Shiu-Kai Chin is a Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Syracuse University. He is Director of the Center for Information and Systems Assurance.  His research includes the application of mathematical logic to the engineering of trustworthy systems. Shiu-Kai was a Commissioner on the Onondaga County/City of Syracuse Human Rights Commission.  He is a trainer in the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) at Auburn Prison - a maximum security prison.  He is on the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee of WCNY Public Radio and Television. He served as co-chair of the Community Wide Dialogue to End Racism of InterFaith Works of Central New York. In 2010, he served as President of the Alliance of Communities Transforming Syracuse (ACTS), a diverse coalition of faith communities and community organizations throughout the greater Syracuse area that organizes with the mission to address social, economic, educational, and political concerns in Syracuse and Central New York. Shiu-Kai joined the Community Geography advisory committee in 2011.

Michael DeSalvo is a hair stylist and owner of Hairanoia, a unique hair salon located in the historic Hawley Green neighborhood. He also operates The Friends of Dorothy House, which provides hospice care for people with AIDS. Michael joined the Community Geography advisory committee in 2011.

Pamela Kirwin Heintz, a Central New York native, is associate vice president for engagement and the founding director of the Shaw Center at Syracuse University. She works with faculty from every college across campus to help develop and implement community based service learning/research and engaged scholarship as an essential part of the SU experience. Through regional and national initiatives, she connects with colleagues to advance the concept of engaged scholarship and higher education as a public good. Pam has been involved with Community Geography since its inception in 2005. Additional information can be found at http://www.syr.edu/news/archives/story.php?id=5837.

Melissa Hidek is Grant Coordinator for P.E.A.C.E., Inc., Onondaga County’s community action agency.  She joined the Syracuse Community Geographer Steering Committee in October 2011. Melissa holds an MPA from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.  A native of Baltimore, she moved to Syracuse in 2004.

Aggie Lane is a retired Carrier engineer and computer programmer. She is a neighborhood activist living for the past 19 years on Syracuse’s Southside. For sixteen years, she was the mainstay of Beyond Boundaries, a grass-roots organization that encourages cross-cultural understanding and friendships in Central New York and that works to end the ignorance that fuels classism and racism. For the past twelve years, Aggie has been fighting for a socially just and environmentally sound alternatives to the Midland Avenue sewage plant and its pipeline. As a member of the Partnership for Onondaga Creek (POC) and in collaboration with Syracuse University’s Public Interest Law Firm (SUPILF), Aggie helped develop the Partnership’s Title VI claim to the EPA. In part due to the Partnership’s research and advocacy, Onondaga County has moved away from regional treatment plants and has embraced green infrastructure to abate Combined Sewage Overflows. For the past thirteen years as an organizer and gardener, Aggie has been involved in her block’s community garden project. Aggie was a Peace Corps teacher in Nigeria during its civil war. She has taught at LeMoyne College and in primary and secondary schools. Aggie raised three sons in Fayetteville, NY and is a grandmother.

Alys Mann moved to Syracuse from a small town in the Catskills to attend Syracuse University. After graduation in 2006, with a dual degree in Geography and Policy Studies, she started working for Home HeadQuarters, the largest housing and community development organization in Central New York. As the Neighborhood Planning and GIS Manager for Home HeadQuarters, Alys manages the housing and planning component of the Near Westside Initiative, a collaborative neighborhood revitalization effort with Syracuse University, the Syracuse School of Architecture, Syracuse Center of Excellence, the Gifford Foundation and Home HeadQuarters. Alys also co-teaches a class at Syracuse University on housing policy and planning and is a 2008 Leadership Greater Syracuse Graduate. Alys joined the Community Geography advisory committee in 2009.

Lindsay McClung is a Program Officer and Grants Manager with the Rosamond Gifford Foundation. She also manages a resource sharing website for organizations in Central New York, called Giffordslist. Lindsay joined the Syracuse Community Geographer Steering Committee in February 2009. She is also a board member of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation, and participates in a variety of neighborhood committees. Lindsay is certified in Advanced Knowledge Management Essentials by the KM Institute, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Statistics from Iowa State University. She is originally from Iowa and has lived in the Syracuse area for three years.

Don Mitchell is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Geography, Maxwell School of Syracuse University. In addition to being involved in Syracuse Community Geography since its inception, he conducts research on and teaches in cultural, urban, and historical geography. Most of the information about him at https://www1.maxwell.syr.edu/faculty.aspx?id=6442451353 is accurate, except the picture, he's not that young.

Jane Read is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography, Maxwell School of Syracuse University. She has been involved with Syracuse Community Geography since its beginning. She is interested in human-environment interactions and teaches classes on geographic information systems, remote sensing, and environment. In her classes, she encourages students to focus on local community issues.

Thor Ritz is a PhD student in Geography at Syracuse University.  He earned his MA degree at Hunter College where his research focused on urban agriculture, sustainability and university / community partnerships. While there, he worked at the CUNY Institute for Sustainable Cities and helped to develop the conceptual framework for an urban sustainability extension program.  Currently, Thor is a research assistant at Syracuse Community Geography and is in the second year of coursework.  In addition to his work on social justice and urban community politics, his research also focuses on geographies of race, colonialism, and plantation economies in the American South.  His proposed dissertation deals with “marronage”—the escape of formerly enslaved Africans—in Louisiana and its implications to the historical development of the U.S., the French Caribbean and the broader Atlantic world.

Olive Sephuma currently serves as a Program Officer for Community Grantmaking at the Central New York Community Foundation. She leads the Community Grantmaking process, which awards more than $2 million in grants annually to nonprofit organizations in Onondaga and Madison Counties. Olive also oversees The Leadership Classroom, an initiative of the Foundation that provides leadership skills training for Syracuse’s grassroots organizations. Olive, a native of Botswana, holds a degree from the University of Botswana and is currently working towards an Executive Master of Public Administration degree at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School. She is also a 2004 graduate of Leadership Greater Syracuse.