University District Civic Leaders Program

The University District Civic Leaders Program aims to build an effective partnership between the University of Minnesota and surrounding Minneapolis neighborhoods by developing the professional skills and leadership capacity of graduate students to effectively address community needs while enhancing their own learning and experience through coordinated projects with neighborhood citizen-participation organizations. Graduate students can earn a digital badge from the Graduate School by completing 20 hours of service per semester with University District neighborhoods through engagement or by participating in monthly forums.

2021-22 University District Civic Leader Program participants

Amany Abdelnour
Born and raised in Upper Egypt, Amany earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from American University in Cairo, where he minored in political science and business administration. A graduate student in the Humphrey School for Public Affairs, Amany has been working in research and consulting with a focus on development, tackling multiple development challenges including informal employment, entrepreneurship, women empowerment, financial inclusion, and refugees' access to finance.

Laurel Cederburg
A non-traditional student in the School of Public Health's Program in Maternal Child Health, Dr. Laurel Cederberg has spent the past 25 years, caring for and supporting children, teens, and their families through her pediatric practice in St. Paul.  For the past 10+ years, she has also worked with University researchers on the virus that often causes mononucleosis, or "mono" in teens and young adults.  Says Cederburg: "As we learn about the effects of negative social determinants of health and stressors of structural racism, we now have new lenses to understand causes of our findings and disparities."

Trang Q. Dang
A third-year graduate student in the College of Pharmacy, Trang's research interest is in real-world evidence for utilization, patient clinical outcomes, patient-reported outcomes, and healthcare costs of different treatment interventions via pharmaceutical and medical devices. She enjoys engaging herself in community work in order to make meaningful contributions to society and appreciates opportunities to interact with other volunteers, as well as with community leaders.

Sheena Harris
Sheena Harris is a Ph.D. candidate in Comparative and International Development Education with interests in post-conflict history education, historical memory, human rights, and transitional justice, particularly in Southeast Asia. She is passionate about research being done for and with communities and serving the greater good, which is why she decided to join the University District Civic Leaders Program.

Samira Musleh
Samira is a doctoral candidate in Critical Media Studies Program. Since 2016, she has worked with many University groups including Communication Studies Graduate Students Association, Council of Graduate Students, Culture Corps,  Consortium for the Study of the Premodern World, AGITATE! Journal, and Imagining Transnational Solidarities Research Circle. Samira has advocated for the rights of graduate student workers and brought administrative attention to systemic discrimination against minority students—especially those from underrepresented citizenship and religious backgrounds.

Karen Navarro
Born in Bogota, Colombia, Karen a a first-generation college student who is passionate about equal access to education for all. She has volunteered as a tutor in calculus and statistics courses and was part of a summer STEM program for children. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in cognitive and brain sciences in the College of Liberal Arts' Department of Psychology. She hopes to continue developing civic leadership skills in the coming years and is eager to work with the community.

Kenneth Niemeyer
Kenneth is a second-year student in the Master of Urban and Regional Planning Program at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Prior to starting the program, Kenneth completed an AmeriCorps service term with Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity. Since then he has been committed to learning how to advance equitable and affordable housing development to address the housing shortage crisis. In his free time he sings with the One Voice Mixed Chorus, volunteers at the Cedar Cultural Center, and bikes around the Twin Cities.

Samantha Sanvik
A first-year graduate student in the School of Public Health, Sanvik hopes to work in a position related to the local or state public health department conducting research, creating policies, and engaging with communities. Says Sanvik: "My epidemiological interest includes women's health and infectious diseases, but also their safety within the public and potential risk factors for  women. I am interested in learning more about this through projects, research, or with other program members."

Megan Schmit
A native of Buffalo, New York,  Medical School student Megan Schmit is the school's PhD program representative to the University's Council of Graduate Students, on which she to serves on the Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association (MHNA)  Says Schmit: "My time on MHNA and the political climate over the last few years have ignited in me a desire to become more involved in community organizing, lending my expertise where it can be useful and my labor where it cannot."

Mahdi Surosh
Mahdi is a Fulbright Scholar from Afghanistan in Master's in Public Policy Program at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Mahdi is interested in good governance, specifically in the development and formulation of policies that could provide equitable access to opportunities and resources for all in particular the vulnerable and the poor. Prior to coming to the U.S., Mahdi worked for seven years in the media and communications sector.