Jeff Alexander

Administrative & Events Coordinator
Metropolitan Public Airport Foundation

University of Minnesota, B.S. in Human Ecology / Housing Studies

As Jeff became more involved as a community volunteer, he saw how important relationship-building was for organizations. His philanthropic project with the Youth and AIDS Projects (YAP) of the University of Minnesota, an organization committed to prevention, outreach, and case management programs for youth and young adults faced with a diagnosis of HIV, will provide the organization with resources that sustain the wonderful work being done. He will apply the collaboration and skills from the Buckman Fellowship into a strategy that enhances the donor base of the organization, builds individual relationships that encourages continual giving, and develops fund-raising events that promote the visibility of the organization.

e-mail Jeff Alexander

Maggi Davern

Community Organization Consultant

University of Minnesota, B.A. in Social Work University of Minnesota, Certificate for Advocacy Leadership Program for Vital Aging

Maggi has an extensive history of community involvement including serving as the Executive Director of the St. Paul Voluntary Action Center, the Manager of Volunteer Services for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and most recently as the Director of Administration, Development, and New Initiatives at Hunger Solutions Minnesota. She is presently serving as the Greater Minnesota Outreach Coordinator for the Minnesota Association of Volunteer Administrators (MAVA) and is an active officer on the University of Minnesota School of Social Work alumni board. Maggi has expertise in community collaboration and partnerships as well as extensive experience in working with grassroots and faith based human services. For her project, Maggi is interested in working with Minnesota's food shelves to strengthen their infrastructure, specifically in regards to volunteer management, in order to sustain and grow their response to the community's changing needs.

e-mail Maggi Davern

Dan Kennedy

Sales Representative
Higgins & White, Inc.

University of Minnesota, B.S. in Nutrition and Dietetics

Regarding the College of Human Ecology Alumni Society Career Readiness Scholarship, Dan hopes to build current fund to endowment of $25,000 by April of 2006 to continue to support the tours, mentor activities, and other career readiness events through during this year and in our transition to new colleges. The two most successful components of the CHEAS Career Readiness activities are the mentorship program and the career readiness tours. The career readiness fund will hopefully establish a legacy back to the principles of the College of Human Ecology through our transitional year(s) of the college. As a secondary project, Dan plans to work with the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Foundation to establish one fundraising event for Minnesota IFT section to go directly to the IFT Foundation on behalf of the Minnesota IFT Section. The IFT Foundation supports local business, colleges, and primary schools with scholarships and education for those who have an interest in Food Science.

e-mail Dan Kennedy

Katalin Medvedev

Ph.D. candidate in DHA
University of Minnesota, Dept. of Design, Housing, and Apparel

University of Northern Iowa, M.A. in Women’s Studies Eotvos Lorand University, M.A. in English and Russian

Katalin is interested fundraising for educational purposes, study abroad programs, and other global exposure projects. She is currently working with Marilyn DeLong in the College of Human Ecology on the Mind Over Matter, Body Under Design Cultural Exchange Exhibition with students from Hong-Ik University in Seoul, Korea.

e-mail Katalin Medvedev

Sara Zoff

Site Coordinator- Ravoux Assisted Living Program
A.H. Wilder Foundation

University of Minnesota, Masters of Social Work

Iowa State University, B.S. in Journalism and Mass Communications

A site coordinator for A.H. Wilder Foundation, Sara will concentrate her efforts on collaboration with the School of Social work that will support Masters of Social Work (M.S.W.) students interested in exploring practice with older adults, building on the Hartford Foundation Gerorich Program. Her goals include: increasing the number of available internship/field placement opportunities for professional practice with older adults and diverse aging populations available to University of Minnesota School of Social Work master’s degree students; increasing the student population’s awareness of the breadth of career opportunities available in the field of aging practice and gerontology, as well as knowledge related to demographic changes that are creating greatly increased needs for aging savvy social work professionals nationwide; and identifying and securing financial resources to support M.S.W. students while participating in field placements with an aging practice or gerontologic focus.