Meet the Speakers
Professor Kathleen Blee
Professor Kathleen Blee
Kathleen Blee is Distinguished Professor of Sociology and the Bailey Dean of the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and the College of General Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. A highly productive scholar, Kathleen has published 7 books and over 100 journal articles and book chapters. Much of her scholarship is based on analysis of her up-close ethnographic observations and interviews with white supremacists in the United States, including her books Women in the Klan: Racism and Gender in the 1920 (University of California Press, 1991), Inside Organized Racism (University of California Press, 2002) and Understanding Racist Activism: Theory, Methods and Research (Routledge, 2017). Her work has won many awards, including a nomination for a Pulitzer Prize, the 2013 Charles Tilly Award for Best Book from the American Sociological Association, and the 2012 Outstanding Book in Nonprofit and Voluntary Action Research Award from the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action. In 2015, she was awarded the lifetime achievement award from the Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements of the American Sociological Association. Her research has been supported by an array of philanthropic institutions and federal agencies including the Aspen Institute, Maurice Falk Foundation, National Science Foundation, Department of Justice, and USDA.
Blee has served as a pro-bono consultant/advisor on violent extremism to numerous civic, religious, and governmental bodies including the armed forces, police and security agencies, U.S. Congressional committees, synagogues and churches, educator forums, and schools. She has been interviewed by hundreds of national and international media and invited to speak about her research across the United States and Europe. She is a founding and current advisory board member of C-Rex, the Center for Research on Extremism in Oslo, Norway.
Blee has served as a pro-bono consultant/advisor on violent extremism to numerous civic, religious, and governmental bodies including the armed forces, police and security agencies, U.S. Congressional committees, synagogues and churches, educator forums, and schools. She has been interviewed by hundreds of national and international media and invited to speak about her research across the United States and Europe. She is a founding and current advisory board member of C-Rex, the Center for Research on Extremism in Oslo, Norway.
Anna Co, Ph.D.
Anna Co, Ph.D.
Anne Co is a Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and an Associate Fellow of the Center for Automotive Research at the Ohio State University. She received her Ph.D. in Chemistry with a specialization in Electrochemistry from the University of Calgary in Canada. She then joined the National Research Council Canada’s Institute for Chemical Process and Environmental Technology (NRC-ICPET) as an NSERC Visiting Fellow and was later promoted to Research Associate. In 2008, she was awarded a Mary Fieser Fellowship to continue her postdoctoral studies with Professor Cynthia Friend at Harvard University. Professor Co’s research interest is in developing next-generation battery materials, electrocatalytic materials for fuel cells, and CO2 conversion. She is also interested in developing analytical tools to probe electrode processes in real-time. Professor Co currently serves as an Associate Editor for ACS Applied Energy Materials. She is also on the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Applied Electrochemistry, the Board of Directors of the Society for Electroanalytical Chemistry, and the Secretary of the Physical and Analytical Electrochemistry Division of the ECS. Professor Co is also the founder of Empower Battery Technologies.
Valorie Hutson, M.A., Ed.D. Candidate
Valorie Hutson, M.A., Ed.D. Candidate
Valorie K. Hutson, M.A., Ed.D. Candidate is a Business Consultant with over 25 years of innovative and compassionate leadership in nonprofit management, organizational development, and strategic educational change initiatives. Hutson’s work has garnered the reputation of being a subject matter expert in organizational transformation, educational leadership, comprehensive programs, and educational pipelines and pathways. Among her work, she is the Founder and CEO of Hutson Solutions LLC, a global leadership consultancy designed to help small business owners and leaders build strong infrastructures to promote scalability and growth. Before being a Consultant, Hutson was the Founding Executive Director of a nonprofit organization. During her tenure, she led an organizational systemic change initiative to reduce the barriers to resources, programs, and services while improving the health and wellbeing of students, families, and school communities. Combating the roadblocks, including lack of resources, low academic performance, poverty, and violence, she created a strategy that coordinated relationships and resources with local, state, and national organizations. This work led to one of the first Full-Service Community Schools in the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD), in which they acknowledged Huston as “a leading expert in the development of community schools in the district”. Moreover, Hutson developed and implemented a STEM project in partnership with NOBCChE and the OUSD middle school administration to establish the first pilot NOBCChE Middle School Science Academy in Oakland, California. The establishment of the community school and the development of the science academy created equitable access to a holistic and comprehensive education that included academic, cultural, mental health, and family services for over 6000 students and families. Before her years as an Executive Director, Hutson worked for nonprofit social justice organizations. Her passion, dedication, and commitment ensured young people from diverse backgrounds were equipped with the tools and skills to be change agents in their communities. Active in the community, Hutson is a member of the Alumnae Association of Mills College and a meditation practitioner at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. She also serves on both the NOBCChE National Collaborative and the K-12 National Committee. Additionally, Hutson presents her work around organizational transformation and effective collaborative partnerships at national conferences throughout the United States. Hutson received the 2021 NOBCChE K-12 Presidential Award. She graduated from San Francisco State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Broadcast Communications, Radio and Television. Hutson earned a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Mills College in Oakland, California where she is currently a Doctorate Candidate in the Educational Leadership Program.