ServeNext Organizers 2011
Caitlin Closser - ServeNext Chicago, IL
Since serving an AmeriCorps term with Rebuilding Together Dayton, Caitlin has resolved to dedicate her life to service and service opportunities. She has been very engaged in voluntary roles with ServeNext and AmeriCorps Alums Chicago. Recently, Caitlin joined a marketing firm in downtown Chicago as an Account Administrator. Caitlin is a writer who hails from Dayton, OH. She earned her degree in English Writing from Denison University, a small liberal arts school in Granville, OH. In her spare time, Caitlin also enjoys discovered new music, laughing frequently, eating good food, and exploring the city.
Rachel Diskin - ServeNext Columbus, OH
After graduating from Michigan State University with a degree in Urban and Regional Planning, Rachel was unsure of which direction to take her career. Luckily, she received some excellent advice: "work a job you would work for free." So she moved to Columbus, Ohio and served 2 AmeriCorps VISTA terms.
Her first term was as a volunteer manager for Habitat for Humanity. She loved her experience so much that she served a 2nd term as a VISTA Leader at the Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks (OASHF). She still lives and works in Columbus, Ohio where she now coordinates the AmeriCorps VISTA program at OASHF.
Monie Hayes - ServeNext Mt. Pleasant, IA
Monie has a Ph.D. in Language, Literacy, and Culture from The University of Iowa -- where she also earned her M.A. and B.A. in English Education (go, Hawks). After teaching a range of undergraduate courses in a variety of institutional contexts since the late '90s, she is happily teaching composition part-time for Kirkwood Community College in Cedar County, Iowa. When she is not in the classroom or on the road, Monie is an active member of the Henry County, Iowa, Democrats Central Committee.
Catherine Houlihan - ServeNext Miami, FL
Catherine is originally from Coconut Grove, Florida. After receiving her Bachelor of Arts Degree from Indiana University Bloomington in 2007, Catherine served as an AmeriCorps VISTA with I Have a Dream–Overtown in Miami, and remains passionately committed to the Overtown Dreamer Class of 2015 to this day. For the past three years, Catherine has worked for Best Buddies International, and she currently works as a grant writer at their international headquarters in Miami. Additionally, she serves as a board member for both Service for Peace International and the Theodore R. Gibson Memorial Fund. Her interests range from youth empowerment to urban education and multiculturalism. Her personal mission is to break down the invisible barriers between different populations in her community, and she believes that there is no better way to accomplish that mission than through service!
Justin Hudspeth - ServeNext Salt Lake City, UT
Justin is the Program Specialist for the Utah Commission on Volunteers. He is a native Californian and transplant to Utah. He graduated in 2006 from the Orange County Academy of Art with a degree in Interactive Media Design. Since then Justin has worked on projects with big names such as Reba McEntire, Kathy Ireland, Kohl's, Target, Sam's Club and many others.
Before joining the Utah Commission, Justin served a one-year term as an AmeriCorps VISTA with the Volunteer Empowerment Project with the United Way of Utah County. Before VISTA he was an elementary music teacher at the Davis school district. Justin lives in Salt Lake City, loves to play the flute and tries to avoid doing yard work as much as possible. Justin is the Leader of the Salt Lake AmeriCorps Alums Chapter and the Chair of the Utah Nonprofit's Association Technology and Communications Committee.
Jordan Jones - ServeNext Des Moines, IA
A native of Des Moines, Jordan studied English and History at the University of Iowa, graduating with Honors in 2008. While attending school, he was involved in several advocacy organizations, including PIRG, Amnesty International and Environment Iowa.
After graduation, he worked for two years as a construction assistant with Iowa Valley Habitat for Humanity through the AmeriCorps program. Most recently, he served as a field organizer for the East Side of Des Moines for the successful Boswell for Congress Campaign. Jordan currently works as a teacher at a tutoring and ACT prep center in Des Moines.
Katherine Jones- ServeNext New Haven, CT
Katherine currently lives in New Haven, Connecticut where she works for the Community Health Center, Inc as an Access to Care Coordinator helping uninsured and underinsured residents gain better access to quality healthcare. In addition, she is a Program Assistant to the Community HealthCorps AmeriCorps program.
Katherine did two years of service with AmeriCorps, first serving with Public Allies of Connecticut as a Program Associate for an after school program and then as a Volunteer Coordinator at her current health center. She graduated from the University of Connecticut in 2007 with a Bachelor's in Art History, Minor Sociology and quickly moved into the field of Non-profit work. She is currently on the board of City Wide Youth Coalition in New Haven and is also the Chapter Leader for AmeriCorps Alums Connecticut.
Heather Madison - ServeNext Bay Area, CA
Originally from the Bay Area, Heather has over a decade of experience in financial services, and she has always made time to help her favorite organizations, such as Hands On Bay Area, by volunteering. Over time, she realized that there were other ways to help such as raising funds and supporting policy making and advocacy at the non-profit committee/board level. Today, she serves on the board of managers for a local YMCA branch in San Francisco, and on special event committees for the Curry Senior Center and other organizations.
Holly Mandell - ServeNext New Orleans
Holly, originally from Bethlehem, PA, knew she had to return to New Orleans after serving in the area for five months during a volunteer term as a corps member with AmeriCorps NCCC. Two months after her NCCC term ended, she signed on with the AmeriCorps State program to lead volunteers from all over the world in rebuilding homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Her two terms in AmeriCorps and service in long-term disaster recovery in the New Orleans area have inspired Holly to stay actively engaged in community service and service advocacy.
Holly is a graduate of Kutztown University of Pennsylvania where she studied Studio Art with a minor in Cultural Anthropology. When she isn’t building homes, you can find Holly out enjoying he vibrant city life, culture and art of the Big Easy.
Heather Margolis - ServeNext Montana
Heather Margolis is the Executive Director of Montana Education Partnership, a non-profit consulting firm in Helena whose goal is inspiring Montana’s youth to pursue academic achievement and positive life goals. The organization integrates educational best practices with innovation and service to sparks students’ intellectual curiosity. Currently, Heather is collaborating with the State of Montana Office of Public Instruction to strengthen community partnerships to help improve and expand educational opportunity for Montanan youth.
An alum of AmeriCorps, Heather served in Philadelphia at Bartam High School and then went on to be the service-learning coordinator at Simon Gratz High School. This experience motivated her to earn her Master's Degree in Education from New York University. In 2009, Heather and her family moved to Big Sky Country.
Daniele Monroe-Moreno - ServeNext Las Vegas, NV
Daniele has been blessed with three awesome daughters and a very patient and loving husband. Employed in Law Enforcement for more than twenty years as a Corrections Officer, she started her career in Phoenix, Arizona and is now employed with the North Las Vegas Police Department.
Daniele serves as a Commissioner with the Clark County School District Board of Trustee's Attendance & Zoning Commission. She is a member of the Las Vegas Centennial Optimist Club and has been elected to serve as Zone Lt. Governor for the Pacific Southeast District of Optimist International. Previously, Daniele served on the planning committee of the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, North Las Vegas. Seeing a growing need to assist local families battling Childhood Cancer, she and members of NLV Relay and Optimist formed Ride 4 Relay Kids, a non-profit Motorcycle Poker Run for Childhood Cancer.
Allison Powers - ServeNext Denver, CO
Alli is originally from Raleigh, NC where she volunteered with the American Red Cross Disaster Services for years in her free time. She gained a great appreciation for her fellow volunteers and the services they provided that helped members of the community when they needed it the most. Hoping to gain more service experience, Alli joined AmeriCorps*NCCC as a corps member one year out of Denver, CO and the following year as a team leader based out of Sacramento, CA. Much of her team's time was spent on the Gulf Coast assisting with the region's recovery after Hurricanes Rita and Katrina.
Upon completing her team leader year, she worked in the adventure travel industry which, while fun, lacked the sense of purpose she gained with service work. Now living in Denver, CO, Alli is hoping to find a happy medium between settling in with a "normal job" and continuing with disaster response work.
Stephanie Sacco - ServeNext Rochester, NY
Stephanie is from the small town of Naples, NY. She studied International Studies with minors in Spanish and Psychology at Nazareth College of Rochester from 2004 to 2008, studying abroad in Costa Rica and Chile. Stephanie worked through AmeriCorps VISTA and Rochester AmeriCorps for two years at The Center for Youth Services, and now works there full time as the Runaway and Homeless Youth Counselor and Community Resource Specialist. Stephanie loves her job and her community, and is grateful for the service experience that has led her to where she is today.
Edward Smith, II - ServeNext Charlotte, NC
Ed was born and raised in Coral Gables, Florida and currently resides in Charlotte, NC with his wife Kinya and son Edward, III. He is a graduate of Florida A&M University with a BS in Political Science and a minor in Economics and St. Thomas University School of Law. Ed is an employee at Johnson C. Smith University in the Interdisciplinary Studies department and a senior executive fellow with Prosidian consulting. Ed is active with many programs in his community and believes everyone has a responsibility to help make their community better.