staff Info
Marshall Welch, Ph.D., Director of CILSA
(925) 631-8135
marshall.welch6@stmarys-ca.edu
Marshall Welch is a recognized national leader in service learning. Before coming to Saint Mary's College, Marshall served as director of the Lowell Bennion Community Service Center at the University of Utah and as a faculty fellow assisting colleagues in establishing service-learning courses. Previously, Marshall was a professor in the university’s Department of Special Education. He has written articles and made numerous presentations on service learning and civic engagement at conferences nationally and internationally. He is particularly interested in the social justice and spiritual development of students. In March of 2007, he made a presentation titled Spirituality as Pedagogy: Theoretical Constructs of Service-Learning at the "Callings: Fostering Vocation Through Community-based Learning" conference at Santa Clara University though California Campus Compact.
Jennifer M. Pigza, Ph.D., Associate Director
(925) 631-4755
jpigza@stmarys-ca.edu
Jennifer Pigza brings to CILSA professional experiences in non-profit social service agencies, service-learning, college teaching, living and learning programs, and higher education administration. She is a published author in the areas of student learning and critical reflection, teaching for social justice, and institutionalizing service-learning. Jennifer earned a bachelors degree in English literature (Loyola College in Maryland), a masters of education degree in higher education and student affairs administration (University of Vermont), and a doctorate in the social foundations of education (University of Maryland). Her dissertation research is a hermeneutic phenomenological study of teaching and learning for social justice. She traces her current commitments to faith-justice to her undergraduate service experiences with inner-city children and the homeless, service immersion trips to Mexico, and her four years with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.
Alicia Torres, Jumpstart Site Manager
(925) -631-8168
atorres@stmarys-ca.edu
Alicia Torres is a Saint Mary's College Alumnus who received her BA in Politics. She served through Americorps as a Program Officer for Youth Funding Youth Ideas in downtown San Francisco. As a student at SMC, Alicia served three years as a Jumpstart Corps Member and represented Jumpstart in Washington, D.C. She was a High Potential Program mentor, an active participant in LASA and BSU and participated in the V-Day Monologues to help raise awareness and funds for national nonprofits. Alicia's service is dedicated to her work with social justice and young children.
Beth Hampson, Community Partnerships Coordinator
(925) 631-8543
edh2@stmarys-ca.edu
A southern California native, Beth Hampson earned a B.A. in English Literature from UC Davis, taught in K-12 public schools and worked in nonprofit development before earning her master’s degree in College Student Affairs at Azusa Pacific University. There, she wrote her master’s thesis on college student service-learning outcomes and directed College Headed and Mighty Proud (CHAMP), a service-learning program in which undergraduates serve as mentor-teachers to fourth-grade students from low-income schools and provide education about college and careers. Beth brings great enthusiasm to her role of connecting the college with community partners and creating opportunities for students to serve and learn.
Ryan Lamberton ’05, Community Engagement Coordinator
(925) 631-4015
rml4@stmarys-ca.edu
As a student at Saint Mary’s College, Ryan Lamberton served as a Bonner Leader, enrolled in several social justice courses, and participated in immersion trips to the Dominican Republic, Washington, DC, and West Oakland. After graduating in 2005, Ryan served as a volunteer with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship while also substitute teaching in the East Bay. Ryan followed that experience by working as a coordinator for a non-profit organization that provides services and housing to adults with developmental disabilities. These undergraduate and post-graduate experiences solidified Ryan’s desire to walk with college students as they ask questions about faith, justice and who they are called to be.
Pravda Wright ’95, Office Manager
Phone: 925-631-8161
Email: pwright@stmarys-ca.edu
Pravda Wright graduated from Saint Mary's in 1995 with a major in Liberal Studies and a Minor in Spanish. As an undergraduate she participated in the High Potential Program and served in the Peer Advising Program. Pravda also helped organize service outreach projects to local homeless shelters as President of the Black Student Union, tutored at a local elementary school, and served as an intern at We Care, a Concord nonprofit serving developmentally disabled children. Pravda brings a love of people and of service to the CILSA office and to the Saint Mary's students she assists. In her free time, she loves to spend time with her husband, Bill, and their son, Ajani.
