by Brad and Yugasha Bakshi, set to explore "Justice" and "Decolonization" with leading scholars this fall. This podcast series discusses vital social science concepts with eminent theorists and scholars while seeking to make them accessible to social change practitioners. The podcast is available on all major platforms and can be found here.

Total Action for Progress Pathway Home 5

Dr. David Moore, IPG Associate Director for Strategic Partnerships, in collaboration with the community action organization, Total Action for Progress (TAP), recently was awarded a Pathway 5 (PH5) grant from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) prisoner reentry program to continue to provide job training and re-entry services to previously incarcerated people in Southwest Virginia. TAP was the only Pathway 3 (PH3) grantee to be funded again for PH5. PH5 will continue to serve all of its PH3 correctional partners and will be adding the New River/Mount Rogers Workforce Development Board as a collaborator. Given that expansion, the new initiative will now serve up to 400 individuals.

TAP/IPG was one of 16 organizations in 15 states to be awarded this prestigious grant. You may find additional information here.

Congratulations, David and our long-time partners at TAP!

CONFERENCES & EVENTS

Dr. Ariel Otruba Leads Global Field Study Course

Dr. Ariel Otruba, IPG Non-Resident Research Associate and faculty member at Arcadia University, traveled with eleven students from the International Peace and Conflict Resolution graduate program and the Historical and Political Studies Department at Arcadia to the Republic of Georgia for a unique global field study class, "Geographics of Displacement in Georgia" during May 2024.

The course was inspired by Dr. Otruba's research studying the emotional effects of housing infrastructure disrepair on internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Georgia. Photographs taken by IDPs in her research study are currently on display at the Landman Library at Arcadia University as part of a traveling photovoice exhibition, which also visited Blacksburg last October. During the semester, Dr. Otruba's students studied Georgian culture and society, examined the history of territorial conflicts in the South Caucasus, and became experts on Georgia's major waves of displacement following armed conflict in the early 1990s and in 2008.

During their field study, the students visited the Tserovani IDP settlement, former collective centers in Tskaltubo, and new residential housing in Gvishtibi. This field experience helped those participating explore the urban dimensions of protracted displacement, the challenges of providing durable housing solutions, and the agency, resilience, and homemaking practices of IDPs. In addition, the class met with key representatives from international, government and civil society organizations in Tbilisi. Throughout the trip, the class demonstrated their pre-departure conflict sensitivity training while carefully documenting their observations with ethnographic fieldnotes and a class photovoice project.

Dr. Otruba extends her gratitude to Civic and Global Engagement at Arcadia and her trip co-leaders: Natia Kekenadze, a PhD student in Urban Studies at Tbilisi State University, and Allyson McCreery, Associate Director of the International Peace and Conflict Resolution Program at Arcadia. She also thanks the American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC), which sponsored the program.

Photo from left to right: A group of students and faculty leaders from the Arcadia University Global Field Study: Geographies of Displacement in Georgia. The picture was taken in Tbilsi at the restaurant Shavi Lomi, in May 2024. Photo credit: Ariel Otruba

Virginia Tech and UVA Collaborate to Explore Maré

For a second consecutive year, Dr. Vanessa Guerra, Assistant Professor of Urban and Environmental Planning at the University of Virginia (UVA) School of Architecture and IPG Non-Resident Research Associate, visited Blacksburg on April 4 along with her international Planning and Design studio, to share their research on urban resilience in Maré, Rio de Janeiro, a diverse neighborhood in the North Zone of that Brazilian city. The students presented their work in the Creativity and Innovation District (CID) building on campus. Redes de Maré representatives Andreza Jorge (also an ASPECT PhD student) and Henrique Gomes and IPG Director Dr. Max Stephenson, Jr. provided feedback to the presenting students. You may read an article detailing their visit here.

Dr. Guerra is a Virginia Tech alumna who completed her PhD in 2020. Dr. Stephenson served as a member of her dissertation committee, and this connection led to her joining the Institute officially as a Non-Resident Research Associate in 2023. She has also participated in the VT-based Maré Research Group, which has collaborated with Redes de Maré to provide support for that nongovernmental organization and to develop relevant scholarship.



Photo credit: Amin Farzaneh

16th International Society for Third-Sector Research (ISTR) International Conference

IPG Director Dr. Max Stephenson Jr., Dr. Neda Moayerian (Assistant Professor of Urban Planning at the University of Tehran and IPG Non-Resident Research Associate) and Brad Stephens (IPG Graduate Research Assistant and Planning, Governing, and Globalization PhD student) had a paper accepted for presentation at the 16th International Society for Third-Sector Research (ISTR) International Conference at the University of Antwerp in Antwerp, Belgium, July 16-19, 2024.Their effort is entitled, "Revisiting the Social Role of Radical Imagination Amidst Widespread Democratic Erosion." 

Groundbreaking at the Mount Rogers Community Services Behavioral Health Campus

On June 10, Mount Rogers Community Services (MRCS) broke ground on the expansion of a crisis stabilization and peer recovery campus in Smyth County with funding from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development program, the Smyth County Community Foundation, and Virginia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services. The campus will provide care for individuals experiencing mental health crisis and substance use disorder (SUD).

A team from Virginia Tech will serve as research partners and evaluators for the expansion, examining health outcomes, trauma-informed design, and the replicability of the crisis care model. That group includes Mary Beth Dunkenberger, Lara Nagle, Liz Allen, Laura Taylor, and Dr. David Moore of IPG, Dr. Rachel Silverman of the VT Center for Biostatistics and Health Data Science, Dr. Elif Tural in the Department of Interior Design, and Dr. Andrew McCoy and Dr. Gao Xinghua of the Department of Building Construction.

You may read more about the expansion here.

Photo credit: Jasmine Franks/Smyth County News and Messenger

School of Public and International Affairs and School of Communication Study Abroad Overlap

IPG Deputy Director Mary Beth Dunkenberger joined Virginia Tech's School of Communication's study abroad program in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland at Virginia Tech's Steger Center for International Scholarship. The program, International Perspective in Communication, was led by Mary Beth’s spouse Advanced Instructor Susan Stinson and Journalism Instructor Jared Woolly. While at the Steger Center on June 13 they had the opportunity to meet Drs. Todd Schenck and Ralph Buehler, who were at the Center as part of a School of Public and International Affair's study aboard program exploring sustainability policy-making and planning in contemporary Europe.

Photo from left to right: Susan Stinson, Mary Beth Dunkenberger, Todd Schenck and Ralph Buehler. Photo courtesy of Mary Beth Dunkenberger.

NATCon24: Conference in Mental Health and Substance Use Treatment and Recovery

Liz Allen, IPG Senior Research Associate/Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCHBC) Evaluation Team member attended the National Council for Mental Wellbeing's Annual Conference in St. Louis, Missouri April 15-17. The conference brought together more than 6,000 mental health professionals, administrators and advocates from across the country.

Among the meeting’s themes was the urgent need to secure universal adoption of the CCBHC model that assures comprehensive and quality mental health and substance use treatment accessible to all, regardless of their ability to pay. The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is leading this effort, providing funding for more than 600 clinics across 46 states. IPG serves as the grant evaluator for several of these programs, including that led by Mount Rogers Community Services (MRCS) of Wytheville, VA. Liz met with representatives of that organization at the conference.

Specific conference topics included current and future AI developments in mental health and substance use research, treatment and service delivery processes. The event also featured talks by distinguished speakers, such as Marcus Buckingham on his most recent publication, Love + Work, former U.S. Congressman and mental health advocate, Patrick J. Kennedy; and a closing, inspirational keynote conversation with Former First Lady Michelle Obama and acclaimed scholar Isabel Wilkerson.

In an unexpected and welcome surprise, Liz also ran into Laura Nelson who worked at IPG during 2017-18 while pursuing her PhD at Virginia Tech and who is now Chief of Organizational Development at Northeast Kingdom Human Services (NKHS) in Vermont. Laura started work there at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. She shared that her experiences at IPG, specifically working with Deputy Director Mary Beth Dunkenberger and her research team, prepared her well – providing a strong foundation that she has been able to build on in her current position. We wish her well!

Top photo from left to right: Logan Nester (MRCS), Liz Allen (IPG), Laura Davis (MRCS), Dr. Bobby Miglani (MRCS), Sandy Bryant (MRCS, Executive Director), Samantha Crockett (MRCS), KJ Holbrook (MRCS), and Lakesha Mayes (MRCS). Photo courtesy of Liz Allen.

Bottom photo: Liz Allen and Laura Nelson. Photo courtesy of Liz Allen.

ANNOUNCEMENTS & OPPORTUNITIES

IPG Becomes a research center of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences

On July 1, the 18th anniversary of the Institute's founding, IPG formally moved from the School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) to serve as a research center of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. This shift is aimed at enhancing research opportunities and initiatives across the College.

We also welcomed five research faculty and staff to the Institute on July 1. The group has been leading cognate research and capacity building efforts from Richmond for that region and the Commonwealth during the past several years. We wish to extend a warm welcome to faculty Cecily Rodriguez, Dr. Andrew Sharp, Dr. Anne Walters, and staff members Hilal Yalcin, and Ryan O'Connell. You may read more about our new faculty members roles and responsibilities here, and our staff here.

We are grateful for the guidance and support of Dean Laura Belmonte to date and look forward to working closely with the Dean and others in her office as we continue our research and scholarship. We also want to extend our sincere appreciation to Dr. Tim Luke, then acting Director of SPIA, and to Heather Nolen, the School's Business Manager, for their terrific support and guidance during the past two years. We anticipate continuing our close engagement and work with SPIA faculty and staff members in the years to come.

The Institute now has faculty and staff members in Blacksburg, Richmond, Abingdon and Fairfax. 

Mini-Grant Application Opens for Urban Agriculture in Virginia

The Virginia Tech Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation, Virginia State University's Small Farm Outreach Program, and partners are excited to announce the opening of applications for 2024-2025 mini-grants aimed at enhancing urban agriculture in Virginia. As a key component of the "Advancing Urban Agriculture and Sustainable Food Systems" Initiative, the goal of the mini-grant funding is to build the capacity of existing urban agriculture work in Virginia. Grants will range from $5,000 to $15,000, with a project period of up to 12 months. These funds are aimed to assist those individuals, tribal entities, organizations, and/or community-based groups already active in urban agriculture. Initiative with priorities will be given to proposals that focus on underserved farmers in urban communities. Applications are open now until Monday, August 19, 2024 by 5:00 PM ET. You may find additional information here.

People of IPG: Amin Farzaneh

COMMENTARIES, ESSAYS & PUBLICATIONS

Cecily Rodriguez is the Associate Director for Research and Organizational Innovation at IPG, located at the Richmond Virginia Tech campus. She has been developing, implementing, and evaluating programs and services that seek to reduce service delivery barriers and increase equitable outcomes for more than twenty-five years. Cecily's current projects include the development of a public sector leader program for a state law enforcement agency; a model for economic, environmental, and social programs in a conservation agency; a statewide behavioral health language access needs assessment; and an equity and inclusion assessment project for an international non-governmental organization (NGO).

Cecily came to Virginia Tech from the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) where she served as Director of Refugee Health Services. She helped to design an innovative model for a self-funded healthcare plan now operating across the nation. During previous service to the Commonwealth, Cecily was the Director of the Office of Health Equity Advancement and Workforce Development at the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS). While at DBHDS, she led that agency’s efforts to address disparities in behavioral health and developmental services. Overall, she was responsible for developing and implementing numerous programs and initiatives designed to increase health equity in the Commonwealth. Cecily also led the agency’s succession planning and workforce development initiatives and was the principal author and lead faculty for the agency's senior leadership development program.

Cecily's areas of expertise include the implementation of language access services, behavioral health equity and organizational culture. She studies the behavioral health and wellness of migrant and refugee communities in the U.S., language access in the public sector, behavioral health interpreting services, culturally appropriate service delivery and intercultural development and communication.

Cecily is a recognized equity and diversity expert with national certification as a Certified Diversity Executive (CDE). She serves as the Chair of the Institute for Diversity Certification—Certification Board; is a member of the advisory committee for the national Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration’s Behavioral Health Equity Office; and serves as a governing board member for the Virginia Language Access Coalition. 

Aziz Ardic is a Visiting Graduate Fellow and PhD student from the University of Istanbul for the calendar year August 2023-24. Aziz completed his undergraduate studies in Anthropology at Istanbul University in 2017, followed by a master's degree in Philosophy from the same institution in 2020. Afterward, he taught philosophy, sociology and theory of knowledge at various high schools in Istanbul from 2021-22. His master's thesis focused on the impact of intersectional studies within the field of identity politics. Aziz also has been actively engaged in volunteer work and has held managerial roles in several non-governmental organizations including as a member of the board of directors of a local branch of the Association for the Support of Contemporary Life, which promotes educational equality nationally in Turkey. Aziz began his doctoral studies in philosophy in 2021 and received support from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBİTAK) in 2023 to spend a year at IPG to further his PhD research. His doctoral thesis examines the structures and functions of societal institutions, particularly in light of changes in institutional governance processes during the neoliberal and neo-institutionalism era, and their implications for academic studies.

Aziz recently reflected on his time at IPG, "Initially, I conducted research on institutions worldwide focusing on neoliberalism, nongovernmental organizations, and contemporary political issues. I reached out to various universities and received invitations from institutions in Vienna, Copenhagen, and Sydney. However, what truly set IPG apart was Dr. Max Stephenson's presence, who addressed all the areas I wished to explore. I must confess that initially, I experienced the stress of being in a high-level academic environment. On the other hand, I never doubted my choice to be at the Institute and I have worked hard to maximize the privileges it has offered. For instance, during Community Change Collaborative meetings, we analyzed political issues from diverse countries and their intersections with various institutions. These sessions engaged us in insightful discussions. I continuously refined my research hypothesis, while acknowledging the limitations of my knowledge. This experience allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of contemporary political issues and theories. Among the many opportunities at IPG, I must highlight the 'NGOs in International Development' graduate seminar taught by Dr. Stephenson, which was a pivotal moment in my intellectual journey. The course content and discussions positively influenced my academic motivation. I can confidently say that I achieved my objectives at IPG."

Dr. Verónica Arroyave serves as the Vice President for Corporate Responsibility and Global Philanthropy at Baxter Healthcare and Executive Director of the Baxter International Foundation. In that capacity, she works across the enterprise to elevate the intersection of business impact, corporate responsibility and social investments. With the Baxter International Foundation, she works to advance the company’s mission to save and sustain lives by building global philanthropic partnerships to increase access to healthcare for the underserved, fostering STEM education and helping create resilient impact in Baxter’s communities.

Veronica has held several leadership and advisory roles in the corporate, government and non-profit sectors aimed at catalyzing global health partnerships and collaborations. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Our Lady of Holy Cross, a master’s degree from Tulane University’s School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine and a doctorate from Virginia Tech’s School of Public and International Affairs. As a graduate student, she worked with the Institute for Policy and Governance to help build leadership convenings to advance the critical cross-sectoral dialogues at the intersections of health, humanitarian assistance, and philanthropy. Dr. Stephenson chaired her doctoral advisory committee. 

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