Alumni Bios

Davey Ahearn 

Davey was the first undergraduate of TSC (precursor to WRTC) in 1998, after interning for the first TSC projects, including the creation of the original Journal for Humanitarian Demining website. Upon graduation he joined Inter-National Research Institute (INRI) where he led the operation of, and later the development of military geospatial systems deployed worldwide by the US, NATO, and numerous coalition organizations. Once INRI was acquired by Northrop Grumman, Davey led various C2 programs within the Missions Systems sector. In 2010, Davey founded BluestoneLogic, which has delivered prototype and strategic C2 systems to support operations around the world and in cyberspace.

Neal Allen 

Originally from Northern Virginia, Neal graduated from JMU in 2006 and moved to South Korea, where he taught English and martial arts at Daejeon University. He graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 2011, and began working at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) after passing the bar exam. In HUD he has held various roles over the past 10 years, including Appropriations Law advisor, Budget analyst, Senior policy analyst, Chief of Staff of Single Family Housing, and Deputy Director of Single Family policy, and he is currently serving as the Budget Director of the Office of Housing/Federal Housing Administration.

Lauren Armbruster

Lauren Armbruster is currently a Senior National Security Analyst and Operations Manager at the MITRE Corporation, an operator of federally funded research and development centers (FFRDCs) in McLean, VA. Lauren graduated from JMU in 2018 with a B.A. in Religion & Philosophy, a B.S. in Intelligence Analysis, and a minor in Global Religion and Global Issues. She was the valedictorian of the College of Integrated Science and Engineering (CISE) and the Distinguished Graduate in Religion. While she was a student, Lauren completed multiple analytic internships with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) in Charlottesville, VA and was awarded a Top-Secret clearance. She joined MITRE after graduation and continued supporting the Intelligence Community in a data policy and acquisition role focused on strategy generation for Big Data obstacles and solutions. Her current position as the Acquisition Lead and Operations Manager of a MITRE internal research team allows her to engage directly with the private sector and act as the connector between commercial vendors of emerging technology and the US government. Her team prototypes commercial analytic solutions using hands-on testing and evaluation of artificial intelligence tools and open-source data.

April Armstrong

April Armstrong is President of the JMU CAL Alumni Advisory Board and CEO of AHA Insight, which helps top executives succeed with high-stakes change. A 1992 graduate of CAL who double-majored in French and Communications, Ms. Armstrong rose through the ranks to become a corporate officer in the nation’s largest employee-owned research and development company, which became a publicly-traded Fortune 500 company. Her wide-ranging career highlights includes leading pandemic research after 9/11 in a program for which Dr. Anthony Fauci was a lead scientific advisor and helping to broker consensus for the largest IT modernization in national security. Her leadership tips have been featured in Forbes and on ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox television networks.

Haima Askari

Haima Askari completed a bachelor’s degree in international affairs at JMU and a graduate degree in public policy from UVA. Currently, he works for the Virginia Economic Development Partnership focusing on increasing offshore wind energy investments in Virginia. Previously, he has spent time working in the German parliament, the UNHCR, and in Qatar as a policy analyst. His core policy interests are in the fields of migration and environmental policy. 

Lauren Bennett

Lauren started her career working in marketing and advertising agencies as a project manager, and oversaw the creative development for brands like Volkswagen, Hilton and Hyatt Hotels. Now as the Director of Creative Services, she oversees the production of digital brand campaigns for high profile hospitality clients. 

Katie Bowles 

Katie Bowles is a social media strategist and freelance writer in Los Angeles, California. After graduating from James Madison University in 2011, Katie relocated to the D.C. area, where she worked with multiple local, regional, and national organizations, then moved to Southern California in 2018. She has managed social media for both for-profit and nonprofit organizations and has been published in print and online publications such as Northern Virginia Magazine, diatribe, Festival Squad, and 1stdib’s blog, The Study. Katie currently manages the social media presence of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). 

Mia Brabham 

Mia Brabham is an author, writer, media host, and conversation lover. A multimedia storyteller, she has over 18,000 followers and two million video views on her YouTube channel and just released her debut book, Note to Self, which is a short collection of life lessons. Her writing has been published in Cosmopolitan, Huffington Post, California’s Emerging Writers: An Anthology of Fiction, Gardy Loo Magazine, Harness Magazine, and more.

Before becoming a freelance writer and host (currently for Bigger Bolder Baking’s Knead to Know), Mia held production and marketing positions at NBCUniversal, E! News, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, 60 Second Docs, and Smithsonian. In 2017, she was selected to be a part of the prestigious NBCUniversal Page Program. Mia has done entertainment news coverage for awards shows such as the GRAMMYs and Golden Globes, and has edited and produced content for sports organizations including the NBA, WNBA, and NHL. She has also gone on to deliver electric speeches in front of an assortment of crowds, including her university commencement address, and has livened up rooms as the host for live events ranging from intimate TEDx gatherings to arenas filled with sports fans. Having worked at the JMU career center for a number of years while in school, she is passionate about helping people reach their professional and personal goals.

Ciara Brennan (’17) is a higher education communications and marketing specialist with expertise in writing, content creation and social media management. She is passionate about creating connection through storytelling. She graduated with a degree in Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication and minored in Communication Studies at JMU.

Lauren Brice

Lauren is a Senior Assistant Public Defender in Alexandria, Virginia. Lauren is an active member of the Virginia State Bar and attended George Mason University School of Law. She has a strong commitment to public service and to pursuing a career in public interest law. She has specialized experience in juvenile issues and mental health issues, especially when pertaining to the criminal justice system.  

Timothy Brown 

Tim Brown currently works for RWJBarnabas Health, where he serves as the Site Administrator for the company’s hospitalist practice at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Rahway, NJ. He first became interested in working in health administration through his volunteer work as an Emergency Medical Technician for the Berkeley Heights Volunteer Rescue Squad after graduating from JMU. As a student at JMU, Tim was a member of the fraternity Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) and served as the Risk Manager, as well as one of the Judicial Chairs. He was also involved in the Justice Studies Student Organization (JSSO), where he served as the first recording secretary. Tim’s long term goal is to either hold an executive level leadership position in healthcare compliance, or investigate healthcare fraud for the government. In addition to holding a Bachelor of Science in Justice Studies (Track A), Tim also holds a Master of Science in Health Administration from the College of Saint Elizabeth, and a Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Compliance from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Law. 

Maria Cambone 

Maria grew up outside of Washington, D.C. in McLean, Virginia. She attended James Madison University from 2009-2012, graduating with her B.A. in Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication. In college, she worked as a lumberjack on a chainsaw crew in Colorado, interned with The New Press publishing house in New York City, and held a part-time job at JMU’s disability services office. After graduation, Maria began her career as a technical editor at a for-profit company which ensures that its clients websites are accessible to customers with disabilities. Additionally, Maria built a side business as a freelance editor and author, especially focusing on tabletop and live-action games. With four years experience in the private sector, Maria attended graduate school to complete an M.S. in Student Affairs in Higher Education at Miami University of Ohio in 2018. Now a career coach, Maria uses her experience to connect students at Indiana University’s Media School to opportunities in entertainment, advertising, marketing, journalism, PR, and gaming. As a queer, disabled career coach, Maria is dedicated to working people for whom it may be challenging to see themselves in traditional careers, whether because of their creative aspirations or their experiences of marginalization. 

Allison Capley

Allison Capley is a health science writer on the HHS COVID-19 and Flu Public Education Campaign, where she creates compelling, health-literate communication for people with chronic health conditions; literacy, language, or cultural barriers; or limited access to public health services and resources. Ms. Capley received her B.S. in Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication from James Madison University in 2016, followed by an M.A. in Science Writing from Johns Hopkins University in 2019. She has previously worked as a science writer at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and as a technical proposal writer for biomedical research/health IT companies. She is specialized in health literacy and simplifying technical and complex health information into plain language. Her career focus areas include public health, health communication, science writing, technical editing, and content management. 

Bennett Conlin 

After graduating from JMU in 2018, Bennett joined business.com and wrote about small businesses for a little over a year. Eventually, he decided covering live sporting events was more fun than writing about accounting software and took a sports reporting gig in Charlottesville. At The Daily Progress, he covers UVA athletics, with a primary focus on UVA men’s basketball and football. 

Johnny Constable 

Johnny is a Jr. Copywriter for Weber Shandwick, a top global PR Firm. He writes social, scripts, activations, etc. for brands like Under Armour, USPS and Absolut. He is also the Communications Chair for the DE&I Committee. 

Teresa Cummings 

Teresa graduated from JMU in 2019 with a degree in Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communications (WRTC), and Spanish Language studies. She will graduate in June 2021 with a master’s degree in Human-Centered Design and Engineering (HCDE) at the University of Washington in Seattle. Teresa focuses her professional career on bringing storytelling and writing deeper within the science and technology industries. Teresa interned at Amazon last summer as a UX Researcher and will return full-time following her graduation.

Amanda Del Re

Amanda is  an active duty Army Air Defense officer. She was commissioned from JMU’S ROTC program in 2006. She majored in English and earned a MA in English from JMU. She has served as a Platoon Leader in Iraq in a Counter-Rocket Artillery Mortar (C-RAM) Battalion; her Battalion was responsible for warning and shooting down enemy rockets before they reached the forward operating bases. As a Captain, she ran a Brigade Tactical Operations Center in Afghanistan. Later, she commanded a Patriot Missile Battery while forwarded deployed in the Middle East. She had the privilege of instructing new Air Defense Lieutenants during their Officer Basic Course before they went to their first units. As a Major, she served as a Chief of Staff (which is second in command) and Operations Officer of a Patriot Missile Battalion while forwarded deployed in the Middle East. Currently, she is a Missile Defense Planner on the Joint Staff.

Mike Dolzer 

At JMU, Mike served as Managing Editor of The Breeze and General Manager of WXJM. Upon graduating, He moved to NYC and joined Nielsen, the global leader in media insights and made famous by their TV ratings. He started as a Research Analyst, translating data into actionable insights for clients like Google, NBCU, CNN and Facebook/Instagram. From there he became Senior Research Analyst for TV and Audio clients, before transitioning into his current role as custom Project Manager, solving problems for the questions that are just starting to be asked. He is also the chair of his department’s Engagement and Inclusion team.

Meghan Ely

OFD Consulting owner, Meghan Ely, combines in-the-trenches event experience with a love of wedding PR to empower her clients to take their businesses to new heights. A long-time industry speaker and writer, she is a WeddingPro educator with The Knot + WeddingWire, as well as a regular contributor to Wedding Planner Magazine, Catersource and SpecialEvents.com. Her team’s publicity efforts are regularly honored by the Public Relations Society of America. Meghan and her colleagues won top honors in issues management for her median strategy pivots at the height of the Zika crisis. A long-time supporter of industry associations, Meghan currently serves as the 2021 International President for WIPA, and was the founding Marketing Director for Richmond NACE.

Julia Fiorio 

Julia Fiorio is a healthcare compliance and audit consultant. Currently a Manager at Sigma Health Consulting, Julia supports the Veterans Health Administration, Office of Internal Audit and leads a team conducting healthcare audits and assessments. Previously, Julia was a Program Director at The Health Management Academy where she oversaw programming development for collaboratives designed specifically for large health system executives in the space of population health, Medicare Advantage, and pharmacy. Julia has also worked as a Manager at Grant Thornton where she managed several projects for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and various health insurance companies. Her expertise includes conducting programmatic reviews, compliance evaluations, and risk assessments. 

Julia received her Master of Science in Health Policy from George Mason University. She also has a BS in Public Policy and Administration as well as a BA in Modern Foreign Languages (Italian) from James Madison University. In her free time, Julia volunteers as a Certified Medicare Counselor with Fairfax County residents. 

Kara Frank 

Kara Frank graduated from JMU in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies (concentration in Public Relations) and minor in Sports Communication. Shortly after graduating, Kara began working for Adfero, a small communications agency in Washington, DC. After seven years working on the account drafting social copy, creating strategic plans and running integrated marketing campaigns, Kara moved over to another DC-based agency, Stratacomm, as an Account Director. In this role, Kara is leading strategy, managing multi-million dollar budgets and leading strategy for several clients in the transportation industry. 

Isabelle Furth 

Since joining Edelman in 2014, Isabelle has leveraged her background in writing, media relations and project management to support some of Edelman’s largest global accounts, including Unilever, Taco Bell, Hilton, Dubai Tourism Board and Prudential. 

Isabelle’s work with Taco Bell catapulted the brand’s vegetarian menu and sustainability advancements into the mainstream, while her media strategy on Dubai Tourism landed the destination on countless travel lists. She developed Edelman’s annual Food and Beverage Trends in 2016 and 2017, driving research, insights compilation and content creation, and expanding the project to encompass an international scope. Other projects include stakeholder mapping for Red Bull, event planning for global initiatives 100 LIVES and B20 Summit, earned media for Lauren Bush Lauren’s FEED holiday campaign, and sustainability narrative development for American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers. 

Chrissy Garrett 

A recent SMAD Grad, Chrissy’s current role is the Director of Design and Content Strategy at Digital Minerva, a local web development agency. In this role Chrissy is responsible for the design and content of all websites, digital and print materials that leave the office. Chrissy is particularly fascinated by cohesion in brand identity and how design and content can elevate this message. With a keen eye and detail-oriented mindset Chrissy focuses on the minutiae that truly further brand identity and make a surprising difference in a project’s visual communication. Chrissy has prior experience as a graphic designer, copy editor, Co-Editor-in-Chief, marketer, and web developer. In addition to design, Chrissy also has a keen interest in the arts and previously had a work, a digital portrait, on display at the Baltimore Museum of Art. In the future Chrissy hopes to blend interests in design, content, branding and the arts into a Creative Director position. 

Kathryn Gilbert 

Kathryn has held various positions in diverse industries including government contracting, telecom, educational publishing, and engineering/construction. She began her career as a contractor for the U.S. Department of Agriculture where she provided copywriting skills for the IT department. Her next two positions were held on marketing teams where she was responsible for all print and digital copy, including website pages, social media, brochures, email campaigns, press releases, and related communications. She then transitioned to a more multifaceted role where she supported the marketing, product, and sales teams, providing editorial support and becoming one of the primary editors for Pre-K and K-5 curriculum books at an educational publishing company. 

Dave Gorrie 

The last 20 years Dave has worked on promos for national networks, like Discovery, NBC, CNN, CBS & Nat Geo (and brands like Lidl, Garnier, AARP & Marriott). He and his business partner started as editorial creative for Discovery Channel. They are now overseeing all creative at Trick & Mortar, working with curated teams towards a shared goal of making clients feel awesome.

Anna Laura Grant 

Anna Laura Grant has been an educator for over 10 years, teaching overseas and in the USA. She is currently the Director of Conflict Resolution and a DC History teacher at Washington Latin Public Charter School in Washington, DC. She has a Masters in Bilingual and Multicultural Education, a Masters in Secondary Education, and a Masters in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University. The focus of Anna Laura’s academic research is on racial conflict in the USA, particularly as it manifests in Washington, DC. She has been an interracial dialogue and equity designer, facilitator, and consultant for high school students and adults, working in schools, nonprofits and churches. Most recently, she has facilitated workshops on DC History with DC Unity and Justice, worked with Kindred, a DC-based organization that promotes educational equity in diverse schools through parent dialogues, co-facilitated with diversity and inclusion workshops with consultant Tamara Hamilton of Audacious Coaching, and a developed and lead workshops on Conflict Resolution for the Institute for Cross-Cultural Mission.

Kristen Greiner

Kristen Greiner is the Advancement Programs Coordinator at George Mason University. She graduated from James Madison University in 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and minors in Creative Writing and Studio Art and received her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing with a concentration in nonfiction writing from George Mason University in 2020. Kristen served as Editor-in-Chief for So to Speak: A Journal of Language, Feminism, and Art during her third year of graduate school. She is an essayist, editor, graphic designer, and hopefully a future travel writer. She currently lives in Falls Church, Virginia.

Melody Hackett

After graduating from JMU in 2019, Melody began work as a JMU Engagement Fellow with Valley Scholars. She works directly with students from 8-12th grade in the Valley Scholars program to help them prepare for college and their careers, maintain social and emotional wellbeing, and succeed academically. She also remains connected to JMU students by working with student volunteers who mentor some of the younger Valley Scholars. Her fellowship also provided her the opportunity to serve as Conference Coordinator with the Logic and Reasoning Institute to plan the 2020 “Civility and Disagreement: Free Speech and the Norms of Inquiry” conference. Her recent work has focused on identifying and addressing obstacles students face in this new virtual learning world, which are often exacerbated for underrepresented students.

Anne Hardrick 

Anne Hardrick graduated James Madison University in 2016 with a major in English and a minor in Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication. After graduating, she worked briefly as a freelance copywriter and then was hired as a Government Information Specialist with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Winchester, Virginia. She currently works in the Litigation Support Unit of the Information Management Division, handling Freedom of Information Act lawsuits on behalf of the FBI. 

Erin Hawley

Beginning as an intern in the engineering division at Sun Microsystems while an English major at JMU, Erin Hawley has spent her entire career leading the growth and profitability in both Fortune 500 and emerging information technology organizations. In 2016, she opened up the public sector office for DataRobot, the leader in enterprise Artificial Intelligence (AI), and has served as their General Manager/Vice President. Erin has been instrumental in that company’s unprecedented growth in the federal market and has led the company’s focus on working with the Intelligence Community, Department of Defense, and Capitol Hill to help bring awareness and solutions to some of the most time-critical and sensitive use cases impacting our country. 

Before DataRobot, she built and led the public sector sales, marketing, engineering, and alliances at Cloudera as the Vice President/Director for National Security. Prior experience also includes marketing, sales, government affairs, and management roles at various technology firms to include: Composite Software (Cisco acquired), Blackboard, and Silicon Graphics. Erin serves on several boards in an advisory capacity to help advance and promote the use of disruptive technologies within our government agencies, in addition to multiple philanthropic organizations as a volunteer and board member. 

Michael Hickman

Michael Hickman is an instructor in the School of Writing, Rhetoric, and Technical Communication at James Madison University. He is a ‘triple Duke’ in that he earned two Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and Religion in 2009. Continuing on at James Madison, he earned a Master’s degree in English in 2011, during which time he began teaching. He has been at JMU ever since, first as an adjunct lecturer and then as a full-time instructor. His professional interests include first-year writing, rhetoric, 20th century American novels, and issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

Sarah Hogg

Sarah Hogg (pronouns: they/them) is a Campaign Director at the progressive news and activism organization Daily Kos, where they lead abortion access and judicial advocacy campaigns. In addition to their political work, Sarah is a sexuality professional and primarily works with survivors on healing after trauma. They have spoken at numerous colleges across the United States about sexual violence, including Cornell University and Johns Hopkins University, and was featured on MTV News for Sexual Assault Awareness Month in 2019. Sarah also serves on the Board of Directors for HealthQ, an organization of trans-inclusive abortion and reproductive health clinics in Massachusetts. Prior to joining Daily Kos in 2017, Sarah served as the Advocacy and Organizing Manager at NARAL Pro-Choice North Carolina, Field Organizer for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, and served on the board of the Carolina Abortion Fund. They graduated from James Madison University with a B.A. in Anthropology and minor in Women’s and Gender Studies in 2015. 

Tripp Hughes 

John L. “Tripp” Hughes, III, is a 2009 graduate of JMU with honors and distinction in History. While at JMU he was involved in the Marching Royal Dukes and Phi Alpha Theta history honors society, and presented papers in many regional and national conferences. Tripp went on to graduate with his JD with honors from the University of Richmond T. C. Williams School of Law in 2012, and has worked in his hometown of Richmond since graduation. He currently is an in-house counsel for Midland Credit Management in Richmond. He served as the JMU Alumni Association Richmond Chapter President for two and half years before being elected to the JMU Alumni Association Board of Directors, where he currently serves as Vice President. Tripp is passionate about JMU and helping alumni and students get the most out of their JMU network. Tripp lives in Midlothian, VA with his wife and fellow alum Emily and their future Duke, Jack. 

Alex Husband 

Alex is a highly skilled creative strategist with expertise in producing original content to increase brand awareness, social media engagement, and revenue. He is experienced in strategic conception, copywriting, and brand definition and is an influential communicator with a proven track record of working collaboratively to meet demanding deadlines and achieve marketing goals.

Scott Ingram 

Scott is a second-year law student at Washington & Lee University School of Law who graduated from JMU in 2018 with a degree in Political Science and Philosophy. At W&L, he has been able to compete in multiple Moot Court Competitions to help develop litigation skills. He also writes and edits articles for the German Law Journal, W&L’s international law journal. He intends to clerk for a judge after graduating, then work as a litigator in Virginia. 

Sarah Johnson 

Sarah Johnson (she/her/hers) is a community activist with over 3+ years of experience in fighting for marginalized communities. With a Bachelor’s in Social Justice, her activism has involved fighting for systemic change and highlighting the challenges that Black women and LGBTQ people face. She has fought for and worked with survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) and making sure they are connected to services such as shelter, counseling, and DV lawyers. Sarah now works with members of the Comprehensive Harm Reduction program providing Narcan (naxalone) and cleaner use supplies such as needles, would care kits, and snort kits.

Adriane Kiss

Adriane has worked mainly in the entertainment industry since graduating from JMU in 2006. Her first job out of college was in the NBC Page Program. From there she worked in front of the camera as an on-air host, helping to produce and write content for a multitude of platforms. Currently, she is an on-air representative for Dooney and Bourke handbags. Given this interesting time of COVID-19, she was successfully able to pivot her career into full time work for a nonprofit working to help solve one of the most dire problems brought on by the pandemic. Adriane credits her well-rounded education from the JMU School of Communications for providing her the foundation to make a career change during a time where there just weren’t a lot of positions in the entertainment industry. 

Paige Lobuts

Paige is a user experience professional with five years of content strategy, conversation design, UX design, and user research skills on web and mobile experiences. As a UX strategist, she is responsible for aligning business goals with customer needs as well as ensuring that any digital experiences are built customer-first. By taking a research- and content-first approach to all digital experiences, she is able to create positive yet memorable experiences for users by understanding who they are and how to engage effectively with them. By using content to define the elements in a design, it allows for impactful, user engagement while also ensuring quality brand conversation and conversion.

Justin Long 

Justin C. Long is a Technical Writer for Merck & Co. Justin graduated from James Madison University in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, having concentrated primarily on piano, classical languages, and writing. Justin focuses on implementing principles of Data Integrity within business processes, and on partnering with engineers on improving procedural writing. Justin is a freelance columnist and blogger, whose primary topics concern classical music and the Baltimore Orioles.

Allen Luethke

Allen graduated in 2016 from JMU with a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and English Literature. He worked with Target for a number of years after graduating, doing everything from cleaning bathrooms and throwing boxes to eventually leading a team of 150+ members. In 2019, Allen leveraged his leadership experience in private industry to pivot into the world of government contracting and consulting. Here, his background in cultural anthropology proved invaluable in his mission to guide and advise the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Protective Service (FPS) through the tumultuous events of 2020. Allen recently obtained his Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, and continues to dive deeper into the government space. 

Joseph Maddrey 

Joseph has researched, written, and/or produced over 100 hours of documentary television programming and three feature-length documentary films. He has also published ten books (mostly film studies and biographies).

Melissa Marks

A Senior Creative Director with over 20 years in television, Melissa specializes in branded content and has expanded her role in the last 5 years to include digital and social video production for National Geographic’s advertisers including Nike, Mattel, Lexus, All-Clad and P&G. After graduation from the SMAD program in 1999, Melissa’s career began in the mailroom of a post production house in Virginia and has taken her around the globe with Discovery Networks, Travel Channel and now National Geographic. She’s been recognized by professional organizations including Promax/BDA, The Webby Awards, Cynopsis, The Shorty Awards and the Television Academy (Emmys). 

Brenna Matlock 

Brenna Matlock is the Senior Project Manager and Program Coordinator at the Center for International Stabilization and Recovery (CISR). Since joining CISR in 2015 as a Project Manager/Research Associate, Matlock has assisted with planning and implementing five SMCs internationally and on-campus (Vietnam ’15, JMU ’16, and Croatia ’17, Tajikistan ’18, JMU ’19), and instructed sessions related to effective presentation skills and HMA gender and diversity considerations. In addition, she coordinates and provides logistics for major project initiatives. Previously, as a former FKD Fellow, Matlock worked as an assistant program manager in the Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs (PM/WRA). Matlock is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication at James Madison University. She graduated magna cum laude from James Madison University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Justice Studies (Global Justice and Policy concentration). Her areas of scholarly interest include: gender and conflict, intercultural communication, risk communication, disability rhetoric, professional editing, community based research, peace studies and global, social and environmental justice.

Kathryn McAbee

Ms. Kathryn McAbee is currently the Division Chief for the DoD Cyber & Critical Infrastructure Threats Division within the Americas & Transregional Threats Center (ATTC). In this role, she is responsible for overseeing the comprehensive analysis on worldwide threats to defense critical infrastructure, threats to nuclear command, control, and communications, cyber threats to DoD systems and networks, and analysis of global undersea cables infrastructure.

Previously, Ms. McAbee served as the IC Tunnel Mission Manager, overseeing an IC wide mission to manage the collection and analysis of tactical tunnels worldwide. Additionally in this role, she oversaw a team of technical experts to explore advanced tools and techniques to leverage against this problem set. Her previous positions include executive officer in the Directorate for Analysis headquarters; intelligence liaison officer and briefer for multiple Office of Secretary Defense principles; lead analyst for worldwide undersea cables and cyber threats to DoD systems and networks with the Americas Regional Center and the Cyberthreat Analysis Office; and line analyst at the Underground Facility Analysis Center. She has been with DIA since 2010 as a government civilian, as well as from 2008-2010 as a contractor.

Matthew Merrit 

Originally from Richmond, VA, Matthew received his bachelor’s degree from James Madison University with a double major in Spanish and Justice Studies. Following graduation, he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer from 2013-2015 in the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho (Southern Africa) as a Primary English Teacher. During his service, he facilitated community training on HIV/AIDS mitigation, gender equality, healthy masculinity, and character development. He currently serves as a Senior Recruiter for the Peace Corps while pursuing his Master of Public Health online through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he virtually supported an international development organization to provide COVID-19 response to community members of Malealea, Lesotho. He assisted in developing an educational awareness campaign, food security initiative, and a measurement and evaluation implementation plan. He plans to pursue a career in global public health with a federal agency following graduation in July 2021.

Patrick Miller 

Patrick Miller, co-President of Ascential’s Digital Commerce Division, co-founded Flywheel Digital in 2014 and Flywheel became a part of Ascential plc in 2018. As part of his role, Patrick manages all product and technology initiatives for Flywheel and leads Digital Commerce M&A and Strategy.  

 Flywheel Digital helps leading manufacturers achieve digital sales, brand, and supply chain goals. Flywheel is a certified Amazon partner, one of four advertising API partners with Walmart, and an API partner with Instacart. Flywheel built their proprietary tech stack to meet the unique needs of the world’s most complicated brands and drive disproportionate digital retail success.  

Ascential is a specialist information, data and analytics company (FTSI 250)  that helps the world’s most ambitious businesses win in the digital economy. Our information, insights, connections, data and digital tools solve customer problems. 

Patrick has focused on digital retail and brand success since 2010.  Before that, Patrick oversaw the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s web, social, and volunteer engagement. Previously Patrick worked on numerous political campaigns managing websites, targeting, and voter contact. Patrick received his BA in English from James Madison University and volunteers for a number of environmental and trails advocacy organizations.

Aaron Minnick

After graduating, Aaron spent two years as a City Year Corps Member doing math and reading interventions and after school programming in Title I middle schools in New Orleans. After that, he spent six months living at a spiritual community in New Mexico and six months working in an Amazon warehouse while he applied to the Peace Corps. When that fell through, Aaron moved back to New Orleans and enrolled in an alternative certification program to get his teaching license. He currently teaches 5th grade ELA while applying for grad school. 

Raphael Perrino

Raphael is a Business Development Manager, Operations and Analytics at ABL Space Systems. Previously, he has worked as a Senior Business Intelligence Analyst at Virgin Orbit, Aerospace Analyst for Bryce Space and Technology at NASA in support of the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). He also led a team of analysts on the Start-Up Space report series. Prior to his work for STMD, he worked as an Aerospace Analyst in support of the NASA Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Strategic Investments Division.

He holds an M.S. and B.S. in Technical and Scientific Communication from James Madison University as well as an M.A. in International Science and Technology Policy with an emphasis in Space Policy from George Washington University.

Ricardo Pineres

Ricardo graduated from JMU with a bachelor’s of Arts in Political Science and government in 2005, then got his J.D. from the George Washington University Law School in 2009. He is now an attorney and compliance professional specializing in banking and financial services working as the assistant vice president, regulatory compliance & public policy for Navy Federal Credit Union. 

Dimitry Pompee

Dimitry Pompee is a television writer living in Los Angeles. He is currently staffed on the Disney Channel sitcom Gabby Duran and the Unsittables. Before working in the entertainment industry, he maintained a successful career in government relations, working for the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Postal Service in Washington DC, as well as the Southern California Gas Company in Los Angeles. Dimitry earned bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Public Policy from James Madison University, as well as a master’s in Legislative Affairs at George Washington University.

Jessica Raines 

A double Duke, Jessica majored in psychology and justice studies in undergrad and obtained a master’s degree in political science through JMU’s European Union Policy Study program in Florence, Italy. After graduate school, she taught English for Speakers of Other Languages as an AmeriCorps volunteer in Fairfax County before taking a Policy Analyst job at the USPS Office of Inspector General. For six years she focused on technological development and potential use cases for USPS as well as international postal issues, building her expertise and being promoted to Public Policy Specialist. In June 2018 Jessica took a career break to teach English in Chile, learn Spanish, and travel around the world. She returned to the postal sector in May 2020, working with her former boss to build a new research group now at USPS.

Chelsea Reed 

After having worked in various fields from high end retail, the corporate world, restaurants, and residential healthcare, Chelsea is now a graduate student in Virginia Tech’s Counselor Education Master’s program. It took a few years to navigate these various fields and hone in on her long-term interests, which ultimately reside in coming alongside others to examine the nebulous notions surrounding purpose in life, and turning them into solid ground upon which to navigate one’s personhood in the here and now.

Gabriella Rodriguez 

In her last semester at JMU, Gabriella interned at the Collins Center and Child Advocacy Center in downtown Harrisonburg. Her internship at the Collins Center helped shape the journey she envisioned for a career. She knew then that she wanted to pursue a career at the intersection of social justice and health & wellness. Her goal was to attend graduate school and earn a degree in either Psychology or Social Work. In the meantime, she decided to gain some real-world experience. After many unsuccessful applications and interviews, she was eventually offered a position as a personal assistant at a small company in Houston. She has since transitioned to a community engagement role at the same company, where she is becoming more grounded in the professional world every day.

Tiffanie Rosier 

Tiffanie Rosier is the owner of the Award Winning Photo Booth Company AllStar Photobooth. She is a motivated, determined and inspirational community leader and also plans STEM/CTE Career Exploration Events for NOVA SySTEMic at Northern Virginia Community College.

Tiffanie holds the Global Career Development Facilitator, MBTI and Virginia Community College Career Coach Certifications. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from James Madison University with an emphasis on Public Relations and a Master of Arts in Education in Higher Education from Western Kentucky University. She has presented programs, events and training sessions on a variety of topics at the local, state and national levels in education and in the event professional’s arena.

In her spare time Tiffanie enjoys doing Voiceover work, volunteering on the Board of Governors with the International Live Events Association along with the JMU SCOM and Women for Madison Councils.

Amy Schramm

Amy is a dynamic marketing events professional with the unique combination of sports, media, and professional services industry experience. At Sidley, she serves on the Marketing Department organizing programs and events that raise the profile of the firm, including the successful shift of go-to market programming for Bay Area clients in a 100% virtual environment by managing industry-led webinars and social events. She was also recently promoted to adjunct faculty member for GW’s Business School, teaching a Sport and Event Business Management undergrad course. At Discovery Inc., she served on the Global Events team who organizes Discovery Channel’s Shark Week activation, Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl during Super Bowl, and TLC’s Say Yes to the Prom philanthropic five-city road show. At the Marine Corps Marathon, she managed the MCM 10K sport event and its largest field of 7,777 athletes from 50 states. Across these three industries, Amy has produced highly visible brand experiences with strategic partners like HPE, eBay, UPS, Hyundai, Walmart, Subaru, Macy’s, Philadelphia Eagles, and Houston Super Bowl Host Committee. She uses a 360° strategic events lens, guiding content for target audiences, providing solutions that enhance internal processes, and evaluating ROI in order to remain accountable to the team mission. 

Katie Sensabaugh

Katie Sensabaugh began working at the Center for Global Engagement in 2018 as the Assistant Director of Study Abroad. In her role, she provides administration and oversight of all aspects of the study abroad programs; works with the Study Abroad leadership team on student recruitment, enrollment, and preparation; and is responsible for various procedures and logistics related to study abroad programming.

In addition to her current role as Assistant Director, Katie has previously led study abroad programs to South Africa, and adjunct teaches within the Justice Studies Department at JMU. Prior to coming to JMU, Katie received her Masters at the University of Cape Town in Cape Town, South Africa in International Justice and Transformation and received her undergraduate degree from JMU in Political Science and Justice Studies.

Dan Singer 

Dan is a practiced researcher based in Philadelphia, PA. He has designed research and solutions for industry-leading companies. His approach brings both formal training in social science research, with years of experience conducting primary research, alongside grounded experience wearing hats from UX designer to content strategist on a variety of projects.

He is committed to equity in workplace compensation, co-founding a salary census for Philadelphia designers focused on pay disparities across identity and demographic lines.

Adam Slayton

Adam is an English Major who has been working in the utility industry for almost 13 years. He had very little interest in the utility industry and could not imagine a path to success for anyone with a BA in English. He has been able to lean on his communication skills across both customer facing and technical roles, moving throughout various departments at Dominion Energy.  

Dr. Daniel St John 

Dr. St John is a Double Duke (’09, ’11). He earned his Bachelor of Science as a Justice Studies major and remained at JMU for his Master’s of Education in the College Student Personnel Administration program. He immediately transitioned to Old Dominion University and completed his Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision in 2014. Since that time, he has worked at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, VA. There, he currently serves as the Director of Academic Development and Assistant Professor of Graduate Art Therapy & Counseling. Additionally, Dr. St John is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at ODU in the Department of Educational Foundations & Leadership.

Karina Touzinsky 

Karina Touzinsky is the lead analyst for the Conventional Arms Control team for the Department of the Navy.  She is responsible for implementation of, and compliance with, conventional arms control treaties, agreements, and data exchanges.  Ms. Touzinsky has worked for the DoD in this capacity for over five years.  She received her MA in Global Security Studies concentrating in Strategic Studies from Johns Hopkins University.

Maureen Walsh

Maureen has spent the last two decades serving as a senior legislative, regulatory and government relations advisor to a wide range of corporate and not-for-profit clients. She uses her comprehensive knowledge of Congress and the administration to advance mission critical client objectives on a wide array of issues including, but not limited to, energy, clean tech, biofuels, environmental sustainability, agriculture, transportation and high technology.  

She is a founding partner of SMART Policy Group and Dynamic Change Group. She served on the staff of Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA) and Governor Douglas Wilder (D-VA) and also has significant experience in managing and directing state and local campaigns as well as working extensively with coalitions and broad interest groups. Maureen has a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. in History and Art History from James Madison University.

Bryan Watkins

Bryan Watkins is a seasoned Cyber Security leader who works for Salesforce as a Security GRC manager. At Salesforce he manages security assessments and certifications for a range of Salesforce products. Bryan is a critical business partner responsible for ensuring security is built into customer products. Prior to Salesforce, Bryan spent 7 years in consulting, at Booz Allen and Mindpoint Group specializing in executive advisory, security assessments, and program builds for Fortune 500 and federal clients. Since graduating from JMU in ’09 Bryan has lived in Washington DC, except for a couple of years spent living and teaching English in Europe. 

Bruce Kaufman 

Bruce graduated from JMU in 1984. He is currently a producer at WRC-TV Washington, DC holding simultaneous roles as feature producer and sales. He has traveled globally producing features for NBC Sports and local affiliates. Events covered include six Super Bowls, two World Series, six MLB Championship Series, multiple NBA and NHL Finals, professional rodeo, Daytona 500, sumo wrestling, downhill and freestyle skiing, professional rodeo, boxing, boat racing, and surfing. He spent seven years with ESPN managing nightly production staff of over 40 people. Bruce has also produced programs including, SportsCenter, College Gameday, NFL Primetime, and Monday Night Countdown among others. He launched ESPNews in ten weeks and is a Two-time Emmy Award winner. He has been with the PGA TOUR for over twenty years in production and broadcasting/sales.

Quasar Parfitt

Quasar graduated from JMU with a major in Justice Studies and minor in Humanitarian Affairs in December 2015. Quasar began work with a local non-profit hospital system as a revenue cycle analyst and remained with the organization for four years. Quasar took a position with the Commonwealth of Virginia in December 2020 processing applications for Virginia’s Disability Determination Services. If he remains with the agency, he would like to become a Disability Case Consultant or Hearings Officer. He is also interested in Department of Labor or Department of State career opportunities.