Interested in becoming a facilitator? Info. Sessions for the spring 2022 team are happening NOW — PSU students register HERE! MEET OUR STAFF View fullsize LAURIE MULVEY - DIRECTOR For nearly thirty years, Dr. Laurie Mulvey has been creating classroom spaces that revolve around learning rather than lesson plans, and where nuance, uncertainty and a multiplicity of perspectives are crucial to that goal. What she now understands is that this kind of environment does not just serve education, but every endeavor where humans collaborate and conflict. As a co-founder of World in Conversation, Dr. Mulvey’s work has infused every aspect of the Center. Under her leadership, it has become the largest university-based dialogue center in the United States.…. LEARN MORE DJ SEBALLOS - ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Danna Jayne Seballos, known as DJ, is the Assistant Director for the World in Conversation Center for Public Diplomacy (WinC). In that role DJ manages the Center's operations from staffing and HR to budget administration. She started working with what was then the Race Relations Project, as a student facilitator, in 2007. Her efforts as program manager helped transform the Project to World in Conversation in 2010 while her work on the organizational structure laid the foundation for WinC to become a Center in 2013… LEARN MORE SAM RICHARDS - DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Dr. Sam Richards is an award-winning teaching professor and sociologist at Penn State University who instructs the largest race and cultural relations course in the United States. With nearly 800 students each semester and a 27-year legacy, SOC 119 was the subject of an Emmy Award winning television broadcast called, “You Can’t Say That.” This course is currently live-streamed to the world (and nearly 50,000 subscribers from 160 countries) every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon (EST) at the class YouTube channel.… LEARN MORE SHEFFY MINNICK - FACILITATION TRAINING MANAGER Sheffy's short term goal as the Global Programs Manager is to make WinC dialogues a crucial part of cross cultural training for all NATO cadets. Amidst completing a three year research grant from NATO, Sheffy is working toward a more permanent partnership between NATO and WinC. The long-term partnership will impact the future of cross-cultural training for International Affairs and has the potential to change the landscape of public diplomacy on a global platform… LEARN MORE SARAH CHELIUS - DIALOGUE DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST Sarah works with facilitators virtually from Detroit, Michigan, where she lives and works as a community organizer. She is interested in how dialogue and social justice organizing inform one another, and she believes relationships are at the center of how change happens… LEARN MORE MICHELLE FRISBY - OPERATIONS MANAGER In 2006, an assignment for Dana Stuchul’s Curriculum Instruction course (CI295) was my invitation into the work of World in Conversation. I attended a dialogue and remember feeling refreshed, energized and relieved that I could sit with a group of people and engage in a discussion about race. Until that point, I had felt as though when I tried to have discussions about race with my peers, they were often surface level conversations that felt dismissive rather than engaging... LEARN MORE JEFFREY HAMILL - EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM ASSISTANT Jeff finished his bachelors in Telecommunications from Penn State in the Spring of 2017 and is continuing his education studying in the Masters of Education’s Learning, Design and Technology program. Inside the WinC offices, Jeff helps maintain and innovate the office technology along with the other members of the “Tech Team”, Joy and JD. Outside the office, he is main producer, editor, innovation manager and student contact for the Soc119 live stream.… LEARN MORE View fullsize JORDAN BLASCHAK - DOMESTIC AND GLOBAL PROGRAMS ASSISTANT/TECH AND MEDIA ASSISTANT JD is originally from State College, Pennsylvania. Growing up, JD was heavily involved in the art and music scene, and had the opportunity to play and tour in bands from around the area. Through his travels he found an interest in different cultures and how ways of life differ from city to city by talking to the locals that came out to the shows. JD has had a lifelong passion for history… LEARN MORE View fullsize DEBBIE GUERRERO - JUNIOR TRAINER Debbie Guerrero started her WiNC journey when she TA’d for SOC 119 in the fall semester of 2017. Her interest in how people communicate inspired her to pursue a career in speech pathology and she graduated with a degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders in Spring 2020. After learning so much about how people literally produce speech, World In Conversation opened the door to the many nuances and often difficulties of human interactions and communication… LEARN MORE View fullsize TAYLOR JAMES - ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR Taylor, also known as Taylor J., has been a beacon in Pond Lab since her arrival at World in Conversation. Taking on her new role as Administrative Coordinator seems effortless. Her love for people and genuine connection has allowed her to foster meaningful relationships amongst student facilitators and staff. And with a background in supply chain management, she’s able to manage numerous systems within WinC and the human connections that it takes to operate… LEARN MORE View fullsize JOY CHILES - OFFICE COORDINATOR Last name pronounced the way you want to spell it when you hear it but without the “d” (Hint: Childs), Joy comes to State College as the first in her family from Philadelphia, Pa. Working to maintain the path to completing her under grade at Penn State Joy has been finding her way to make the most of her time out of school. The leading hurdle she face is the big question we all face, want to do for the rest of your life. Growing up always interested and eager to learn any and everything she remained constantly involved… LEARN MORE JAMIE ADGERSON - RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT TEAM MEMBER The Past: Member of "The Village"—the group of student & alumni leaders, plus the large community of supporters, whose actions, strength, perseverance and faith catalyzed the birth of a number of campus programs including the Race Relations Project (RRP) in 2001 which later became World in Conversation. LEARN MORE View fullsize CHILUVYA ZULU - FOUNDATIONS OF FACILITATION TRAINER & COORDINATOR Chiluvya Zulu is a Foundations of Facilitation Trainer. Chiluvya began her work with World in Conversation as a teaching assistant for SOC 119 in 2014. Chiluvya spent the rest of her college career working at the center in numerous capacities. After 3 years at the center, Chiluvya graduated with her bachelor's degrees (International Politics and Global & International Studies), and moved to Philadelphia to pursue a career in Finance... LEARN MORE DELALI AGAWU - COURSE ASSISTANT A recent graduate of Pennsylvania State University, Delali Agawu earned her Bachelor’s degree in Communication Arts and Sciences. Working as a Course Assistant for the Foundations Facilitation Team, she is able to pursue her interest in group dynamics and team development. Delali has always been drawn to what happens when humans are able to engage in authentic communication across social barriers and create new worlds together… LEARN MORE WILL WISE - FACULTY ADVISOR When people have the ability to create conversations that matter everything about who they see themselves as can transform. WiLL WiSE loves to create learning spaces in which the student becomes the teacher, where the learning happens through the experience, and the power of questions are unleashed… LEARN MORE MISSION To host groups that allow people to “think together” across borders VISION To make visible the crucial role of small group facilitators in every sphere where people conflict and collaborate METHOD Small group facilitators manage information, communication and interaction patterns between people so that they can explicitly and meaningfully “think together” on the basis of their different social positions. DONATE LOG IN © World in Conversation — 2021