Arizona Consortium for Community Engagement, Innovation, and Learning on Consent-Based Siting (CCEIL-AZ)

Program Areas –

Partners for Community Engagement

Community engagement coordinators will work closely with the project team to develop and implement inclusive, balanced and future focused community problem framing dialogues on the challenge of consent-based siting temporary storage for high level nuclear waste.

 

 

Marni Anbar

Bio Coming Soon

 

Dr. Jeremy Babendure

Executive Director, SciTech Institute

Associate Professor, College of Global Futures, Arizona State University

Dr. Jeremy Babendure is the Executive Director of the SciTech Institute, the Annual Arizona SciTech Festival, Associate Professor at the College of Global Futures at Arizona State University, and a research fellow at the Institute for Learning Innovation. Through his collaborative efforts, the annual AZ SciTech Festival has grown to include over 800 collaborators with 2,000 events and draws around 500,000 participants. Most recently, Jeremy launched the Chief Science Officers Initiative, transforming student voice in the conversation about STEM and education in 10 US states and four countries. Additionally, he is the state lead for the Arizona STEM Ecosystem that incorporates Arizona’s STEM stakeholders in an international community of practice of 80+ STEM Ecosystems.

Before his work in Arizona, Jeremy received his doctorate in the lab of the late Nobel Laureate, Dr. Roger Tsien at the University of California, San Diego, developing molecular sensors to detect RNA. Following this work, he and Roger launched the ScienceBridge program as a mechanism to bring current science to San Diego schools annually, impacting ~200 teachers, ~20,000 students, and ~60,000 community members and attaining 12M+ in national grants.

 

Otakuye Conroy-Ben

Assistant Professor

School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment

Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering

Otakuye Conroy-Ben (Oglala Lakota) is an Assistant Professor in the School of Sustainable Engineering and the Build Environment at Arizona State University. Conroy-Ben received a BS in Chemistry from the University of Notre Dame, an MA in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Arizona, and a PhD in Environmental Engineering from the University of Arizona.  Her research focuses on the biological effects of polluted water.  Her research interests include environmental endocrine disruption, metal and antibiotic resistance in bacteria, and wastewater epidemiology.  She teaches the courses CEE 361 Introduction to Environmental Engineering, CEE 560 Soil & Groundwater Remediation, and CEE 564 Contaminant Fate and Transport.  Conroy-Ben is advisor to the ASU chapter of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES).

 

Lisa Lewis

Library Manager

Florence Community Library

Lisa Lewis has been working in libraries for 21 years and is currently the Library Manager for Florence Community Library. She has had many adventures since starting her career including being invited by the U.S. Embassy in Croatia to present a series of workshops to the librarians there. This was an experience of a lifetime and one she will never forget. Lisa has served on the Association for Rural and Small Libraries board as the President and Treasurer and is currently the AzLA President. She has always been a strong advocate for rural and small libraries and continues to be a strong voice for all public libraries.

 

Kalman Mannis

Sr. Director for Rural Engagement

Arizona Science Center

A specialist in both formal and informal STEM Learning, Kalman has spent the last two decades working predominantly in rural communities throughout Arizona and the southwest. He has been instrumental in several foundational research projects designed to learn how best to work in marginalized and under-resourced communities. In addition to his work in STEM learning, he works with food insecurity networks, as well as with several environmental non-profits. When not working Kalman is exploring the wonders of Arizona and the world.  

 

Rev. Katie Sexton-Wood

Executive Director

Arizona Faith Network

Rev. Katie Sexton-Wood has served as Executive Director of Arizona Faith Network since 2019. Rev. Sexton-Wood comes to AFN with years of nonprofit experience specializing in ministry, leadership, interfaith work, and community organizing. She has a proven track record of building impactful communities that work to transform our world for the common good.

Before being hired as the permanent Executive Director of AFN, Rev. Sexton-Wood served as the Senior Pastor for Coolwater Christian Church in Scottsdale, Arizona. Before that, she worked in higher education for over a decade, managing key departments, establishing organizational processes, and cultivating community relationships.

Rev. Sexton-Wood has her M.S. in Nonprofit Management (2019), a Master of Divinity from Lexington Theological Seminary, and an M.A. in Christian Studies from Grand Canyon University. She is ordained with the Disciples of Christ church and is a certified Community Organizer. She previously served as a member of AFN’s Board of Directors and has volunteered her service on multiple committees.

In addition to her role at AFN, Rev. Sexton-Wood currently serves as the Board President of the Justa Center, President of the Alumni Council of Lexington Theological Seminary, and sits on the Board of Directors for Bread for the World. She is also pursuing her Doctorate of Ministry at Lexington Theological Seminary; she anticipates graduating in June 2025.