Meet Our Ph.D. Students
Pictured above: Point Park University's Fall 2021 low-residency cohort II. Photo by Randall Coleman.
Meet Our Ph.D. in Community Engagement Students
Meet some of our Ph.D. students and learn about their prior education, research interests and career goals.
Laurie Havrisko
Prior education: B.S. in Psychology, Minors in Biology & Religious Studies, St. Vincent College; M.S. in Special Education, St. Vincent College; M.S. in Administration & Supervision, St. Vincent College; Superintendent's Letter of Eligibility, California University of PA (now PennWest)
Research interests: Family and school partnerships; special education; diversity, equity and inclusion
Career goals: To make a positive impact on students and their families.
Ashley N. Malachi
Prior education: B.A. in Mathematics, Wake Forest University; B.A. in Biology University of North Carolina at Greensboro; M.S. in Community Engaged Medicine, Furman University
Research interests: Using mindfulness methods as a practice to build sustainable resilience among youth who have and continue to face trauma within their lives due to social constraints and social determinants of health that keep positive outcomes out of reach to build healthy futures.
Career goals: Develop a mentorship program for youth in underserved communities who have and continue to experience trauma within their lives to restructure their path to incorporate healthy decision-making, relationships and coping skills to build a better future for their tomorrow.
Anette Nance
Prior education:B.A. in Psychology, Ashford University;Human Services Management Certificate; MSW, University of Pittsburgh
Research interests: First-generation students and post-secondary career options/trajectory
Career goals: Education administration, professor, public policy
Atiya Abdelmalik
Dissertation: “The Factors for Success Underpinning an Era of Youth-led Community Revitalization: A Case Study of Brownsville Students in Action”
Jennifer Bailey
Research interests: Organizational culture, Carnegie classification on community engagement, higher education
Sheila Beasley
Dissertation: “Servant Leadership with a Hermeneutic of Love Practice”
Danielle Davis
Dissertation: “Faith-Based Organizations Engaged in Community Economic Development”
Aliya Durham
Dissertation: "Using Collective Impact to Improve Child Outcomes – A Case Study of the Homewood Children’s Village”
Trisha Gadson
Dissertation: “The Impact of Community Engaged Racialized Conversations on Educational Planning for African American Students”
Michael Harding
Research interests: Business specialists engaged in the social enterprise
Mychael Lee
Dissertation: “An Examination of the Organizational Structure and Practices of Grantmaking Foundations and their Impact on Grassroots Organizations”
Brett Marcoux
Research interest: Social entrepreneurship
Veronika Panagiotou
Dissertation: “Do Service-Learning Models Create an Opportunity to Cultivate Civic Engagement Outcomes at Point Park University? A Phenomenological Study of Students’ Perspectives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania."
John Tamiggi
Dissertation: “An Examination of the Potential Impacts and Outcomes of a Comprehensive Community Initiative Model”
Leatra Tate
Dissertation: “Stories from the Yam: A Narrative Inquiry Centering on Black Women Sexual Assault Survivors in Higher Education”
LaWana Butler
Dissertation: “The African American Female's Perception of the Role the African American Church Played in Their Lived Experience of Intimate Partner Violence”
Ryan Cummings
Research interests: Telemedicine, telehealth, healthcare in Haiti
Brittany McDonald
Dissertation: “Understanding the Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility on Millennial Employee Engagement”
Darrell Payne
Dissertation: “A Phenomenological Study: Factors that Contribute to the Trajectory of Nontraditional Black Male Collegians’ Matriculation and Persistence through Postsecondary Education”
Melissa Rossiter
Dissertation: “Social Network, Social Capital and Civic Engagement: An Exploratory Analysis of Social Capital in the Facebook World”
Rhonda Threet
Dissertation: “Analyzing Educators’ Perceptions on How Culturally Relevant Pedagogy Addresses Positive Racial Identity Development for African American Students”
Tammy Washington
Dissertation: “An Examination of Day-to-Day Stressors Experienced by Single Mothers in Disadvantaged Communities and Their Coping Mechanisms”
Melissa Barnhill
Research Interest: LGBTQ health
Andrew Conte
Dissertation: "Advance of the Citizen Gatekeeper: A Case Study of the McKeesport, Pennsylvania, News Desert"
Corrin Culhane
Research interests: Police/community relations
Teri Deal
Research interests: Juvenile justice, school justice partnerships
Michele Gordon
Research interests: Policy
Shannon Gregg
Research interest: Nonprofit CRM usage
Meggan Lloyd
Research interests: Foster care support in higher education, basic needs supports in higher ed
Selena Marshall
Research interests: Dehumanization in healthcare of Black women
David Maytan
Research interests: Economic development, urban design, mindfulness
Maria Montaro
Dissertation: "Millenial Targeted Recruitment and Retention Strategies in Allegheny County Nonprofit Organizations"
Blair-Alexandri Cobb
Research interests: After school programming for African-American youth communities
Rikell Ford
Research interests: Black women and girls, intersectionality, Black feminist thought, social services
Hannah Hardy
Research interests: Community planning, deindustrialized communities, public health impacts, vacant land, abandoned property
Olivia Hartle
Research interests: Improvisation, applied improvisation, applied theatre, phenomenology, symbolic interactionism, community engagement
Stephanie King
Research interest: Donor conceived persons
Patrick Maher
Research interests: Diversity in STEM/technology, leadership decision-making
Daniel Mitchell
Research interest: Corporate social responsibility
David Ohm
Research interest: Restorative art therapy engagement
Deborah Skillings-Phillips
Research interest: Hiring practices in nonprofits for executive leadership
Emmanuel Twumasi
Research Interest: Fair, free transit
Kelly Wilding
Research interest: Sustained volunteerism in Pittsburgh
- Jimyse Brown
- India Christian
- Annie Fiffick
- Tiffany Pitts
- Jessica Ruffin
- Eric Sloss
Pictured above from left to right are Vickye Ford, Bethany Ozorak, Danielle Pilgrim and Lisa D. Simons. Photo by Randall Coleman.
Nazin Bagherynejad
Research Interests: Neighborhood assessment and development
Jacob George
Research Interests: Millennial and Generation Z voting behavior
Amanda Johnson
Research Interests: Exploring the behavioral health landscape as it relates to community-based organizations and intersection with population health
D. Clinton Kehr
Research Interests: Social identity theory, mutual respect and incivility, cognitive reframing, employee experience design, cultural paradigm shifts, small-group learning
Judith Riegelnegg
Research Interests: Understanding the role of schools in communities, particularly as supports of access to physical, mental and behavioral health; social services, social justice, food and housing insecurity relief, adult education and central information centers in times of natural disaster
Jaime Simmons
Research Interests: Nonprofit organizational development, feminist activism and theory, alternative organizational structures, using art in placemaking and community development
Laurie Havrisko
Research interests: Family/School Partnerships; Special Education; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
Diona Jones
Ashley Malachi
Research interests: Using mindfulness methods as a practice to build sustainable resilience among youth who have and continue to face trauma within their lives due to social constraints and social determinants of health that keep positive outcomes out of reach to build healthy futures.
Loleda Moman
Audia Robinson
Denise Taylor-Griffith
Joy Meta
Research interests: Gerentology; Nutritional outcomes of less fortunate, elderly patients and the occurrence of hospital readmission based upon diet.
Anette Nance
Research interests: First generations students and post-secondary career options/trajectory
Helen Jackson
Joe Oliphant
Aryanna Wagner
Pictured above from left to right are Courtney Tobin, Lisa Murphy, Heather Swenson Brilla, Michelle Owens and Lauren Burkert Lazzari.
Lauren Burkert LazzariResearch interests: The importance of familial social connections to reduce adverse childhood experiences in children.
Lisa MurphyResearch interests: Art, art education, community and public art
Michelle Owens
Research interests: Tourism development, overtourism and gentrification
Courtney TobinResearch interests: Queer communities, community in online spaces, political engagement and voice, and the psychology of community and relationships.
Heather Swenson BrillaResearch interests: Social network analysis, social constructionism, experiences of youth growing up in informal kinship care, food anthropology, tabletop role-playing games and socioemotional development, and the development of social capital among first-generation college students
Juan Pablo Blanco
Sarah Marie Laite
Tijuani Theresa Phelps Jackson
Tiffany Monique Thomas
Claire de Mezerville López
Pictured are community engagement faculty and students during the Fall 2022 welcome weekend and symposium. Photo by Randall Coleman.
Selected Student Conference Presentations
- Jennifer Bailey and Michael Harding: "Starting Down the Path of The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Elective Community Engagement Classification," Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities Charting the Future of Metropolitan Universities Conference.
- LaWana Butler: “Community Impact,” Healthy Start Board, Metro Community Health Center Board, WQED Advisory Committee, Center for Urban Biblical Ministry Board.
- Andrew Conte: "Media Oasis: Forming a University and Community Organization," Community Engagement Pathways and Strategies, Engagement Scholarship Consortium Conference.
- Ryan Cummings, Tammy Washington and Melissa Rossiter: “Recommendations for Equitable Urban Redevelopment Without Resulting in Gentrification,” Engaged Scholarship Consortium.
- Rikell Ford: “Creating Safe Spaces: Empowering Others to Use Their Voice,” TCOM.
- Trisha Gadson, Heather Starr-Fiedler and Brett Marcoux: "A Social Labs Impact on Race, Equality and Social Injustice Curricular/Pedagogical Models," National Conference for Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education.
- Olivia Hartle:
- “Improvisation, Pedagogy and Education: Comedic Improvisation as a Pedagogy for Civic Engagement,” Global Improvisation Initiative Symposium.
- “Improvisation as a Pedagogy for Community Engagement,” Engagement Scholarship Consortium.
- Meggan Lloyd and Jonas Prida: "Provider Scholarship Program: A Case Study in Student Access and Affordability," Engagement Scholarship Consortium Conference.
- Patrick Maher: “Diversity Issues in the STEM Labor Market,” Point Park University Graduate Student Conference.
- Brittany McDonald: “Establishing Cultural and Racial Diversity in Student Leadership as the Standard: A Call to Transformation,” NCORE 2018.
- Veronika Panagiotou:
- "Inspiring Socially Responsible Students with Human Centered Design Thinking to Support Solutions,” Association of American Colleges and Universities, Diversity, Equity, and Student Success Conference.
- “The Pittsburgh Social Lab: An Experiment in Innovative Social Change,” Engagement Scholarship Consortium Annual Conference.
- Kendra Ross:
- "When and Where We Gather: The (Un)Certain Future of Womanism," Roundtable Participant, National Women's Studies Association.
- "Freedom Dreams: A Black Feminist Exploration of Cultural Work in the Hill District of Pittsburgh," Presenter, Association for the Study of African American Life and History.
- "Intersection*ology - Feminist Art, Technology and Community Engagement," International Symposium on Electronic Art, Durban, South Africa.
- "Black Feminist Thought and Critical Race Theory as Engaged Scholarship and Praxis," Association for the Study of African American Life and History.
Check out some of our faculty presentation and publications.
