We welcome our 2023 Teaching Fellows! This year we onboarded teaching fellows for our Digital Media for Social Impact and Social Impact Strategy Cohorts! These social innovators are alumni of CSIS’ executive programs, and contribute to our community by providing feedback on executive students’ assignments, running weekly study sessions called “jamouts,” and providing community support. We are grateful for their mentorship and support! Read more about their backgrounds below and on our team page:
Nicole Baptiste, Executive Program in Social Impact Strategy ‘22
Nicole J. Baptiste is an experienced Strategist, Speaker, and Consultant who is driven by her passion for community and economic development. Nicole’s expertise spans over 15 years and she brings valuable knowledge and results in program development, community building and community engagement. Nicole is a certified National Trainer and Consultant in “Bridges out of Poverty”, a framework which provides strategies for professionals and communities to build resources and address the root causes of poverty.
Nicole is also the Founder of Uproot & Build, which aims to co-build inclusive and equitable communities by supporting mission-driven organizations through capacity building. Nicole holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A) in Sociology and a Master of Social Work (M.S.W) from the State University of New York at Albany. This is Nicole’s first year as a CSIS Teaching Fellow.
Sarah Cohen, Executive Program in Social Impact Strategy ‘21
Sarah Cohen is a strategist, facilitator, and coach. Her practice – Big Questions Collaborative – supports leaders and organizations in libraries, non-profit, education, social impact, and government sectors. Before starting her own practice, she served as the Senior Managing Director at the Open Education Network. She is a two-time Association for College and Research Libraries Excellence in Academic Libraries winner. This is Sarah’s second year as a Teaching Fellow.
Bronwen Henry, Executive Program in Social Impact Strategy ‘21
Bronwen develops and facilitates workshops and training for the Leadership Institute at Interfaith Philadelphia, including the collaboration with CSIS and Faith and Social Impact cohort. She came into involvement at Interfaith Philadelphia through Encountering Others Faiths and the Visionary Women program.
She has spent much of her career in the faith sector in content development, training, small group facilitation, and event planning. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Bronwen received a Bachelor’s of Science in Education from Bryn Athyn College and a certificate in Social Impact Strategy from UPenn. In addition to her work at Interfaith Philadelphia, she is also a prolific painter. She lives in Montgomery County with her family.
Shamichael Hallman, Executive Program in Social Impact Strategy ‘20
Shamichael Hallman is currently a Loeb Fellow at the Harvard School of Design after previously serving as a Senior Library Manager of the historic Cossitt Library in Memphis, TN. As a part of the Reimagining the Civic Commons (RCC) initiative, Cossitt Library is undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation. Located in the heart of downtown Memphis, Cossitt library is being designed to adapt to the ever-changing needs of the community, and will include co-working/workshop areas, recording studios, and performance art spaces.
In 2014 he became a co-organizer for a global, faith-inspired, weekend hackathon series called Code for the Kingdom. As a part of this movement he has helped organize faith-inspired hackathons all over the world, and has given talks at companies such as Google and Microsoft about his work with this movement.
Shamichael serves on a number of non-profit boards, and he is currently working on initiatives centered on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), on-boarding strategies, and public-private partnerships. He is a graduate of the MS in Nonprofit Leadership program at the University of Pennsylvania. This is Shamichael’s 3rd year as a Teaching Fellow. He hosts lively jamouts for the whole cohort, and contributes to mentoring our students with foci in interfaith or arts and culture work as they leverage their knowledge and resources in service of social impact.
Erin Harris, Executive Program in Social Impact Strategy ‘17
Erin Harris is the Chief Program Officer of the Barbershop Harmony Society, an international nonprofit focused on enriching lives through singing. She helped bring about the organization’s new vision, Everyone in Harmony. For an organization that started in 1938 as an all-white men’s singing membership association, she is passionate about being a social impact intrapreneur and leading broad, complex, and deeply relevant organizational transformation.
Erin’s life goal is to create more empathetic and compassionate human beings by providing millions of opportunities where all people can make meaningful connections. Whether that’s sharing a meal, a dance, a song, an adventure — creating more harmony in the world. Over the past 15 years, she has used her project management, sustainable business practices, and measurement & evaluation tools to actualize the impacts and increase the sustainability of corporations, small businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies. Erin has her Bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and International Business, her Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, and a Master’s in Sustainability with a focus on sustainable tourism. This is Erin’s first year as a Teaching Fellow.
River Ingham, Executive Program in Digital Media for Social Impact Alum ‘22
River Ingham, MSC is the founder of WordSpark Digital Consulting, headquartered in Philadelphia, PA. River has worked on several national and global social impact campaigns over their career with partners like The Peace Corps and The Rhode Island School of Design. River is also a freelance writer and the author of Awakening to Nature’s Beauty, an immersive book encouraging investment in self-care and exploration of the outdoors. Beyond their professional interests, they are invested in community building and serve as a lifelong mental health and youth advocate. River was part of the first cohort for the Digital Media for Social Impact program and this is River’s first year as a Teaching Fellow.
Kristen Rencher, Executive Program in Social Impact Strategy ‘19
Kristen Rencher currently serves as Assistant Executive Director of Business Development, Strategic Initiatives, and Student Programs for the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), one of the world’s largest arts education organizations. Kristen has held several senior leadership positions in the nonprofit cultural arts sector overseeing national events, student programming, strategic partnerships, business development initiatives, and marketing communications.
Kristen cares deeply about emphasizing the cultural value, role, and importance of the arts. She holds a B.S. in Music Industry Studies and Business from Appalachian State University, a M.A. in Arts Administration from the University of Kentucky, and is a graduate of the 2019 Executive Program in Arts and Culture Strategy from the National Arts Strategies and the University of Pennsylvania. Kristen contributes to mentoring our students in the arts and culture sector as they leverage their knowledge and resources in service of social impact.
Michael A. Ticzon, CFRE, Executive Program in Digital Media for Social Impact ‘22
Michael is a local Philadelphian currently working at Comcast NBCUniversal on their Impact & Inclusion team that is responsible for corporate social responsibility and DEI efforts across the enterprise. As a Senior Coordinator, he specifically supports employee engagement in giving to and volunteering for nonprofit organizations. Outside of his role, Michael serves on the leadership committee of the MyAbilities Employee Resource Group for Comcast’s HQ, which empowers People with Disabilities and their allies. Michael was part of the first cohort for the Digital Media for Social Impact program and this is Michael’s first year as a Teaching Fellow.
Lindsay Young Executive Program in Social Impact Strategy ‘18
Lindsay currently serves as an Impact Strategist at Prism X Strategy. She is an interdisciplinary strategist and designer with a focus on capacity building and program development. Lindsay brings a deep commitment to authenticity and collaboration into all of her work. She is a strategist who solves complex challenges with a lens towards centering those most proximate to issues. She has over 14 years of professional experience that includes serving as legal counsel for large financial institutions, acting as Executive Director of a literacy and youth development non-profit in Ghana, and advising startup companies, foundations, and community organizations in strategic and operational matters. As a systems thinker, she blends empathy and curiosity to develop, implement and assess frameworks that promote equitable outcomes.
Lindsay holds a JD from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. in Political Science from Spelman College. She is also a graduate and has been a Teaching Fellow of the University of Pennsylvania’s Executive Program for Social Impact Strategy since .
Gino Baltazar Executive Program in Social Impact Strategy ‘18
Gino Baltazar is a seasoned engineer operating in the intersection of data science and social impact – with communities such CSIS as a data science teaching fellow and in wildlife conservation at Conservation X Labs. Professionally, he is currently serving at Meta on the Horizon World Platform, working on data privacy program initiatives for the emerging metaverse, while peering with other teams in Reality Labs Data Engineering.Gino. He holds an MBA and Masters in Financial Analysis and Investment Management from Saint Mary’s College in California, a Bachelors in Computer Science from California State University, and most recently, a Certificate in Social Impact Strategy from University of Pennsylvania. This is Gino’s 5th year as a CSIS teaching fellow.
Thank you to all of our outstanding Teaching Fellows for this year’s Executive Education programs! We are so grateful to have you with us. For more information on our Executive Program in Social Impact Strategy or Executive Program in Digital Media for Social Impact, please follow the hyperlinks provided. Applications for the 2024 cohorts will become live this summer so stay tuned and check back in later!