People

Executive Assistant

phoebe.cook.1@slu.edu
314-977-7718
Dubourg Hall, 202

Phoebe Cook earned her bachelor's degree in communication management from Atlantic 10 conference school La Salle University in 2017. She then moved back home to Charlotte, NC, for a few years before becoming the first Black, female, full-time assistant coach for the Saint Louis University Women's Volleyball Team. As a coach, Phoebe served as the head recruiting coordinator and was an interim director of operations for the team. After coaching for two full seasons at SLU, Phoebe accepted her current position as an executive assistant for Rochelle Smith, vice president of diversity and innovative community engagement. Phoebe hopes to obtain her master's degree from Saint Louis University in a field of her choosing and is excited to bring energy and her communication expertise to the growing and exceedingly excellent DICE team.

Fun Fact

In high school, Phoebe participated in a home stay in Madrid, Spain!

Assistant Vice President of Strategic Initiatives

allison.brewer@slu.edu
314-977-2690
Center for Global Citizenship, Suite 124

Allison Brewer, M.A.T., (they/them), is an advocate and expert in the field of special education, cross-categorical disabilities, and applied accessibility as a community-based practice. Brewer is an openly disabled administrator and identifies as autistic and has narcolepsy with cataplexy. It is the combined lived and professional expertise that led Allison to launch Voice(Is), a disability-led consulting business. As a public speaker and/or educational advocate, they’ve led or attended ~1,500 IEPs and 504-related meetings, trained educators/support staff in 200 schools across 90 districts and 10 different states. Allison began their journey as a special educator across north St. Louis, where partnering with families to build education equity led to building a collective national network of self and community advocates. Gaining an M.A.T. in Cross Categorical Disabilities from Webster University helped ground them as an advocate when they needed it the most—through the protection of their own civil rights after facing disability discrimination in the workplace. As a leader in the field, Allison has served as an expert witness in a number of due process cases, working alongside families and civil rights attorneys holding our learning institutions accountable. 

Brewer is new to higher education and is excited about applying their experience as a social innovator, advocate, and community organizer to the Jesuit mission of Saint Louis University. Their framework of operating is heavily influenced by the cross-racial disability-justice movement that developed under apartheid in South Africa after a student uprising in Soweto. Brewer hopes to bring the spirit of the disability-justice rally call to their work here at SLU: “Nothing about us, without us.”

Job Description

As AVP of DICE, Brewer is tasked with bringing an innovative spirit to the work of structural transformation by employing strategies that introduce new ideas, methods, and practices required to move forward with transformative change, specifically for internal and external stakeholders, in an effort to help the university achieve inclusive excellence.  They will help the university develop innovative and transformational work that centers those who have historically been marginalized and ensures that instruction, research, and services advance justice and equity for people of all races, genders, abilities, countries of origin, incomes, and other identities and backgrounds. The assistant vice president will help create a coordinated, equitable system for the university’s community engagement efforts in the St. Louis region, prioritizing healing and repairing past harms perpetuated by its staff, faculty and students in the city’s most vulnerable neighborhood. 

Areas of Expertise

• Applied Accessibility as a Community-Based Practice
• Cross Categorical Disabilities and  Special Education
• Inclusive Instruction and Professional Development
• Institutional Innovation & Social Impact

Fun Fact

You might find Brewer somewhere whittling with headphones on, say hello! They nerd out about liberatory frameworks found in comic books, through magic, beyond the stars, and in the future (aka: superheroes, fantasy, sci-fi, and dystopian future genres). They are an amateur oboist and enjoy aerial silks classes with their teen in their very limited free time. Go visit their family business and local coffee spot right down Grand, MoKaBe’s Coffeehouse!

Assistant Vice President for Research

katie.heidenrootes@health.slu.edu
314-977-2690
Morrissey Hall, 1133

Katie Heiden-Rootes, Ph.D., (she/her) is a family scientist and mental health professional specializing in the advancement of systemic theory, training and research on health and healing with the LGBTQIA+ community and their families. Her scholarship is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Missouri Foundation for Health, and the Association of Schools Advancing Health Professions. Heiden-Rootes founded and supervises in the Queer & Trans Wellness Clinic @ SLU in the Center for Counseling and Family Therapy, a community-facing and accessible resource for mental health services. In 2022, she was awarded the Norm White Award for Engaged Scholarship and Service by the Faculty Senate of Saint Louis University. 

In her academic home, the Medical Family Therapy program in the School of Medicine as an associate professor where she teaches courses and lectures on human sexuality and gender, cultural humility, and qualitative research. Her work today is marked by the celebration of difference, engaging in difficult dialogue, and becoming comfortable in discomfort.

Areas of Expertise

• Institutional Research
• Training & Consultation
• Equity as Wellness
• Advocacy
• Cultural Transformation

Job Description

The assistant vice president champions initiatives designed to cultivate a climate of equity, trust, well-being, honesty, transparency, and integrity where all are valued and differences are deemed as assets. The role focuses on leading strategic initiatives around institutional research, compliance, reporting, policy, communication, and advocacy. There is a focus on meeting and exceeding civil rights compliance standards at the local, state, and federal levels. Activities include providing training, leadership, and programming for cultivating equitable and sustainable structural and cultural transformation that is data-informed, community-driven, culturally responsive, and rooted in our Jesuit Mission. 

The role is housed in the Division of Diversity and Innovative Community Engagement (DICE) and works closely with the vice president for DICE, the provost, the director of Institutional Equity and Diversity/Title IX coordinator, and collaborates with associate provosts, deans, faculty, staff, students, committees, and constituencies throughout the University to fulfill responsibilities.

Fun Fact

Katie is a mama obsessed with her two favorite humans (the JoBear and Emmettson). You will see them featured on her slide decks. She is a water enthusiast, spending vacation time on or near lakes and oceans. And, without prompting, she will show you her Peloton bike, quote her favorite trainer (Cody Rigsby), or talk about 90s music.

Special Assistant to the Vice President for Recruitment in STEM

michael.hankins@slu.edu
314-977-2808
CV

(he/him)

Michael Hankins, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and a special assistant to the vice president for recruitment in STEM. Hankins’ work as a special assistant is focused on supporting, creating, and assessing scholarly efforts on campus to increase the diversity of students in STEM disciplines. To date, he co-founded DICE’s Black in STEM awards as a signature event highlighting the contributions of Black students, faculty, and regional community partners in STEM, which received the INSIGHT Into Diversity Magazine’s 2023 Inspiring Programs in STEM award. His scholarship is focused on cultivating STEM academic career pathways for underrepresented students through cultural change and excellent mentoring opportunities in academic and STEM environments. In his academic home, he teaches undergraduate courses and mentors students to become excited and intrigued about STEM. He is also a SLU alumnus (B.S. Chemistry 2009, Ph.D. Integrated and Applied Sciences 2017). 

Job Description

The special assistant to the vice president for recruitment in STEM creates, implements, supports, and assesses programming efforts to recruit STEM students to the university with emphasis on those students from marginalized and under-represented communities in the Division of Diversity and Innovative Community Engagement.

• Areas of Work and Expertise
• Chemistry faculty (Assistant Professor, NTT)
• Recruitment (first-time full-time freshmen, transfer students, non-traditional students)
• Community Engagement (creating partnerships to support recruiting pipelines)
• Assist student organizations that increase a sense of belonging and support for STEM students 

Awards and Accomplishments

• SLU Student Development’s Campus Partner Award  
• Hidden Figures Social Change Award in STEM 2023
• Panelist for American Chemical Society Spring National Meeting (2024) 

Fun Fact

Michael is a former SLU student who enjoys playing video games, watching sports and anime.

Special Assistant to the Vice President for Retention and Leadership Development

michael.jackson@slu.edu
314-977-4595
DuBourg 102

(he/him)

Michael Jackson serves as special assistant to the VP of DICE for retention and leadership development. He is completing his doctoral degree in higher education/administration at Iowa State University. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree from Missouri State University in criminology, and has a Master of Arts degree in political science from Iowa State University. Recently, he was selected to share a part of his research, “Exploring Leadership Capacities and Experiences of African American Male College Presidents,” at the 21st Annual International Leadership Conference in Ottawa, Canada. Jackson received invaluable support and feedback from global leaders that he will reflect on as he continues to implement various leadership components in higher education.

Before transitioning to academia, Jackson effectively held several leadership positions in the business sector, and successfully led a Fortune 500 company, while overseeing about 2,600 associates. His hobbies include reading, running (full/half marathons), traveling and horseback riding. Two noteworthy quotes that he often reflects on and guide his work are:

"Treat a man as he is, and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he can and should be and he will become as he can and should be."

"Start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible and suddenly you are doing the impossible." 

Program Coordinator - Center for Social Action

aubra.ladd@slu.edu
314-977-5790
Center for Global Citizenship, Suite 134

(she/her)

CV

Aubra Ladd joined Saint Louis University in December 2021, as the program coordinator for the Division of Diversity and Innovative Community Engagement. Born and raised in Chicago, Aubra moved to St. Louis to attend Saint Louis University for both her bachelor’s degree in communication (2021) and is currently working on her master’s degree in communication (2023). While a student at SLU, Aubra served as a leader in several positions such as a resident advisor and the president of Lambda Pi Eta Honor Society. She hopes to draw from her experience as a student and working with others to coordinate programming for DICE. As a student on SLU’s campus, Aubra hopes to use her experience to identify undergraduate and graduate needs and work within the Jesuit Mission of creating a sense of community that facilitates the development of all.

Job Description

The program coordinator in the Division of Diversity and Innovative Community Engagement works to coordinate volunteers for community events and community organizations. On the DICE team, Aubra specializes in helping to coordinate university-wide programming, workshops and training. 

Areas of Work and Expertise

• Programming (#OccupySLU Programming, DICE Open House, 1818 Grant, Graduate Wellness Series)
• Community building
• Intercultural communication, copywriting and editing 

Fun Fact

Aubra is obsessed with pop-culture vampires (she's looking at you, David!) and is a Scooby-Doo mega fan. And yes, she thinks Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated! is the best.

Assistant Vice President
Director of the Cross-Cultural Center for Global Citizenship

richard.marks@slu.edu
314-977-2567
Center for Global Citizenship, Suite 124M

Richard B. Marks, Jr., Ed.D, (he/him) is the executive director of the Cross-Cultural Center for Global Citizenship at Saint Louis University. He is a graduate of Indiana University, Bloomington, with both a bachelor's in African American Studies/sociology and a master's in higher education administration in student affairs. He earned his doctorate in educational leadership from Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California. Richard's dissertation "As the World Turns: Being Black and Gay on Campus in the 21st Century" explores factors contributing to the Black gay men at a predominately White institution (PWI) in southern California using the intersection of race, sexual identity and social capital-institutional agents. The themes emerged: self-identity, coming-out, racial & cultural dissonance, (toxic) masculinity, religion/spirituality, institutional support, and family affairs. 

Marks has worked in higher education for over 20 years. He has worked in housing and residence life, student activities, Greek life, student conduct, and diversity education. He has facilitated and presented several topics, including race in higher education, LGBTQ, toxic masculinity, gender roles and expressions, Greek life, various diversity training, team building, leadership, intersectionality, and identity. In addition, he has been the keynote speaker for numerous events. More recently, that includes Chapman University's Black Graduation (2015), Youngstown State University Men of Color Conference (2020), and Midwest Association of Colleges and Universities Residence Halls (2019).

Marks is a past chair of the Pan African Network in Association of College Personnel Association [ACPA], an active member of 100 Black Men of Metropolitan of St. Louis, board member of YMCA – Monsanto in Saint Louis, past vice president/charter member of National Panhellenic Council of Orange County, and a lifetime member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. He is also the president of a diversity consulting company called RBM Diversity Consulting, LLC. 

Job Description

As the executive director of the Cross-Cultural Center for Global Citizenship, Richard works closely in a highly collaborative and creative environment. He facilitates training and workshops throughout the institution among faculty, staff, students and the community at large around diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

Areas of Work and Expertise

• DEI trainings and workshops
• Black male persistence
• LGBTQAI+
• Black male college students and mental health

Fun Fact

Richard is a reality TV junkie, loves to cook, enjoys traveling, and is vocally talented. Family is very important to him. He enjoys spending time with his family and friends.

Assistant Director for Diversity and Inclusion, Cross Cultural Center for Global Citizenship

She | Her

luella.loseille@slu.edu 
314-977-3576
Center for Global Citizenship, Suite 124G

Luella Loseille is the assistant director for diversity and inclusion in the Cross Cultural Center for Global Citizenship and the Atlas Program Coordinator. Born and raised in St. Louis from a Haitian family background, Luella attended Saint Louis University for both her undergraduate degree (anthropology, 2017) and graduate degree (student personnel administration, 2019). While a student at SLU, Luella was engaged in a myriad of leadership positions (including being inducted into the SLU Student Hall of Fame Class of 2017) and draws from these experiences to better enrich the student experience at Saint Louis University within her role as assistant director for diversity and inclusion.

After graduating with her bachelor's in 2017, Luella served as an AmeriCorp VISTA for one year where she strengthened community partnerships between SLU and community organizations with a social-justice focus on race equity. She also assisted in the creation and implementation of programming relating to anti-bias and anti-racism initiatives including the Stand Against Racism campaign in partnership with YWCA Metro St. Louis. After completing her service year with AmeriCorp, Luella worked as the Atlas program coordinator within the Cross Cultural Center until she became assistant director in 2020. With a strong passion in equity and social-justice work, Luella fervently works to cultivate and maintain an environment in which every member of the SLU Community may be their truest and most authentic self. Luella is also an instructor for Cura Personalis 1 and the adviser to student organization OASIS.

Job Description

The assistant director for diversity and inclusion plans and leads diversity, equity and inclusion programs for students, faculty, and staff, and assists in the development and implementation of programming initiatives for the campus community that contributes to the recruitment and retention of underrepresented, minoritized, and/or marginalized populations. Additionally, the assistant director for diversity and inclusion actively participates in the coordination of related awareness, training, and educational programs in conjunction with student organizations, other university departments, and community partners while assisting in the overall daily operations of the Cross Cultural Center for Global Citizenship.

Areas of Work

• Atlas Week
• International Education Week
• Diversity Movie Series
• Cultural Heritage/Awareness Months
• Multiple Cultural Fluency
• Audre Lorde Scholars
• Safe Zone 

Area of Expertise

• Multiple Cultural Fluency
• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice
• Intergroup Dialogue
• Global Diversity Education
• Student Personnel Administration and Support

Fun Fact

Luella is an avid anime, manga, video game, and K-Pop fan and enjoys reading fantasy books. She also loves a good K-Drama! 

Assistant Vice-President
Director of the Center for Social Action

bryan.sokol@slu.edu
314-977-3929
Wuller Hall, Suite 204

(he/him)

Bryan Sokol, Ph.D., is an associate professor of psychology and the director of the Center for Social Action at Saint Louis University. He was trained as a developmental scientist at the University of British Columbia in Canada where he focused on the psychological and social factors that promote positive youth development. He has been a faculty member at SLU since 2007. His current research is directed toward applied contexts that enhance young persons’ sense of agency, empathy, purpose and spirituality.

Job Description

Bryan leads the CSA team and help to forge stronger, more effective learning partnerships and service opportunities with the surrounding community.

Areas of Work

• Community-based research and teaching
• Impact assessment and evaluation
• Readers 2 Leaders program
• Service-immersion programs

Areas of Expertise

• Rich knowledge of the Catholic, Jesuit mission
• Scholar-practitioner with training in developmental psychology
• Demonstrated commitment to diversity-and-inclusion, faith-and-justice, and the spiritual-emotional wellbeing of young people

Fun Fact

Bryan is a dual citizen of Canada and the USA; his favorite color is orange.

Director - Center for Social Action

bobby.wassel@slu.edu
314-977-2041
Center for Global Citizenship, Suite 134

(he/him)

Bobby Wassel, Ph.D., serves as the director for the Saint Louis University Center for Social Action. He has over 17 years of experience connecting students to service and community engagement opportunities, and helping students reflect on how these experiences shape their values and purpose in life. Before joining SLU in 2006, Bobby spent a few years as a campus minister at the Catholic Newman Center at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, and also spent a year volunteering in Appalachia, working with the rural poor, at an intentional living community based upon Catholic social teaching.

He holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and sociology from Indiana University, and both master's and doctoral degrees in higher education administration from Saint Louis University. Bobby has presented at numerous regional, national and international conferences on such topics as social change and action methods, assessment of faith and service engagement, and organizing high-quality service experiences for college students. He currently resides in Kirkwood, Missouri, with his wife Kelly and two children (Daphne and Keenan).

Job Description

Bobby works to connect SLU students, faculty and staff to community engagement opportunities, as well as maintaining relationships with the over 500 community organizations that partner with the University. He also oversees such programming as the 1818 Community Engagement Grant Program, Community Service Federal Work Study Program, and Year of Service initiatives. Bobby facilitates the operations of the Center for Social Action, including finance and budget, database management, and assessment.

Areas of Work and Expertise

Bobby’s areas of interest and expertise include the following:

• Organizing high quality community engagement opportunities for students
• Assessing motivations, personal development and impact of community engagement experiences on college students
• Vocational discernment processes for college students
• Social-change methods; equipping students with the knowledge and skills to engage in advocacy
• Historical analyses of social-change movements
• Catholic Social Teaching as a foundational platform for social change

Fun Fact

Bobby is an avid runner and hiker – he got engaged to his wife Kelly towards the end of the New York City Marathon. Bobby enjoys science fiction/fantasy books and movies.

Director of Community Engaged Learning - Center for Social Action

leah.sweetman@slu.edu
314-977-4214
Center for Global Citizenship, Suite 134

(she/her)

Leah Sweetman, Ph.D., serves as the director of community-engaged learning for the Saint Louis University Center for Social Action. She has more than 20 years of experience in community engagement and higher education.
 
Leah has a research interest in how universities prepare students to serve in new and diverse settings and is working on ways to integrate those best practices into SLU’s community-engagement programs. She has presented at numerous community-engagement conferences and has co-authored articles on service learning, voter engagement, and social justice education. Leah regularly teaches courses in public-policy analysis and the policymaking process. She is the co-chair of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) Community Engaged Learning Professionals Conference and has served on a number of community-development boards and committees in St. Louis.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Marquette University, a Master of Science in Urban Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and a Ph.D. in public policy analysis and administration from Saint Louis University. 

Job Description

Through her work, Leah assists faculty with creating new community-engaged learning courses or redesigning existing courses to integrate meaningful community service and reflection experiences into the curriculum. She also chairs the voter-engagement committee at Saint Louis University and is passionate about helping students make connections between their service commitments and their civic lives. 

Areas of Work and Expertise

• Community-engaged scholarship
• Student-voter engagement
• Public Policy and Social Change

Fun Fact

Leah is a big fan of snow cones. To date, the best ones are sold in California on the Santa Monica Pier. She also enjoys spending time with her family exploring the great neighborhoods, parks and art spaces in St. Louis.

Assistant Director of the Good Neighbor Project/Campus Kitchen

melissa.apprill@slu.edu
314-977-3881
3711 West Pine Blvd, Wuller Hall 204

Campus Kitchen SLU
303 S. Grand Blvd, Reinert Hall 132A

Melissa Apprill (she/her) joined Saint Louis University in 2018, as the program coordinator for Campus Kitchen SLU. She received a B.A. in political science from SLU in 1991, and before returning home to the University, she earned a J.D. from Temple University in 1997, and spent 15 years working in the legal profession in the United States and Canada. Regardless of her profession, Melissa’s vocational calling has always been community-facing, whether serving at Annunciation House in El Paso, working in the City of Philadelphia’s civil rights unit, or volunteering in her church, children’s schools, or with organizations such as Sts. Peter and Paul Community Services and Fr. Dempsey’s.

As the Campus Kitchen coordinator, she manages hundreds of volunteers, maintains partnerships with a dozen community organizations, and provides thousands of meals and companionship to St. Louis residents, especially those living in and around SLU’s neighborhood. From working in the community to embracing her role as a student mentor, she epitomizes the “Good Neighbor” Initiative she will lead in the Division of Diversity and Innovative Community Engagement.

Fun Fact

Melissa is a terrible speller, but she loves playing Skrabbell (did she spell that correctly?). And nothing beats a family picnic at the beach! 

Assistant Director for Advocacy and Civic Engagement - Center for Social Action

jessica.trout@slu.edu
314-977-4587
Center for Global Citizenship, Suite 134

(she/her)

Jessica began working in higher education in 2014 at McKendree University as the inaugural staff member in the Center for Community Service. She moved to Saint Louis University in 2017 into a new position in the Center for Social Action focused on advocacy and social change. Prior to her work in higher education, Jessica graduated from Saint Louis University as a first-generation college student with a bachelor's degree in social work and international studies. After graduating, she moved to the Federated States of Micronesia to teach high school for two years. In 2013, she completed her Master of Social Work degree at Columbia University in New York City, with an emphasis in social policy. During her studies in New York, she worked with Voices of Women Organizing Project, a community-organizing nonprofit working with survivors of domestic violence. After six months in Central America during college, and various trips back to the region, as well as time along the US-Mexico border, Jessica has a passion for immigration policy.

Job Description

The advocacy program coordinator maintains relationships with regional and national advocacy groups, as well as advises student organizations focused on community service and social-justice activities. The program coordinator leads and supports integrative educational opportunities that promote leadership and spiritual formation, advocacy skills, and political engagement among students and the broader campus community. Examples of programming include Policy Pods, social justice and advocacy training, and the Kino Border Initiative Spring Break Immersion. 

Areas of Work 

• Policy Pods
• Social justice and advocacy training
• Student advising and support
• Coalitions
• Neighborhood associations
• Immigration and border immersion

Areas of Expertise

• Immigration
• Student-leadership training
• Coalition building
• Social-justice education
• Community partnerships

Fun Fact

Jessica's dog's name, Tiko, comes from a Micronesian word, Fitikoco, meaning chaos, and he lives up to it, especially in his greetings!