Three faculty members posing with Berlin merch at the Get Engaged Conference

Civic Engagement Coordinators Community of Practice

The Coordinators are dedicated experts overseeing student-driven projects across OSUN institutions. Serving as key facilitators, they support students in developing impactful initiatives that address local and global challenges. 

Christopher Wedeman

Christopher Wedeman

Al-Quds Bard College

Christopher Wedeman is the civic engagement coordinator at Al-Quds Bard College. In this role, he works closely with students to mentor student civic work, maintains a network of partnerships with community organizations, and marshals resources to build capacity for various initiatives. Christopher has professional experience as a conflict mediator in school communities in New York and as a cultural mediator at refugee resettlement organizations in Rome. He grew up between Amman, Cairo, and Jerusalem, and led Europe, Middle East, and North Africa regional facilitation efforts at the International Land Coalition.

[email protected]

Erin Cannan

Erin Cannan

Bard College

Erin coordinates Bard’s Center for Civic Engagement’s local initiatives, teaches courses on civic engagement, co-led the successful application for the 2020 Carnegie Engagement Classification and supervises career services. Since 2020, Erin has led OSUN’s international civic engagement initiative that includes student leadership training, engaged research and community focused curriculum and institutional capacity building.

[email protected]

Sarah DeVeer

Sarah DeVeer

Bard College

Sarah deVeer began working for the Center for Civic Engagement (CCE) in 2017 after earning her degree from Bard Annandale in Film and Electronic Arts, with a focus in documentary and community connections. Since then, she has been focusing on a variety of initiatives through the CCE, including education outreach, voter outreach, activism support, and community relation facilitation. A career highlight for Sarah was successfully obtaining a polling place on Bard's Annandale campus during the 2020 United States presidential election, after the institution had engaged in fighting for an on-campus polling place for 20+ years.

Zarlasht Sarmast

Zarlasht Sarmast

Bard College

Besides her many academic achievements, Zar has previously worked with the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and was part of many different peace-building and humanitarian projects. Zar played an important role in the evacuation of over 370 Afghan students of AUCA and AUAF from Kabul to Bishkek which inspired her to author two books, A Journey From Kabul to Bishkek and Our Journey to Bard. She has spoken in many international meetings on the importance of education for Afghan women. Currently, Zar works as the Business Manager for Bard NYC program.

[email protected]

Faiza Lynar

Faiza Lynar

Bard College Berlin

Before joining Bard College Berlin in 2020, Faiza worked for the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) in Germany and Indonesia. Her projects there focused on public health and social protection, universal health care, inclusion of persons with disabilities, and public programs for social assistance. Faiza is interested in developing new visions for our education systems, access to education, and the role of universities in and for societies.

[email protected]

Hesham Moadamani

Hesham Moadamani

Bard College Berlin

Hesham Moadamani is a Syrian researcher and open-source investigator dedicated to advancing access to education and empowering underprivileged communities. His work bridges the fields of digital investigations, human rights documentation, and community-driven initiatives, with a focus on fostering knowledge-sharing and accountability. Before joining Bard College Berlin, Hesham spent several years working in open-source intelligence (OSINT) and digital verification. He conducted extensive research on human rights violations, security structures, and digital forensics, collaborating with international organizations such as Mnemonic and Columbia Law School’s Security Force Monitor.

Fahmida Rahman

Fahmina Rahmad

BRAC University

Fahmida Rahman is a Senior Lecturer and Program Coordinator at BRAC University in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She teaches courses on policy, community engagement, and leadership. She served as a Liberal Arts and Science Advisor from Parami University as a part of LAS Collab, collaborating with faculty across universities to integrate experiential learning into curricula. From 2017 to 2020 she has also shared her expertise in research to develop resilient universities through teaching with the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh.

[email protected]

Flora Laszlo

Flora Laszlo

Central European University

Flora Laszlo leads the Civic Engagement, Arts and Culture Unit in Budapest in CEU and is also a member of OSUN's Civic Engagement Steering Committee. Prior to CEU, she served as CEO of the Hungarian NGO Uccu - Roma Informal Educational Foundation. She played a key role in establishing this organization in 2009, and currently serves on its board of directors. Flora initiated the OSUN Science Shop, a network initiative, that operated for three years across partner institutions, as well as the CEU Socrates Program.

[email protected]

Meaghan Balzer

Meaghan Balzer

Haitian Education and Leadership Program

Meaghan Balzer is the Academic Director  at the Haitian Education and Leadership Program (HELP). Meaghan has been teaching and developing Leadership and Civic Engagement programs for 20 years and is particularly interested in service-learning, coaching, storytelling, and leadership for social change. Meaghan is also passionate about literacy development and organized two libraries and an after-school reading program in Port-au-Prince. Meaghan holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education from St. Thomas University, a Public Administration credential, and Leadership, Organizing and Action credential from Harvard Kennedy School.

Koching Chao

Koching Chao

National Sun Yat-sen University

Koching Chao is currently an Assistant Professor at National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU) in Taiwan. Koching specializes in art history and architectural history, with a particular focus on the dynamic relationship between art and society. Her teaching emphasizes the active role of art in shaping contemporary civic identity. She develops courses that frequently involve collaborations with community-based art institutions, aiming to deepen students’ understanding of art’s societal impact and to cultivate their active participation in the civic sphere.

[email protected]

Shadin Nassar

Shadin Nassar

Open Society University Network

Shadin Nassar is dedicated to leveraging legal frameworks to advocate for marginalized communities and promote sustainable development through cross-cultural and intersectional approaches. At the forefront of her initiatives is Written Voices, an artistic advocacy project that seeks to empower Palestinian youth to reclaim authorship of their own stories and identities through creative writing. Shadin currently oversees the Get Engaged Alumni Initiative at Bard Center for Civic Engagement, which serves as a resource hub for student leaders and Get Engaged conference alumni to accelerate their academic and professional growth.

Shukri Mohamed

Shukri Mohamed

OSUN Hubs for Connected Learning

Shukri Mohamed, is a Refugee Higher Education Access Program (RHEAP) graduate and The Founder of Cultural Diversity Intervention Project and is currently pursuing an associate degree at Parami University. With a strong passion for education, civic engagement, and digital storytelling, Shukri is dedicated to empowering refugee communities and creating positive social change.

Htet Aung Hlaing Myint

Htet Aung Hlaing Myint

Parami University

Htet Aung Hlaing Myint is the Assistant Manager of Student Affairs at Parami University. He specializes in logistics and supply chain management and addresses real-world supply chain challenges in his lectures and corporate training programs. His expertise bridges education and industry, equipping students with the skills needed for education and supply chain management in today's global workforce.

Aung Myin Thu

Aung Myin Thu

Parami University

Aung Myin Thu, the Director of Admissions and Student Affairs at Parami University, believes that promoting student inclusion is vital for the quality of classroom dialogue, mutual learning, and the overall university experience for students. His passion for these areas was developed while pursuing a master's in Higher Education Leadership at the University of Washington, Seattle through a Fulbright Foreign Student Scholarship. Before joining Parami, he worked with underserved Myanmar youth on English language, debate, and pre-college programs.

María José Caicedo

María José Caicedo

Universidad de Los Andes

María José Caicedo is a clinical psychologist with a master’s degree in Systemic Family Therapy, specialist in Gender Violence and trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). She has extensive experience working with underrepresented students at Universidad de los Andes, developing strategies within the university and strengthening students' skills to promote their opportunities to thrive.

Kgomotso Moshugi

Kgomotso Moshugi

University of the Witwatersrand

Working in transnational contexts with partners from the Global South and North within OSUN and beyond, Kgomotso is adept at fostering collaborative relationships within academia (students and faculty) and community-based initiatives dedicated to interventions in advancing arts, peacebuilding, culture, and heritage knowledge through transformative education and innovative research. Inspiring change and fostering growth in community-centering research, his PhD focused on the mobility of cultural ideas and the advocacy of the multiple intelligence(s) from often overlooked contributors.