Campus Compact is pleased to announce that Katie Haar, Chandler-Gilbert Community College Service-Learning & Civic Engagement Program Supervisor has been awarded Campus Compact’s Nadinne Cruz Community Engagement Professional Award. The award celebrates the ethical leadership and advocacy demonstrated by Community Engagement Professionals. Recipients have demonstrated collaboration with communities focused on transformative change; a commitment to justice-oriented work; and an impact on the larger movement to build ethical and effective community engagement locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.
The award is named in honor of Nadinne Cruz, an innovative leader of community-based experiential learning and a pioneer of the movement for the public purposes of higher education. The Nadinne Cruz Award celebrates the ethical leadership and advocacy demonstrated by Community Engagement Professionals.
Haar is recognized for her leadership in streamlining and facilitating student civic and community engagement. In her work, it is evident that Haar is a strong supporter of student innovation, facilitating new student-led activities that help them develop a sense of leadership and agency. In turn, Haar has brought her own innovations to campus through new programs and initiatives that contribute to student success and strengthen community ties. Examples include her work responding to the COVID-19 pandemic—bringing community engagement online and supporting an on-campus vaccination center—and voter engagement efforts, which have resulted in multiple awards from the ALL IN Democracy Challenge.
“Katie not only champions engagement but also opportunities for transformative, rather than performative, change,” said Deanna Villanueva-Saucedo, Maricopa Community Colleges associate vice chancellor of the Center for Excellence in Inclusive Democracy in a letter nominating Haar for the award. “She is not afraid to ask questions about impact and efficacy while keeping a focus on students. Too often, colleagues default to activities that ‘look good’ on the surface but don’t engage students in critical thinking about societal issues. Katie actively questions this practice and works to ensure that engagement opportunities are benefitting students and community partners in substantive ways.”
Star Plaxton-Moore, University of San Francisco’s Director of Community-Engaged Learning of the Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good, was also presented with the Cruz Award this year.
The Nadinne Cruz Community Engagement Professional Award is presented as part of Campus Compact's Impact Awards, which recognize the outstanding work of individuals and institutions in pursuit of the public purposes of higher education.
Awardees will be recognized during a summer event series hosted by Campus Compact and IARSLCE to celebrate the recipients of each organization’s annual awards.
For more information contact:
Molly Leiper, Director of Communications, Campus Compact, [email protected]