We are living through a pivotal moment in our nation’s history. Political division, mounting disinformation and attacks on democratic norms have left many feeling overwhelmed and disheartened. Couple this with rising economic inequality, climate change and the challenge of adapting to rapid technological advances and it’s easy to retreat—to feel that our efforts for positive change are too small to matter. But now, more than ever, we are called to meet this moment with purpose, commitment and hope.
At the Sundborg Center for Community Engagement (CCE), we know our daily work offers an antidote to the challenges we face. We feel renewed hope as we build community at the local level, educate ethical and effective leaders and pursue creative ideas that can be brought to scale. I’m excited about the many ways the Sundborg Center is responding to the challenges and opportunities of this present moment. Here are a few examples highlighted in this report:
• Creating a “Curriculum of Place.” Through a revised University Core Curriculum, undergraduates will take an introductory course about Seattle and complete a hands-on community-engaged learning capstone Core course. Students can take additional courses to earn a community engagement graduation distinction. We are leading the way as no other university in the United States offers such an expansive curriculum to prepare lifelong public servants.
• Expanding the Seattle University Youth Initiative. In January, we launched the Yesler Terrace Legacy Commitment, a community-driven initiative providing more than $500,000 annually for youth development and education programs at Yesler Terrace, Seattle’s oldest public housing community. Centering Yesler residents’ leadership, this effort complements our broader place-based work.
• Fostering a Virtuous Cycle. In June, we celebrated the high school graduation of our first cohort of Seattle University Youth Initiative Change Makers. This fall, three students are enrolled at Seattle University with full-tuition scholarships. We’ve known several of these students since elementary school and look forward to how they will deepen our work to connect SU with our local neighborhoods.
Through this report I hope you will see that despite the uncertainty of our times, we remain focused on the power of shared work and creative solutions. Join us—on campus, in our local neighborhoods and in a collective effort to build a hope-filled future. Together, we can meet the moment.
With warm regards,
Kent Koth Executive Director, Sundborg Center for Community Engagement
ROOTED IN THE MOMENT FINANCIALS
This is a tough time. The world feels like it’s moving fast and fraying at the edges. But thanks to you, we didn’t sit it out. We showed up—in classrooms, in neighborhoods and in partnerships that matter. Because of your support, students are learning what it means to lead with purpose. Scholars in our community are seeing what is possible. And all of us, together, are building something stronger than the moment we're in: A future grounded in connection, equity and hope. The challenges are real and so is the power of what we can do together. Thanks for showing up with us. Let’s keep going.
With gratitude,
Emily Bergstrom CCE Director of Development
OUR 2025 FISCAL YEAR FINANCES AT A GLANCE
“Giving to CCE allows our family’s foundation to invest in educational programs and support social service agencies in the neighborhood simultaneously. It’s a rare and meaningful intersection of our priorities.”
Here’s a look at what it takes to propel the Sundborg Center for Community Engagement.
Expenses: $3,314,107
Val Gorder CCE Donor
IMPACTFUL PROGRAMS & IMPACTFUL DATA
To learn about the impact of CCE’s Seattle University Youth Initiative (SUYI/“soo yee”) on local kindergarten to 8th grade scholars, the CCE recently partnered with Dr. David Fainstein, Assistant Professor of School Psychology, to gather a snapshot of mentor and scholar experiences at Bailey Gatzert Elementary and Washington Middle School. Through reflections and surveys, we explored mentors’ perceptions of how scholars built trusting relationships with adults and felt included in their school communities.
COMMON THEMES DISCOVERED
• Trusting Relationships with Adults: Emotional safety, consistent adult presence and support for both academic and personal growth.
• Inclusion: Peer friendships, participation in activities, cultural affirmation and opportunities for self-expression.
• Belonging: Through consistency, recognition and emotional responsiveness.
Mentors perceived that scholars with regular, supportive interactions were more likely to feel connected, confident and engaged over time as their connections strengthened. These results offer insight into how consistent, caring mentorship can support scholars’ sense of belonging and connection in school. Next year, Dr. Fainstein will continue to work with CCE to expand and deepen our understanding of SUYI’s impact.
BAILEY GATZERT ATTENDANCE IMPACT
CCE has a school-wide partnership with Bailey Gatzert Elementary School that includes many types of support. At a foundational level, scholars learn when they are present, prepared and supported. While many factors affect these and other indicators, CCE is excited to contribute to Gatzert’s progress that has now surpassed pre-pandemic levels.
CCE IMPACT ON STUDENT EMPLOYEE
As the largest student employer on campus (around 125 students annually), CCE student employees represent a significant percentage of SU's first-time in college (FTIC), Pell Grant eligible and Underrepresented Minority (URM) students. Except for the year of COVID, CCE student employees have had higher average student retention across the categories of Pell, URM and Pell + URM student populations compared to the baseline of Seattle University FTIC students.
Baily Gatzert Elementary Impact Measures
ABUNDANCE IN TH E MO MENT AND BEYOND
Sawubona, Beloved!
This year, the CCE Seattle University Youth Initiative (SUYI) team embarked on a journey to ensure that our cradle-to-career work across our programming and services more intentionally supports, creates and maintains a solid educational pathway for children, youth, young people and their families. We aim to steward a pathway that is built on and centers nourishing and reciprocal relationships, justice, liberation, joy and love.
This work requires us to deepen our understanding of self, our campus and larger community, how we connect as a team and our awareness of both our work and its impact—how the work of SUYI supports the creation of a more just and humane world. We leaned in with bravery, courage, wonder and curiosity, guided in part by Dr. Torie Weiston-Serdan, a leader in youth mentoring and youth development. In our dreaming, assessing and planning, we embraced our Jesuit values and pedagogy, allowing us to articulate our North Star: “The Seattle University Youth Initiative facilitates an ecosystem that amplifies holistic educational opportunities in the community for youth and families to flourish.”
Guided by this North Star, we continue to provide culturally responsive programming, services and backbone support. Looking ahead, we are eager to welcome our first graduating Change Makers scholars to the Seattle University campus. We are excited to support caregivers’ learning through our partnership with Denise Louie Education Center and to help families access swimming lessons through our partnership with the YMCA. We continue to be energized by learning with and from our community, growing the trust that SUYI will walk alongside them in ways that center and uplift.
In all of this, excitement abounds. We continue to rise to the challenge of ensuring we meet each moment in such a way that honors the humanity and dignity of all.
With love,
LaKesha and the SUYI Team
LaKesha Kimbrough Senior Director of the Seattle University Youth Initiative, also named Seattle University’s 2025 Staff Living the Mission award recipient.
HOW SEATTLE UNIVERSITY YOUTH INITIATIVE PROGRAMS ARE MEETING THE MOMENT
Through our cradle-to-career pathway for scholars, families and school communities, we have an unwavering commitment to continued equity through a culturally responsive and strength-based approach to educational justice.
Early Learning supports families in navigating the school system, accessing community resources and ensuring children are ready for kindergarten. Through a series of partnerships, collaborations and programs both on and off campus, Early Learning continues to reach families of children, birth through Pre-K, who are furthest from educational resources and support.
The Redhawk Academic Mentoring Program (RAMP) at Bailey Gatzert Elementary has strengthened partnerships with educators, families and the school community. Our programs offer scholars academic support, social-emotional learning activities, enrichment experiences and opportunities to build meaningful relationships through academic instruction and play.
RAMP at Washington Middle School continues to uplift justice and equity by centering youth voices and focusing on culturally relevant programming. This collaborative effort between program staff, mentors and scholars centers the needs and interests of scholars and their families, while actively embracing the strength, wisdom and resilience that already exist within the community.
Change Makers works with local high school scholars furthest from educational justice to tap into their innate power, to overcome systemic barriers and pursue higher education or meaningful careers. The program helps close opportunity gaps through free tuition to Seattle University, career support and the promotion of a more just and inclusive society.
Family Engagement focuses on community building, strengthening relationships and inspiring connection throughout our local and school communities. Through family events, school events and neighborhood classes, families are having joyful and inclusive experiences where they live, work and play. Experiences like these help us build stronger, more personal community ties and center equity through connection, celebration and belonging.
Yesler Terrace Legacy Commitment (YTLC) has created the Yesler Community Service Committee (YCSC), which supports a longstanding tradition of providing impactful youth programming in Yesler Terrace. YCSC members evaluate youth programs and make funding decisions, shifting the power of funding programs into the hands of people who are directly impacted by their success.
1,497+ CHILDREN AND YOUTH INVOLVED IN ANY CCE PROGRAMMING
388 SUYI SCHOLARS INVOLVED IN PROGRAMMINGYEAR-LONGCONSISTENT
Family Engagement at a Seattle Reign game.
SUYI CHANGE MAKERS SCHOLARS
ABOUT JAPHIA
Japhia McRae is passionate about understanding human behavior and using psychology to support justice and healing. “Forensic psychology fascinates me because it blends mental health, law and advocacy,” says McRae “I’m especially interested in how psychological insights can help prevent crime, support rehabilitation and ensure fairness in the legal system.”
In addition to Change Makers, McRae participated in SU’s pre-collegiate programs, was part of the SUYI Working Group, worked with Catholic Community Services’ Youth Tutoring Program and helped prepare food for those in need at Saint James Church. “These experiences taught me the values of service, empathy and community.
“I’m excited to learn about student organizations that focus on psychology, social justice, cultural identity and first-generation college students, meet new people, build friendships and dive into my classes,” continues McRae. “I’m looking forward to learning from professors, exploring campus life and growing both personally and academically.”
McRae says her mother’s strength, resilience and compassion inspire her. She wants to inspire students who look like her, showing them that they belong in every space and that their dreams are valid and achievable. She plans to continue her involvement with the Change Makers program as an SU student mentor while studying Forensic Psychology.
Samadi Gonzalez Garcia is passionate about helping others any way she can, especially those in her Latinx community. "This spark was ignited through years of working with children and engaging with people, always offering help, even in simple ways like serving as a translator,” says Gonzalez Garcia.
Beyond Change Makers, Gonzalez Garcia loved being part of her high school swim team and was proud to be involved in Razas Unidas, where she could celebrate her heritage and connect with others who shared the same culture. Inspired by both of her parents’ unwavering hard work and the love shown to her, Gonzalez Garcia wants to pass that on. “I hope to be a source of inspiration for my younger brother to encourage him to always strive for excellence and believe in his own potential.”
Gonzalez Garcia is excited to dive into college life, meet new people, build lasting friendships and discover more about herself. “My goals for college are to maintain strong academic performance, fully explore what Seattle University has to offer and build connections with new people.
“I’m especially looking forward to exploring my major and staying focused on what drives me,” she continues. Gonzalez Garcia was chosen as a 2025 Amazon Future Engineer Scholar in the spring and plans to continue a STEM pathway as a Mechanical Engineering student.
ABOUT SAMADI
CAMPUS ENGAGEMENT
VOTER EDUCATION
In fall 2024, CCE announced a call for proposals for non-partisan Election Engagement Student Leader Grants supporting student-led organizations to engage with the democratic process. Student organizations submitted applications to receive funds to organize and host events designed to increase Seattle University students’ knowledge, understanding and engagement with the 2024 election. CCE selected three organizations to receive funds:
• Political Science Club promoted voter registration and election engagement through tabling, debate watch parties and discussion forums. They also organized transportation to take students to the polls on election day.
• Pre-Law Society hosted Socratic seminars on different topics relevant to the current political climate.
QUADSTOCK 35
$1,500
MORE THAN DONATED TO CCE FROMTICKETQUADSTOCK SALES
This year, the student organizers of Seattle University’s annual Quadstock campus art and music festival partnered with CCE to raise funds for CCE's Jumpstart Early Literacy Carnival. SU's Student Events and Activities Council (SEAC) co-chairs were inspired by CCE’s work and decided to support CCE by donating ticket proceeds of more than $1,500. Jumpstart Student Corps Members hosted a facepainting table for students at the event.
• SU College Democrats hosted events to educate fellow students about the electoral process and political and governmental systems, including promoting voter registration. They held forums to watch political debates and discuss current legislation.
In addition to grant funding, students received resources through our partnership with Common Power, a nonprofit that works to foster, support and amplify a democracy that is just and inclusive. Thanks to Common Power, Seattle University students had access to accurate, nonpartisan voting information at CCE’s Block Party and other events at the Student Center. CCE created a popular custom sticker sheet to promote voter engagement across campus. We appreciate Common Power for helping us inspire students to meet the political moment and join CCE in working toward a more just democracy.
Common Power at 2024 Block Party.
COMMUNITY ENGAGED LEARNING IN THE NEW UNIVERSITY CORE
CELSectionsCourse 497
This year, Seattle University began implementing exciting new updates to the university’s Core Curriculum, which will make SU one of the most engaged universities in the country. Once fully implemented, all undergraduates will be required to take two new courses that further connect campus and community: UCOR 1000: Signature Seminar and UCOR 3300: Responsibility and Action.
• UCOR 1000: Signature Seminar will engage up to 1,500 students per year in academic and experiential learning about the city of Seattle. Faculty from a variety of disciplines will introduce students to topics such as health inequity, business, literature and the arts, environmental justice and much more, focusing on how broad social and environmental issues impact various communities in Seattle. The course will also prepare students for equitable community engagement and offer students foundational skills for academic success in college.
• UCOR 3300: Responsibility and Action, a community engaged learning course, will support students to take responsible action to address issues impacting one or more communities. As the capstone to the Core, the course will invite up to 1,000 students per year to apply their Jesuit education to advocacy and engagement.
As the first and last courses students will take in the Core, UCOR 1000 and UCOR 3300 will ensure that SU undergraduates are continuously learning through creative modes of action that address the urgent social issues of our time.
CCE is excited to partner with the Offices of the University Core and First-Year Academic Engagement to support the rollout of these two new courses. In addition to providing professional development to faculty who will teach these courses, CCE staff led the creation of a new video series called “Engaging Seattle” that features faculty and community partners sharing their expertise about key issues in our city.
97,902
Total CEL Hours
Scan the QR code to watch a sample of the videos.
TIMELINE OF UCOR DEVELOPMENT
• 2023-2024
CCE helped facilitate the Community Engaged Learning Working Group, which gathered input from campus and community partners to guide the creation of UCOR 1000.
• Summer 2024
CCE helped convene a group of faculty to develop a course description and learning outcomes for UCOR 1000.
• Fall 2024
CCE secured funding from Jim and Janet Sinegal and the Barnickol family for faculty to develop course sections.
• Spring 2025
CCE participated in workshops for the new UCOR 1000 and UCOR 3300 faculty.
• Coming Soon
CCE will continue to lead professional development for UCOR 1000 and UCOR 3300, aggregating resources for faculty who are teaching the courses.
BRIDGET JOYNER-CARPANINI, PHD CEL FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
Dr. Joyner-Carpanini, Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice, first connected with CCE when she completed the Spring Workshop Series on the Foundations of Community Engaged Learning in 2024. From this she decided to apply for the Community Engaged Learning Faculty Fellowship program, where she introduced community engaged learning to students in her Introduction to Criminal Justice course. Partnering with the Northwest Community Bail Fund, students in the course participate in the Court Watch program, which allows volunteers to observe legal proceedings to increase community accountability in the criminal court system. Thanks to this new introductory course, students begin their study of Criminal Justice by understanding how systemic inequalities become embedded in the criminal court system. Students learn through witnessing real-world legal proceedings and actively contributing to data collection efforts that support long-term advocacy and reform.
RESEARCHING AND SHARING HER APPROACH
Dr. Joyner-Carpanini is not only creating new educational opportunities for students at Seattle University but also researching the impact of her CEL approach and sharing her model with faculty across the country. We’re proud of Dr. Joyner-Carpanini for receiving a 2025 Engagement Scholarship Consortium (ESC) Research/Creative Activities Grant to study the impact of her CEL course on students. Her grant project, A Mixed Methods Study of Critical Community Engaged Learning in Criminal Justice: An Examination of Methodology & Preliminary Results, explores how critical engaged teaching and learning can shape student perceptions of justice, foster civic engagement and transform criminal justice education.
Dr. Joyner-Carpanini is a great example of how SU faculty are applying their teaching, research and student mentorship to meet the moment.
NEIGHBORHOOD WALKS
CCE walks the talk when it comes to community engagement. With a goal of educating students, faculty, staff and donors about Seattle, this year CCE guided 15 walks with more than 120 participants, plus a guided immersion to the Yesler Terrace neighborhood for more than 55 faculty and staff in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences. Our community partners graciously host our walking groups, share about their work and describe the history and present context of the neighborhoods we are proud to call home. Often, participants in these neighborhood explorations take what they learned to enhance their efforts to impact positive change.
Bridget Joyner-Carpanini, PhD Assistant Professor, Criminal Justice
Executive Director Kent Koth leads a neighborhood walk in Danny Woo Garden.
THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE AT CCE
CELEBRATING THE JUMPSTART JOURNEY
For the past 17 years, the Jumpstart program at Seattle University has engaged more than 650 SU students as preschool scholar mentors, dedicating more than 195,000 hours in Seattle communities near campus. Preschoolers learned their ABC’s and 123’s, read exciting books, prepared for kindergarten and built relationships with SU students they looked forward to seeing each week. SU students learned how to teach rhyming, phonics and classroom management, showing up for preschool scholars each and every week.
In spring 2025, CCE learned that the Jumpstart program would be ending due to the cuts in federal funding for the program. Despite the loss of funding, CCE will continue to support Pre-K classrooms, particularly in the Youth Initiative neighborhoods adjacent to campus, through Redhawks RISE (Read, Inspire, Support, Educate). We are eager to reimagine new opportunities for SU students and our youngest scholars and will be fundraising to bring this new initiative to life. CCE is excited for this evolution and what the next chapter will bring to the community and to campus.
SEATTLE COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS DAY
CCE hosted its first annual Seattle Community Connections Day (SCCD) in February at Seattle University’s Student Center, a meaningful effort to strengthen community engagement and promote socially conscious involvement across campus and community. More than 100 SU students participated in the event, which featured interactive booths where partners shared their missions, current projects and opportunities for student involvement through volunteering, internships and jobs. Students appreciated the casual, walk-through atmosphere and opportunities for connection.
One student specifically remarked on, “the different organizations sharing the good things they do and ways to volunteer.” Community partners shared it was beneficial, noting that “speaking to other community organizations we haven't interacted with in the past gave us the opportunity to potentially collaborate.”
WRCOS PARTNERSHIP OF THE YEAR AWARD
In March 2025, the Western Region Continuums of Service Consortium (WRCOS) recognized Upower—who builds positive relationships through trauma-informed coaching, movement and play—and the Sundborg Center for Community Engagement as its Community-Campus Partnership of the Year. This award was based on the strong partnerships between multiple departments on campus, the popularity of the organization among students and the close ties formed between SU and Upower staff. Since 2021, Seattle University and Upower have partnered to provide:
• 37 guest speaking lectures
• 78 Seattle University interns and community engaged learning students
• 3,091 mentorship hours to youth
• 3,275 education hours for youth
• 436 professionals trained via Upower
Farewell to the Jumpstart program.
Networking in action at SCCD.
Congratulations to Upower and CCE!
COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS
BUILDING A BIGGER TABLE WITH COMMUNITY LUNCH
CCE is engagedactively with community partners
Staff and volunteers at Community Lunch on Capitol Hill have been preparing lunch for unhoused and low-income guests since 1985. They prepare meals relevant to dietary and nutritional needs using entirely community-donated food from local food distributors, grocery stores, restaurants and farms using ingredients that might otherwise go to waste.
Community Lunch Executive Director and Chef Emily Pfaff first arrived as a kitchen volunteer several years ago, bringing along her skills as a formally trained and one-time corporate chef. She gained new perspectives in real time. “Food insecurity was a huge eye-opener for me,” Pfaff says.
In 2024, Community Lunch served more than 110,000 lunches with an average of 350 meals per weekday and a monthly record of 10,000 meals in August. Pfaff fondly recalls making 900 quality, nutritious meals last Thanksgiving, using only what was available from donations. “No one else does a program like we do,” says Pfaff. “People come from all over and sometimes travel long distances for a free meal.”
Despite varying daily experiences, she is proud of her staff and volunteers’ ability to connect with people. Sharing meals five times per week creates community and provides guests with a space full of hospitality, comfort and support. “We have a community feel. Seeing the difference in how we build community around a meal is awesome,” she says. “We may be called Community Lunch, but the lunch part is the smaller part of what we do.” CCE has partnered with Community Lunch for almost two decades, providing more than 60 student volunteers a year through community-engaged learning courses. As the organization continues to thrive and grow on Capitol Hill, CCE plans to continue connecting SU students to experience the “community” in Community Lunch. As Pfaff says, “It’s cool that people are just excited to be part of it.”
Neighborhoods near Seattle University are facing unprecedented growth and change. As part of Seattle University’s place-based strategy, CCE participates in the Crescent Collaborative, which brings together partners in housing, education, environment, health care, business, arts, government and philanthropy to support equitable and sustainable community development in nearby neighborhoods. This includes Capitol Hill, the Central District, Chinatown-International District, Yesler Terrace and First Hill. In the past year, Crescent Collaborative helped small businesses in central Seattle, advocated for increased housing density, addressed public safety concerns and strategized responses to federal policy and funding changes.
CCE ALUMNI CONNECTIONS
CATCHING UP WITH SU & CCE ALUM KATIE PINARD ’07
As the CCE enters its third decade, we caught up with Katie Pinard, CCE’s first staff person. In 2004, Pinard came to Seattle University in pursuit of her Master of Arts in Transforming Spirituality. Pinard attributed SU’s appeal to offering a great balance of the “head and the heart.”
Pinard knew that by joining the Center for Community Engagement, her education could be grounded in community. “I knew it was going to be a transformational experience that could have an engaged component,” says Pinard. "I also knew that I had something to offer in terms of helping to define and create what those campus and community relationships could look like.”
Defining CCE moments for Pinard include spending time leading programs and working with special people such as her CCE colleague Victoria Rucker (CCE’s third employee), who showed Pinard how to enter spaces with reciprocal energy. “The work at CCE gave me permission to engage in reflective leadership,” says Pinard.
Other special moments stand out for Pinard, like being a poll worker at Yesler Terrace the night President Obama was elected, which was an especially emotional and historic experience. “When I think of the times that were most transformational, most meaningful, most memorable—I love my professors—but they weren't in the classroom; they were out of the classroom. They're in the community. That's where I made meaning. That's where everything started to make sense for me,” says Pinard.
After leaving SU, Pinard dreamed of creating a retreat center, a place where people could gather to do their inner work. Returning to her hometown of Biddeford, Maine, in 2013 her vision became reality when she joined a colleague to launch Elements Books, Coffee & Beer, now a local staple and third-place model of holding space for community to gather, connect, find joy and strengthen each other. “Sometimes the uses of a degree are accidental,” explains Pinard. “At Elements, it’s ministry within ministry. I don’t practice spiritual direction as I was trained, but I use it every day.”
Pinard frequently draws upon what she learned at the CCE. The "Center's DNA of Jesuit education” as she calls it, is integrated into the business she operates. “I take a human-first approach to being an employer and small business owner. That comes directly from cura personalis—care for the whole person.”
“The work at CCE gave me permission to engage in reflective leadership.”
Katie Pinard, ’07
CCE's first staff person
Professional Staff
Sabrina Alex, ’21
Benji Anderson, ’16
Emily Bergstrom
Sarah Hernandez-Torres, ’21
Lauren Howard, ’22
Kendall Johansen, ’24
LaKesha Kimbrough
Kent Koth
Gia Ledesma
Robin Lesh
Stephanie Lewis
Liz Lin
Nabeeha Misbah, ’24
Hannah Mitchel-Gevirtz, ’23
Cecilia Morales
Aileah Slepski
Makaelah Smith, ’18
Nicholas Stubbs
Lupita Torrez
Braden Wild, ’18
Graduate Assistants
Cagla Celik, ’25
Martina D'Ambrosio, ’26
Iman Hassan, ’26
Juyoung Rim, ’27
Mariana Santos-Magee, ’25
Sonya Shifrin, ’25
Fund Development Advisors
Carol Ann Barnickol, ’64
Gretchen Brennan
Sean Brennan
Laury Bryant
Val Gorder
Maureen Lee
Katie Renschler, ’96
Ruth Tressell, ’84
Community Advisory Board
Evelyn Allen
Rod Brandon
Dwane Chappelle
Val Gorder
Rodney Hines
Ted Howard
Jaime Lee
Eduardo Peñalver
Susan Yang
Campus Advisory Board
Nick Ames
Charisse Cowan Pitre
Butch de Castro
Seth Endo
Kathryn Troxel
Darozyl Touch, ’14
Lindsay Whitlow
Learn more about how our work is guided by CCE's 2030 Goals.
