Kelly E. Maxwell, PhD
Senior Assistant Dean, Undergraduate Education and Engagement, U-M LSA
Board Chair, Difficult Dialogues National Resource Center
kmax@umich.edu
As senior assistant dean, Kelly is responsible for implementing and coordinating undergraduate initiatives in the “engagement” portfolio. Specifically she works with the Center for Global Intercultural Study, English Language Institute, the Program on Intergroup Relations, the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program, the Language Resource Center, the Kessler Scholars Program, and three Michigan Learning Communities: the Global Scholars Program, the Lloyd Scholars for Writing and the Arts, and the Michigan Community Scholars Program. Keep reading
Donna Rich Kaplowitz, PhD
Director, Difficult Dialogues Meet the Moment Initiative
Co-Director, The Program on Intergroup Relations
donnakap@umich.edu
Donna serves as the Director of the Difficult Dialogues Meet the Moment Initiative. She is also the Faculty Co-Director of The Program on Intergroup Relations. Donna’s research and writing focus on facilitation strategies, particularly as they related to near-peer facilitation and the intersection of college student facilitators and high school students. Her most recent books include: co-editor with Stephanie Hicks Facilitating Transformational Dialogues: Creating Socially Just Communities (2024); and co-author with Shayla Reese Griffin and Sheri Seyka, Race Dialogues: A Facilitator’s Guide to Tackling the Elephant in the Classroom.TCP 2019). In her free time, Donna loves playing with her grandkids, walking along the shores of any body of water, and painting.
Jordan Hunter
Graduate Student Coordinator, Difficult Dialogues Meet the Moment Initiative
jhunterr@umich.edu
Jordan is a first year Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning Student in the Social Justice and Urban Development and Community and Economic Development focus areas. Dialogue has been her passion since her participation in the Summer Youth Dialogues program as a high school student in 2018, and this led her to pursue a bachelor’s degree in sociology with minors in American culture, environmental studies, and Intergroup Relations Education. In addition to her work with the Difficult Dialogues Meet the Moment Initiative, Jordan is the Graduate Intern for Assessment and Evaluation for CommonGround in the Program on Intergroup Relations.
Sophie Phillips
Student Coordinator, Difficult Dialogues Meet the Moment Initiative
sophieep@umich.edu
Sophie is a senior majoring in Political Science and French with a minor in Intergroup Relations and a joint certificate in Community Action and Social Change. Sophie has been involved with IGR since her freshman year, and has been a dialogue participant since the age of eight. In addition to her work with Meet the Moment, she currently serves as Program Coordinator in CommonGround. Previously, Sophie has served as a Workshop Facilitator and Program Assistant in CommonGround and has facilitated several ALA courses as well as Summer Youth Dialogues and the Youth Social Justice Fellows Program. Sophie is passionate about social justice and dialogue and looks forward to a career that helps develop the field of Intergroup Relations.
