Meet the Team

Kalli Christensen

Major: Accounting and Philosophy

Hometown: Minneapolis, MN

Fun Fact: I love Sean Kingston's songs way too much.

Best Moment: Talking with the kids at the school and realizing how talented and wise they are.

Biggest Takeaway: Experiencing first hand the social inequities whether through education, finances, etc. that directly affect the school-to-prison pipeline gateway and knowing full well we are capable of helping reduce such issues.

Gustavo Campos

Major: Business Analytics

Hometown: São Paulo, Brazil

Fun Fact: I love to sleep

Best Moment: Being able to relate with an international student at the school, as well as recommend him studying resources for astrophysics, which is his intended career.

Biggest Takeaway: Education should not be just about academics and good grades, but rather to prepare students for life. We met resilient, passionate and independent individuals, but they needed support and knowledge about their opportunities and their career choices.

Mike Gunn

Major:Marketing and Business Analytics

Hometown: Cedar Rapids, IA

Fun Fact: I am ambidextrous with some skills.

Best Moment: Watching the students open up and become more willing to share their experiences with me.

Biggest Takeaway: The educational system is truly insufficient in helping kids to break out of the situations that they are born into. If more time and resources were spent into helping the kids grow and mature rather than disciplining them, they would be far more successful.

Ali (Leyuan)Li

Major: Accounting and Finance

Hometown: Kunming, China

Fun Fact: No one on the team can pronounce my Chinese name correctly.

Best Moment: Connecting with the students and using my experience to help them.

Biggest Takeaway: There are still large space in the educational system to improve and the improvement is a long-term process. The originated family, schools and neighborhood have significant influence on people, and unfortunately, sometimes there is no option to choice.

Zayetzy Luna Garcia

Major: Business Analytics and Information Systems

Hometown: Iowa City, Iowa

Fun Fact: I really love lo-fi music

Best Moment: Being able to see how energetic and full of hope all the students are.

Biggest Takeaway: If we ever hope to close the economic gap we need to focus on providing adequate education, but most importantly the resources and support to achieve more.

McKrina Lopez

Major: Pre-Business

Hometown: Storm Lake, Iowa

Fun Fact: My left hand is a tiny bit bigger than my right hand.

Best Moment: Being able to have conversations with students from middle and high school.

Biggest Takeaway: These kids are willing to find out more information. They want to learn more and strive for their goals of contributing to their communities.

Luz Alcala

Major: Management

Hometown: Villa Park, Illinois

Fun Fact: This past winter break, I went to the airport 6 different times yet, I didn't travel anywhere.

Best Moment: Playing a one v. one basketball game against a middle schooler, while getting to know more about him and his life. He ended up winning the game 8-7 but it's alright because I won with getting to know him.

Biggest Takeaway: Having my eyes opened wide to exactly the types of things we can do in our own communities in order to get involved and try to make small changes that hopefully help others make bigger ones.

Brad Holland

Major: Human Resource Management and Marketing

Hometown: Des Moines, Iowa

Fun Fact: I'm currently a three time tour guide. If you need a tour of the residence halls, campus or the Tippie College of Business just let me know.

Best Moment: Building connections with my team members and the people living at the place we were staying at.

Biggest Takeaway: Experiencing first hand the clear racial and economic divide of Detroit and being able to interact with students who understand the injustice of the divide. Some of those students need to feel empowerment to move past this constraint.

James Hughes

Major: Marketing Management

Hometown: Madison, Wisconsin

Fun Fact: I look familiar to lots of people on campus because you can catch me behind the wheel of a Cambus :).

Best Moment: Making long-lasting friendships in the car on the way to and from Detroit, and getting to know everyone on the trip past a classroom level.

Biggest Takeaway: Being shown in person how critically important it is for the United States to invest in public education. When a school is starved of resources, the children are the first to feel the impact with education quality, school environment, etc. With policy changes and an emphasis on public education, the inequities we as a team saw in Detroit could be eliminated.

Mariah Griffin

Major: Criminology Law, and Justice

Hometown: Bettendorf, Iowa

Fun Fact: I am addicted to Chapstick and always have one on me!

Best Moment: Building a great relationship with my fellow classmates and the forever lasting memories.

Biggest Takeaway: The connections with the students and allowing them to confide in me with personal information that made our bond stronger and showing them that I care and want them to succeed. The Detroit education system from their resources that they have to how they are punished.

Ally O'Meara

Major: Marketing and Finance

Hometown: Indianola, Iowa

Fun Fact: I had a rap solo in the 7th grade.

Best Moment: Working one-on-one with the middle and high school kids to give them advice and help them to discover their true passions and dreams by giving them enough courage to make them happen.

Biggest Takeaway: This trip has made such a lasting impact on me. Being able to see a glimpse into these amazing students' lives has allowed me to reflect back on my own and see how great of a need there is to love one another. I have been able to experience what a difference person-to-person connections can be, and let me tell you, it is a beautiful thing.

Ciara Gallen

Major: Economics, Ethics and Public Policy, and Philosophy

Hometown: Dolo, Italy

Fun Fact: Coffee and running addict

Best Moment: Developing meaningful friendships with my team memebrs and individual students.

Biggest Takeaway: We alone can't change the world and make every problem go away, but taking time to get to know and talk to one person can have a true and lasting impact on them. "If you can't feed a hundred people, the feed just one." -Mother Theresa

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