Meet Our Staff

Sima Thorpe - Assistant Dean of Students/Director of CCASL

Sima Thorpe is the founder of the Center for Community Action and Service Learning.  She started at Gonzaga in 1994 as Director of Volunteer Services.  Before coming to Gonzaga, Sima was a secondary English teacher in Oregon and Idaho and a legal advocate for low-income families in Spokane.  Over her years at Gonzaga, she has built a department that is nationally-renowned for its work in civic engagement and service-learning.  She has a BA in English from the University of Oregon and an MA in Leadership from Gonzaga.  She is currently pursuing doctoral studies in Leadership at Gonzaga.  She enjoys riding horses, international travel, volunteering in the community and spending time with her husband, daughter and two Scottish Terriers. Sima Thorpe can be contacted at thorpe@gonzaga.edu.

Todd Dunfield - Associate Director of CCASL

Todd Dunfield is the Assistant Director of the Center for Community Action and Service-Learning (CCASL) which oversees the academic service-learning program. He works to sustain the academic service-learning program through grant writing, coordinates events to educate and train faculty and community partners, leads the service-learning advisory board and works with the Inland Northwest Service-Learning Partnership (INSLP) to increase service-learning efforts with 4 other higher education institutions, school districts and community partners in the Spokane community. He started working at Gonzaga in fall of 2004 after finishing his masters degree in Student Development Administration at Seattle University. Todd Dunfield can be contacted at 509.313.6396 or dunfield@gonzaga.edu.

Molly Ayers - Assistant Director

Molly helps service-learning students find appropriate placements, develops courses with faculty members, conducts trainings for faculty, community partners and students, and helps coordinate any efforts of the service-learning program. Molly is from Boise, Idaho and is a graduate of Gonzaga University with a BA in History and an MA in Philosophy. Molly served in AmeriCorps VISTA as a Service-Learning Coordinator in a Seattle area middle school, and has taught English in Korea. She started working at CCASL in the fall of 2004.  Molly Ayers may be reached at 509.313.6487 or ayers@gonzaga.edu.

Katie Kaiser - Mentoring Programs Coordinator

Katie is the Mentoring Programs Coordinator.  She oversees Gonzaga's campus and site-based mentoring and tutoring programs for youth in the local public schools.  These programs include Zag Study Buddies, S.M.I.L.E., Campus Kids, Shaw Connection and G.A.M.E.  Katie came to CCASL in June 2008 from St. Margaret's Shelter where she served as a Jesuit Volunteer and later a full time staff member.  She is originally from Vermont and graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in American Studies.  She can be contacted at 509.313.6821 or kaiserk@gonzaga.edu.

Janelle Axtell - Program Assistant

Janelle is a Spokane native and has worked at Gonzaga since 2000.  She comes to CCASL most recently from the graduate school in the Department of Education.  In her spare time, she gardens, rides horses, and spends time on her ranch with her family.  Her true passion is hippotherapy - using horses as therapy to enhance the physical and emotional well-being of autistic youth and adults with disabilities.  She is also an amazing cook and keeps CCASL students and staff well-fed with her "Souper Friday" meals.

Janelle can be contacted at 509.313.6879 or axtell@gonzaga.edu.

Erin Sather - Program Assistant, Mentoring Programs

Erin is the Program Assistant for the mentoring programs. She began this position June of 2009 after being a work study at CCASL for 2 years. She is also a Senior at Gonzaga University, pursuing a Masters in Accounting. Outside of work and school, Erin enjoys going to the gym, playing volleyball, reading, and spending time with family and friends. Erin can be contacted at 509.313.6898 or sathere@gonzaga.edu.

Kristina Kielbon - Green Jobs Coordinator VISTA

Kristina Kielbon is the Green Jobs Coordinator VISTA for Gonzaga University where she works in collaboration with local efforts to promote and encourage green careers.  She does this through Gonzaga students networking with local businesses, government, and non-profit agencies to identify green employment opportunities and local trends.  Kristina was born and raised in Spokane Valley, Washington and graduated from Whitworth University in 2009 with a B.A. in Peace Studies.  Contact Kristina for current volunteer opportunites at kkielbon@gonzaga.edu.

Dani Long – Campus Kids/Shaw Connection Coordinator (VISTA)

Dani Long is the AmeriCorps VISTA serving as the Campus Kids and Shaw Connection Coordinator at CCASL for the 2009-2010 school year.  A recent graduate from Gonzaga University majoring in English and Elementary Education, she joined CCASL’s staff to continue her pursuit of justice and equality for at-risk youth in the local Spokane communities.  She is originally from Boise, Idaho, and plans to attend graduate school in Portland, OR next year.  When not hard at work in CCASL II coordinating fundraisers, facilitating events for CK and Shaw, or overseeing her student leaders, you can find her whipping up delicious desserts, playing a mean game of Scrabble or Scene-It, or reading a good book by the lake.  You can contact Dani for current volunteer opportunities through CK or Shaw Connection at dlong3@gonzaga.edu, or at (509) 313-6486.

Meredith Donovan - SMILE, GAME, and Zag Study Buddies (VISTA)

Meredith is the Program Assistant VISTA for the mentoring programs SMILE, Zag Study Buddies, and GAME where she helps Gonzaga students organize and run activities within local  Spokane schools. These group mentoring programs are dedicated to increasing the resilience of Spokane’s youth by teaching them social skills in group settings and building self-esteem and a sense of self worth. Meredith graduated from Gonzaga in 2009 with a B.A. in History with a concentration in Renaissance History and a minor in Classical Civilizations. As an undergrad she participated in CCASL programs and feels privileged to be able to stay on with CCASL staff and student for another year of service. Contact Meredith for information regarding volunteer opportunities in group mentoring programs at mdonovan2@gonzaga.edu, or 509-313-6828.

Hilary Case - Coordinator of Student Engagement

Hilary Case is the Coordinator of Student Engagement.  She is originally from Boise, Idaho, although she's spent the last several years in Seattle and Latin America.   She completed her undergraduate studies in Communication Studies and Spanish at Seattle University and a graduate specialization in Conflict Studies, Peace Building, Human Rights, and International Humanitarian Law at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Cali, Colombia.  She is excited to serve as a liaison between Gonzaga University and the greater community and loves traveling, eating, staying active, discovering the great outdoors, and exploring the complex social justice issues of our beautiful, yet imperfect, world.  She can be contacted at case@gonzaga.edu or (509)313-5543.