ADF Mentors

Dr. Mary Cardaras is the Director of The Demos Center at The American College of Greece, whose focus is programming that supports the flourishing of democracy and the practice of active, effective, and inclusive citizenship. She is a writer and journalist who has produced documentary films for over thirty years. Dr. Cardaras has been teaching since 1991 and was Associate Professor at California State University, East Bay and served as Chair of Communication and Political Science. She holds a Master's Degree from Northwestern University in Journalism and a PhD in Public and International Affairs from Northeastern University. Finally, Dr. Cardaras is a Greek-born adoptee and fights for open access to adoption records and the restoration of Greek citizenship for some 4,000 Greek children, now adults, who were exported out of their country after the Cold War.  She has co-founded the Nostos for Greek Adoptees campaign and is an activist and advocate for children all over the world in the protection and retention of their identity.       

Mickey McDonald is the president of the Great Lakes Colleges Association. He joined the GLCA staff on July 1, 2018. Just prior to joining the GLCA, Mickey served ten years as Provost of Kalamazoo College, including one term as Acting President, and before that he was a professor of mathematics and served in various administrative roles at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Mickey earned a B.S. from Davidson College and a Ph.D. in mathematics from Duke University. 

Simon Gray is Senior Program Director at the Great Lakes Colleges Association. One of his responsibilities  is programming for the Global Liberal Arts Alliance. Prior to joining GLCA in July 2015, Simon taught Computer Science at The College of Wooster. Simon earned a B.A. in anthropology and philosophy, an M.A. in anthropology from the University of Virginia, and a Ph.D. in computer science from Kent State University. 

Colleen is Director of the New Writers Award and Co-Director of the Consortium for Teaching and Learning. She leads and closely works with a number of campus administrative groups and is part of the GALI team, GLCA’s signature professional development program. Previously, she worked as a Legislative Director on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. Colleen earned her BS from Santa Clara University in Northern California where she studied Political Science with minors in Spanish and International Studies. Colleen joined the Great Lakes Colleges Association in 2012.