Our Mission
The Center for Social Impact at Penn State Brandywine seeks to develop pathways for students to become socially responsible leaders and citizens who are prepared to create positive change in the world.
Students involved with the Center are encouraged to become active citizens by learning about and building the capacities of their local communities. We seek to help students find creative, effective ways to serve their campus and their communities, both locally and globally. As they do this, they also make valuable connections and develop professional skills and competencies. By connecting with the Center, students can discover community engagement opportunities through volunteering, non-profit internships and campus programs.
Civic and Community Engagement
Many of the Brandywine students who volunteer with the Center opt to pursue a minor in Civic and Community Engagement (CIVCM). The CIVCM minor uses a balanced program of fieldwork and classroom experience to help Brandywine students integrate community engagement into their academic and professional careers.
For more information about the CIVCM minor, contact program coordinator Lynn Hartle or visit the program’s official webpage.
Brandywine students can also engage with the Center through partnership with the CIVCM Club, a student-run organization that plans volunteer opportunities throughout the year and encourages students to develop leadership and character through community service.
For more information about the CIVCM club, contact the organization’s student leaders.
Our Initiatives
The Center was launched in the fall of 2018 with a commitment to equitable education and access, sustainability, and voter education and engagement. The Center engages students in non-profit internships, community-based learning assignments, volunteer opportunities with community partners, and campus civic engagement events.
The Center regularly runs campus-wide voter registration and education campaigns that include voter registration drives, non-partisan candidate guides, and Get out the Vote public service announcements featuring Penn State community members.
In Spring 2020, the Center launched the Presidential Mock Nominating Convention — a campus-wide, non-partisan, simulated presidential nominating convention and research project that involved hundreds of students, staff and faculty. This new tradition will occur every four years and is designed to provide students with leadership and social opportunities, create a fun new campus tradition, develop the civic capacity of students, and increase our campus visibility in our local communities.
The Center’s annual MLK Day of Service Celebrations bring together Penn State students and community members to focus on acts of kindness, inclusion and artistic expressions of Dr. King’s legacy. This community-wide effort involves student clubs and benefits local and national non-profit organizations.
In Fall 2020, the Center partnered with Student Affairs to launch the Campus Food Pantry, managed and operated by students, for students. Located on the 1st Floor of Vairo Library, students in need can help themselves to what they need.
Faculty, staff and students also use the Center to connect with Penn State Brandywine’s community partners. By working with these entities, students involved with the Center learn the importance of community and public service while gaining valuable educational experiences outside of the classroom.
Our Community Partners
- America’s First Fair Trade Town Committee
- Catholic Social Services
- Chester Children’s Chorus
- Chester County Department of Aging Services
- Chester Education Foundation
- Chester Housing Authority
- Child Guidance Resource Centers
- City Team
- Delaware County Pregnancy Center
- Domestic Abuse Project of Delaware County, Inc.
- Garrett Williamson
- Lansdowne Economic Development Corporation
- Let’s Get Ready
- Media Food Bank
- Middletown Free Library
- Providence Animal Center
- Ridley Creek State Park
- Rose Valley Borough Council
- Ruth Bennett Community Farm
- Surrey Services for Seniors – Media
- TM Thomas Learning Center
- Tyler Arboretum
- Untours Foundation
Interim Rosenberg Director, Center for Social Impact
Dr. Christine Brown has worked at Penn State Brandywine since 2010, most recently as Coordinator of Brandywine Learning. She has also served as Co-Coordinator of the Multilingual Student Course Cluster and as Co-Coordinator of Brandywine Summer Bridge Programs. She received her undergraduate Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a Minor in Human Development and Family Studies from Penn State University, her Master’s in Education from Cabrini College, and her Ph.D. in Higher Education at Immaculata University where she studied the role that reading ability plays in the lives and successes of undergraduate students.
In addition to her passion for understanding the value of critical reading ability, Christine is also interested in the issues surrounding developmental education and those of multilingual students. She views herself as a partner with her students in their educational journey and is committed to guiding them on how to successfully navigate college life.
Office: 131 Vairo | Email: cmf22@psu.edu | Phone: 610-892-1463
Center Staff
Emily Dozor is the Garden Manager at the Center for Social Impact.
Email: ejd15@psu.edu
Stephanie Fitzgerald is a part-time administrative assistant for the Center for Social Impact.
After having the privilege of being a full-time wife and stay-at-home/homeschool mom of 3 children for 26 years, Stephanie entered the part-time workforce at Delaware County Christian School, right after her youngest child graduated from DCCS, where he attended for his high school years.She worked as the administrative assistant to the head of the lower school for 3 years. Stephanie and her family are also very involved members in their local church and play an active role in supporting several organizations they are passionate about as a family.In this new season of her life, Stephanie is very excited to join the incredible team in the center, where she looks forward to assisting them with any administrative support they need to continue to flourish in the great mission of the center.“I feel so blessed to get to work and learn from Vippy and Katy, who lead with compassion and heart as they serve the students and surrounding community of the campus.”
Office: 1st Floor – Vairo Library | Email: sqf5472@psu.edu | Phone: 610-892-1280
Center Interns: Program Support
Bianka Bunbury
Class of 2026
Ammar Jannatul Ferdous Chowdhury
Class of 2024, Psychology
Ammar Jannatul Ferdous Chowdhury is a Program Support Intern for the Center for Social Impact. She is a first-generation college student in an immigrant household majoring in Psychology and minoring in Ethics and Civic Engagement (thanks to the center). It is her mission statement to not be the best in the world but to do the best for the world through community service, implementing volunteerism, and spreading social justice and the Center lets her do just that! Throughout her years at the Center, she has learned a lot about herself and what she wants to do in the future because of the staff and other interns’ genuine support and passion for helping others and wanting to make a positive change!
Lyndon Greer
Class of 2026, Psychology
Francis Linus
Class of 2025, Political Science
Roshni Siddique Ohi
Class of 2024, Psychology
Roshni Siddique Ohi was born in Nevada. She spent most of her childhood in Bangladesh but moved back to Pennsylvania three years ago to pursue her higher education. She is majoring in Psychology while taking all of her pre-med requisites. She plans to do the 2+2 program and graduate from Penn State University Park in 2024.
She has volunteered in both Bangladesh and the United States. In Bangladesh, she volunteered at an NGO for special needs children, spending time with the children and making sure they had a good time. She worked one-on-one with a girl named Sabrina, but getting to know her new friend did not seem like service at all! Sabrina had SAD and had a hard time socializing, so Roshni took her time to gain her trust. They played hide and seek and made origami paper swans and Roshni made sure her partner enjoyed every bit of it. One of Roshni’s favorite memories was when Sabrina hugged her goodbye asking her to visit the NGO again and choose her again. This really touched Roshni’s heart, and she realized if she can make an impact on someone with her time she would gladly do it over and over again. These moments give Roshni inner peace and tranquility and she wanted to join the Center for Social Impact for more experiences like this.
Some other services Roshni participated in were in the “JAAGO foundation” (Bangladesh), Maple Leaf International School service club (Bangladesh School), Philadelphia Marathon, Our Closet, Upper Darby International Festival and the Brad Schoener 5K.
She really enjoys working at the Center!
Mikesha Wells
Class of 2025, English
From West Philadelphia, Mikesha Wells has always been passionate about learning the stories of others and expanding her horizons by assisting her peers. Now as a Penn Stater, Mikesha takes advantage of opportunities to be active on campus, learning from other people’s stories and helping in her campus community. An honor society member, orientation leader, Penn-In-Hand poet, and now interning with the Center for Social Impact, Mikesha is filled with excitement for her future and the positive changes she will be a part of.
Tarini Burman
Class of 2026
Naimah Tasnim Dristi
Class of 2024, Psychology
Naimah Tasnim Dristi was born in Feni, Bangladesh, and immigrated to the United States as an infant with her parents. She was raised in NYC in a very diverse community. In her sophomore year of high school, her parents decided to move to Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. She is a first-generation college student with the intended major of a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. She plans to finish all 4 years at Penn State Brandywine and graduate in 2024.
Naimah has always loved to help out others from a young age. In Upper Darby High School, she joined the U.D. Arts and Education Foundation Service Club. That is where her love for service work and volunteering took off because she enjoyed making a difference, even if it was something small.
During her time at Penn State Brandywine, she is an intern at the Center for Social Impact. She is also a 2020-2021 PaSSS student, which allowed her to get a head start in college along with a 100-hour work opportunity. She worked at the campus mailroom and learned a lot. She also took a peer-mentoring class, which led her to become a Lion Guide helping first-generation college students like herself. She is also working toward becoming a Lion Ambassador for the Student Affairs office.
Theresa Hamilton
Class of 2026
Ethan Nichols
Class of 2026, Political Science
Reina Ramos
Class of 2025, Computer Science
Cortez Catalano
Class of 2026, Biology
Dorian George
Class of 2026
Benjamin Keller
Class of 2026, Biochemistry
Khushi Patel
Class of 2026
Sydney Walsh
Class of 2024, Korean
I am a third year student going for a Bachelor’s in Korean. I joined the Center for Social Impact because I spend so much time there already! Getting to know everybody who already works at the Center as well as the people in charge has been fun, and I want to join in on creating change. In my hometown, I helped my mom with her breast cancer organization, Fore Her, that raises money to help local breast cancer patients or survivors pay off overwhelming bills. I would help set up for events, drive supplies to venues, and support the community when it all came together.
Center Interns: Campus Food Pantry Student Coordinators
Angel Asomugha
Class of 2023, Business Marketing
Nuzhat Tasmim
Class of 2023, Accounting
Nuzhat Tasmim is from Bangladesh. Currently, she’s a senior at Penn State Brandywine majoring in accounting. She has always wanted to get involved and stay connected with her PSU community, which is why she pursued an internship with the Center. “The Center gave me the opportunity and supported me to grow and gain experience for the real world.”
Center Interns: Campus Garden Student Coordinators
Devin Morrone
Class of 2025, Business
McKenna Loney
Class of 2025, Agroecology
Don Williams
Class of 2026
Emeritus Advisor
Vippy Yee received her B.A. in Political Science and East Asian Studies from Dickinson College and her M.S. in Sociology from The London School of Economics and Political Science at The University of London. Her Master’s Thesis explored the mechanisms and impact of social capital within faith-based immigrant community centers. Her scholarly interests include racial and social inequality, social mobility and social movements, and she has prioritized these issues in courses including Social Problems, Urban Sociology, Sociology of Gender, and the Foundations of Civic and Community Engagement.
She served as the Rosenberg Director of the Center for Social Impact at Penn State Brandywine from 2018-2022, drawing upon over two decades of civic leadership and service. Prior to her role at Penn State Brandywine, she served as the Assistant Director of Volunteer Programs at Bryn Mawr College. She was also an elected member of the Rose Valley Borough Council, a member of the Board of Trustees at Swarthmore Presbyterian Church and a former member of the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District School Board.
The child of first-generation immigrants who grew up under a dictatorship, Vippy is passionate about civic and democratic engagement. She strives to help prepare students to become engaged leaders in their communities by providing the context, training, and opportunities to develop meaningful connections based on mutual respect and dignity.
She is now the Assistant Dean of Community-Based Programs at MIT’s Priscilla King Gray Center for Public Service.
Email: vippy@mit.edu
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