Mentor Kenosha & Racine
2008 Mentoring Conference
Keynote: What can Mentoring Research Teach Us? Practical Applications for the Field
Session I/Track A: Where's the Evidence? A Practical Guide to Using Evaluation to Improve Program Quality
David L. DuBois, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Division of Community Health Sciences within the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He received his doctorate in clinical-community psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed studies of youth mentoring, including a meta-analytic review of the literature on the effectiveness of youth mentoring programs. In 2003, he co-chaired the National Research Summit on Mentoring. Along with Jean Rhodes, he then co-authored the National Research Agenda for Youth Mentoring that emerged from the Summit. Currently, he is conducting research on youth mentoring with funding from the National Institute of Mental Health and the William T. Grant Foundation. He serves as a consultant to numerous local, state, and national mentoring organizations and has been a mentor himself in a Big Brothers/Big Sisters program.
Session I/Track B: E-Mentoring Workshop:
An Innovation Worth Pursuing?
Dr. Peter Knight is Assistant Professor of Marketing at the School of Business and Technology-University of Wisconsin Parkside. He has authored and co-authored roughly 15 peer reviewed journal articles and published conference proceedings, many within the realms of e-learning, cross-cultural learning and management education. His teaching methods often include the Racine/Kenosha community at large as either clients or resources.
Session I/Track B: E-Mentoring Workshop:
An Innovation Worth Pursuing?
Professor Will Zheng is currently a tenure-track faculty member in School of Business & Technology, University of Wisconsin, Parkside. His research falls in the intersection of organization, technology, and management, with a focus on the strategy, design, and impacts of electronic market on industry value chain, IT innovation adoption and diffusion, IT Investment and governance. His research methodology involves both quantitative analysis and qualitative study. Professor Will Zheng’s has published in MIS Quarterly, one of the most prestigious journals in the information system discipline, and a few other peer review journals.
Session I/Track C: Working with Survivors of Abuse and Assault: How You Can Help
Dr. Rondi Rork’s professional credentials...
Education:
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Ph. D. with majors in Clinical and Social Psychology awarded by Vanderbilt University
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M.A. with majors in Clinical and Social Psychology awarded by Vanderbilt University
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B.A. with major in Psychology awarded by Grinnell College
Professional memberships and licenses:
- Wisconsin Psychologist license
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Member National Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology
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Member American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children
Session II / Track A: Program Leader Panel: Insights on Program Management
David L. DuBois, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Division of Community Health Sciences within the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He received his doctorate in clinical-community psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has authored numerous peer-reviewed studies of youth mentoring, including a meta-analytic review of the literature on the effectiveness of youth mentoring programs. In 2003, he co-chaired the National Research Summit on Mentoring. Along with Jean Rhodes, he then co-authored the National Research Agenda for Youth Mentoring that emerged from the Summit. Currently, he is conducting research on youth mentoring with funding from the National Institute of Mental Health and the William T. Grant Foundation. He serves as a consultant to numerous local, state, and national mentoring organizations and has been a mentor himself in a Big Brothers/Big Sisters program.
Dr. Mike Frontier, San Juan Diego Middle School:
Mike Frontier has served the community as a principal at elementary, middle and high school levels in Racine for 35 years. He collaborated with teachers and parents to create the “School for the Future” at Gifford, Fine Arts Magnet at Mitchell Middle and most recently teamed up with representatives of the Christian Brothers, Dominican Sisters and the community at St. Patrick parish to found the San Juan Diego Middle School in 2003. Mike has his Ph.D. in Urban Education from UW Milwaukee. His passion is engagement in the classroom, advocating for cooperative learning and hands on learning methods. As graduate support director at San Juan Diego, Mike oversees mentor support for the 55 graduates now in high school.
Mr. Tom Weiss, Big Brothers Big Sisters
Mr. Jim Smith, Circle of Hope, Kenosha Boys and Girls Club:
Session II/Track B: The Power of Mentoring Relationships
Jeffrey C. Wilkins, EDD, LPC
Throughout his nearly 16 years as professional school counselor, Jeffrey Wilkins has welcomed and encouraged mentor involvement with students. While finishing his masters degree he developed an innovative mentor program for at risk youth with extensive community engagement. His masters thesis focused on the importance of supportive communication from mentors. Jeffrey also led a grass roots effort to create a mentor network for mentor coordinators. He earned a doctorate in education in 2006 from Cardinal Stritch University. His dissertation entitled “Participant perceptions of Strategic Planning in an Urban School District” is available at the Racine Public Library. Dr. Wilkins has served on the boards of the Wisconsin School Counselor Association, Racine Chapter of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Alumni Association, and the Leadership Racine Alumni Association.
Session II / Track C: Fundraising for Mentoring Programs
Len Iaquinta, a native Kenoshan, is a career fundraiser of millions of dollars in major gifts, grants and annual funds. He is recognized as a strategic and tactical thinker.
Len is passionate about improving the culture of philanthropy in southeastern Wisconsin and augmenting the performance of not-for-profit organizations in fund development and public communications. He advises the Nonprofit Development Program of the UW-Parkside Center for Community Partnerships and presents workshops under its auspices to enhance philanthropic performance in Southeastern Wisconsin.
Len began his professional career in newspaper and radio journalism. Following graduate studies at Columbia University in the City of New York (MSJ), he joined the Academy for Educational Development in New York City where he assisted with projects on journalism education, minority recruitment into journalism, higher education management, international negotiation and mediation research, and cataloguing and analyzing international programs of U.S. post-secondary educational institutions.
Then, after leading the United Way of Kenosha County as executive director, he spent thirty years in university fund raising and alumni programming. As a board member and officer, he has led human services agencies as well as fine and performing arts organizations to improve their philanthropic performance and enhance their public reputations.
He is a recipient of four national alumni programming and fundraising awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (1981, ‘84, ‘88, ‘98), and a “15 Who Care Award” from the Volunteer Connection of Switchboard of Fort Wayne, Indiana (1990).
He is a frequent presenter at local and national professional conferences and contributes to professional journals. His consulting practice includes presenting fund development seminars for the Alliance for Children and Families, facilitating board strategic planning retreats, and helping organizations plan and execute realistic fund development strategies.
Len is President of Kenosha Rotary, Secretary of the Racine-Kenosha Estate Planning Council, and serves as co-chair of the United Way of Kenosha County Campaign Cabinet as well as being a Board member. He is also a member of the Planned Giving Council of Eastern Wisconsin, Association of Fundraising Professionals (Milwaukee and Chicago), and Alliance for Nonprofit Management.
Mentor Kenosha & Racine, Director
Mark Gesner is the Youth Development and Evaluation Director for the Center for Community Partnerships. Mark serves as an evaluator for various community and university programs, and he conducts community-based research in areas such as educational attainment and mentoring. Mark functions as the Youth Team Leader for the Racine County Workforce Development Center and he chairs the Mentor Kenosha & Racine Advisory Board. Mark has also served the community as a nonprofit organizational consultant specializing in strategic planning, research, program design and evaluation. Prior to moving to Wisconsin, he served as the Education and Development Director for Hostelling International – USA. Mark earned his graduate degree in education from Harvard University.
Evan Witalison is a 2008 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, majoring in Sports Management. He was the Habitat for Humanity Club President for two years at Parkside. As a member of the club, he worked in New Orleans in the spring of 2006 and 2008 and Biloxi Mississippi in the spring of 2007 helping to rebuild from Hurricane Katrina. Evan is from Madison Wisconsin and is a 2003 graduate of Madison East High School. After graduating from Madison East, Evan went to school at Rock Valley College in Rockford IL. While at Rock Valley he played two years of college football and also served as an Assistant Offensive Line Coach. In addition, he worked for the Rock Valley College Upward Bound program. Currently Evan is serving as an AmeriCorps*VISTA in the Center for Community Partnerships as the Coordinator for Mentor Kenosha & Racine Initiative.
