Sprout e-course – Pearson Fellowship for Social Innovation

Staff

Core staff

• Jennifer Corriero
  Executive Director
  TakingITGlobal

  Over the past 9 years, as co-founder and executive director of TakingITGlobal, Jennifer has designed and delivered an extensive range of interactive learning experiences with the aim of empowering youth as community leaders. In 2002 she developed TakingITGlobal's first edition of the Guide to Action which was utilized by the Toronto District School Board as part of a leadership course. In 2003, as part of her undergraduate thesis at York University, Jennifer conducted a study on the  Role of Youth that later inspired her follow-up research at York University's Faculty of Environmental Studies where she completed her Masters with a concentration on Youth Engagement and Capacity Building Across Cultures. Her thesis project focused on revisiting the Guide to Action framework by leveraging the insights and experiences of youth leaders from around the world. These findings have informed recent edition of the overall TakingITGlobal Guide to Action along with the issue-specific guides on HIV/AIDS and Climate Change. Jennifer has also directed or partnered with numerous research institutions related to youth and online civic engagement. Publications can be found on TakingITGlobal. Jennifer's role in the Sprout e-course is to provide overall support and guidance for the project, leveraging her research insights, networks and direct leadership experiences in order to deliver an impactful program.

• Laura Gergley
  Case Manager Fall 2010 - Winter 2011
  Spring/Summer 2010 Sprout E-course

  Laura is captivated with the opportunity to work with innovative and inspiring youth from around the world to engage in and advocate outreach to local communities through online education. Laura oversees the overall success of the e-course and the happiness of the Sprout community. She is thankful to be working with/in such an inclusive learning environment.

  Laura graduated from Trent University with an Honours BA, majoring in English Literature with a minor in Women's Studies. During her undergraduate studies, Laura devoted her research to equity policies in education. From there she realized the need to introduce intersectional equity policies which ensure the inclusion of all youth in educational institutions; TakingITGlobal definitely has this to offer participants'.

  In her spare time, you can find Laura reading her favourite graphic novels in local coffee shops, volunteering with literary festivals, learning how to cook her mother's mouth-watering recipes (emphasis on learning), and strumming her guitar.

• Kristle Calisto-Tavares
  Program Manager, Fall 2010-Winter 2011, Sprout E-course & E-fellow Program
  

  Kristle launched her first social venture at the age of 19 and hasn't stopped since. Before joining the Sprout team as Program Manager, Kristle became involved with the Sprout E-course as an e-Mentor to 3 participants and Coach to the Core Team. She is deeply committed to supporting a new generation of social innovators as they translate their talent, energy and ingenuity into real and lasting impact. Today, she inspires, informs and empowers others to build a better world through iNSPiRED PRACTiCE. Established in 2007, iNSPiRED PRACTiCE is Kristle's second social venture - a social-purpose enterprise that creates strategies and tools for conscientious businesses and enterprising non-profits to grow sustainably. iNSPiRED PRACTiCE combines the compassion at the heart of the citizen sector with the ambition at the core of traditional entrepreneurship to evolve workplaces and communities toward a values-based standard.

  Kristle has been a member of the TakingITGlobal online community since 2004 and feels especially privileged to be involved in leading Sprout's evolution. In October 2010, Kristle will become a founding member of the Centre for Social Innovation Annex in Toronto and looks forward to spreading the word about Sprout. When Kristle is at play, you can find her undertaking home-improvement projects with her hubby, indulging in exceptionally tasty food, and blogging about inspired living.

Technical Artisans

• Nigel Ayow
  Graphic Design
  Sprout E-course pilot

  Nigel Ayow graduated with high honours in Graphic Design at Seneca College. Taking computer science for 3 years in high school, he found his passion in design. He has produced websites for various different organizations and is knowledgeable in many design programs. After graduation in 2008, he joined the TakingITGlobal team as a Graphic Designer utilizing his strong design skills for different projects. He is very eager to show his creativity to the world. His recent project in 2007 is the campaign for the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC), for which he designed a poster; marketing the change in the OHRC system. It was well received by Barbara Hall, the Chief Commissioner of the OHRC. Other than design, Nigel likes the beach, listening to music, swimming, surfing world wide web video games, watching movies, fishing, camping, and visiting museums. His ultimate goal in life is being happy.

• Maciej Jasiobedzki
  Web Developer
  Sprout E-Course

  Maciej lovingly crafts websites and web applications for TakingITGlobal. When not wielding the tools of this particular trade he can be found in kitchens across the city. It turns out that the patience, experimentation and attention to detail required for web development translate pretty well in a culinary setting. Be on the lookout for delicious developments in this field!

Evaluation Specialists

• Peter Levine
  Director
  CIRCLE (Centre for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement)

  Peter Levine became Director of CIRCLE in January 2006. He is also Research Director of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service at Tufts University. Outside of Tufts, he is involved with:

  Levine’s books are:

  Levine updates his blog every weekday.

  • The Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools (steering committee member, former chair)
  • The Charles Kettering Foundation (director)
  • Deliberative Democracy Consortium (steering committee member)
  • Streetlaw, Inc. (member of the Board of Directors and Program Committee chair)
  • AmericaSpeaks (board member)
  • Newspaper Association of American Foundation (trustee)
  • November Fifth Coalition (founding member)
  • Advisory boards: National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Civics Committee and Background Variables Committee; America’s Promise Research Council; Mobilize.org Advisory Board; American Bar Association Standing Committee on Public Education Advisory Commission; The Democracy Imperative; Obama for America Education Policy and Urban Policy committees
  • Forging Citizens: Policy for Youth Civic Engagement (Co-edited volume with James Youniss.) In production with Vanderbilt University Press.
  • The Future of Democracy: Developing the Next Generation of American Citizens (All proceeds benefit CIRCLE)
  • The Deliberative Democracy Handbook: Strategies for Effective Civic Engagement in the Twenty-First Century (co-edited volume, with John Gastil)
  • The New Progressive Era: Toward a Fair and Deliberative Democracy
  • Living Without Philosophy
  • Something to Hide (a novel)
  • Nietzsche and the Modern Crisis of the Humanities
• Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg
  Lead Researcher,
  CIRCLE

  Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg joined CIRCLE as Lead Researcher in August 2008. Kei conducts quantitative analyses and co-produces reports for various audiences. She is particularly interested in providing various organizations and communities with research that helps to increase civic and political engagement among ethnic minority and immigrant populations. Kei is near completion of her doctorate degree from Loyola University in Chicago in Clinical Psychology and has extensive experience in working with youth of diverse backgrounds, both as a researcher and a practitioner. Throughout her graduate career, she has focused her research on positive youth development, including civic engagement. Prior to joining CIRCLE, Kei taught as Visiting Instructor of Psychology at Knox College, where she became involved as an active collaborator for the Center in Galesburg, a community-based citizen organization. In Collaboration with the Center in Galesburg, Kei designed a course in Community Psychology in which she taught college students about various types of engagement and actively involved them in the local community.

We could not have done it without…

Sprout Alumni

• Emily Briggs
  Program Manager, Spring 2007- Winter 2010
  Sprout E-course

• Nadine Ibrahim
  Program Assistant, 2009
  Sprout E-course

• Chan Drepaul
  BA, MBA (Candidate)
  York Sustainable Entreprise Consultants

• Jennifer Jew
  MES Candidate, 2008-2009
  York Sustainable Entreprise Consultants

• Valerie Kitchell
  MES Candidate, 2008-2009
  York Sustainable Entreprise Consultants

• 

  Sarah Degendorfer
  Communications Assistant, Spring 2009
  Sprout e-course
• Emily Kornblut
  Instructional Design, 2008-2009
  Sprout e-course
• Sheridy Leslie
  Curriculum Developer, Summer 2009
  Sprout e-course
• Mehrdad Nadimi
  Graphic Design, 2007-2009
  Sprout e-course
• Jessica King,
  Curriculum Developer, Summer 2008
  Sprout e-course pilot
• Lucas Denis,
  Web development, Summer 2008
  Sprout e-course pilot
• Andi Wilson,
  Usability Analyst, Summer 2008
  Sprout e-course pilot

Although these individuals comprise the official Sprout team, we would like to recognize the entire TIG staff for all of their input into the development of the e-course. We can't thank them enough for their tireless feedback, input and support. You can read more about them here.