CASC Outreach Board

Becca Wong

Becca Wong, BA ‘22 is an undergraduate sophomore studying Sociology with a subplan in Social Work in the School of Literature, Science, and the Arts. She is dual minoring in CASC and Social Class and Inequality Studies through the Women’s Studies Department. She is from San Francisco, California and in high school, she became interested in social justice on a macroscopic level, especially in the field of anti-human trafficking. She has furthered her social justice education in college her sociology and social work field focuses in addition to multiple semester-long projects with a focus on human trafficking. She is currently working in a psychology lab with a focus on youth empowerment and resilience. She is currently launching a human trafficking education initiative and is actively involved in optiMize, Young Life College, and FSL on campus. She hopes to pursue an MSW after graduation and wants to advocate for education as a method of transformative reality.

Brandon Bond

Brandon Bond, BA ‘21 is a junior from Belleville, MI and a the Residential College double majoring in Biopsychology, Cognition, Neuroscience and International Studies with a CASC minor. After graduation he intends to dual-enroll in Public Health and Social Work to pursue global health behavior and health education with hopes of helping people across the world create or strength effective health care procedures that are culturally acceptable for them. In addition to being a chair in a service fraternity he serves as the Vice President to the International Deaf and Hearing Alliance, an organization that aims to encourage more positive interaction between the Deaf and hearing community. Additionally, Brandon works as an Admissions Assistant in the RC, CGIS Peer Advisor, and Bridge Scholars PLUS Academic Coach.

Edward “Ted” Gibson

Edward “Ted” Gibson, W ‘20 is a member of the 2020 BFA Acting class pursuing a minor in CASC. He’s a native of Westport, CT, and has been involved in numerous productions and theatre organizations here in Ann Arbor, including working with the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT “Players”) as an actor, hoping to spread awareness and education of important social matters in the Ann Arbor and University of Michigan community. Since the start of his CASC track, the values and lessons he has learned have motivated him to follow and engage in new and different stories being told in the Ann Arbor artistic community. He hopes his pursuit of this minor in Community Action and Social Change will educate him in becoming a more socially-aware and self-aware artist in the ever-changing artistic world; he has loved every step of working for this minor, and believes all students at UM, artist or not, can benefit from an interest in CASC, and that education, awareness, and dialogue are the most important things to foster in a college social setting.

Hope Crystal

Hope Crystal, BBA ‘21 is an undergraduate sophomore studying business with a minor in Community Action and Social Change (CASC). As a Chicago suburbs native, Hope became very interested in social justice during her junior year of high school when she did a research paper on the non-academic spending of her public high school. Through this paper she realized how large of a divide there is between the funding of her high school and the Chicago Public Schools. She aspires to make a positive social impact and help the Chicago Public Schools through her business career. She was eager to join the CASC minor during the first semester of her freshman year and has taken an active role in the CASC minor. She is involved in Lean-In, Sigma Delta Tau sorority, and is part of both the CASC Outreach Board and the CASC Advisory Board. Please reach out to her if you have any CASC-related questions!

Melissa Smiley

Melissa Smiley BS'21 is a junior from Oak Park, MI pursuing a degree from the School of Kinesiology in Movement Science, as well as a minor in Community Action and Social Change (CASC) . In high school, her passion with Social Justice began in a club called buildOn, a community service organization that builds schools overseas. She worked as the Education officer, and her participation in this organization allowed her the chance to travel to Washington D.C. to learn about and advocate for the importance of Education from a Global standpoint. These experiences led her to CASC, in hopes that she will make a difference in closing the gap of the inequalities that exists in Education within underrepresented community, and making quality education accessible to all, as she believes Education is the foundation need to overcome many barriers. Melissa hopes to become a Physical Therapist one day, and have the opportunity to use her career to service those in need, locally and globally. She hopes that her journey and experiences within Social Justice will inspire her currently 3 year old son to become an active participant in servicing and empowering his community.

Rickey Shackelford

Rickey Shackelford, W '21 is from metro Detroit and is currently a sophomore pursuing engineering and minoring in Community Action and Social Change minor. With a specific interest in mechanical engineering, he wants to pursue a career in the space industry.  Rickey is also a member of the Kessler Scholars Student Advisory Board, where he serves on the Community Service committee and is a peer mentor, a member of the National Society for Black Engineers, where he is on the Pre-College Initiative committee, competes for the Michigan club track team, does research through the Space Research department on Saturn, and is a Student Manager with Michigan Dining.  Rickey hopes that through the CASC minor he will develop skills and connections that will enable him to serve his community to the fullest extent.

Sabrina Kim

Sabrina Kim, BS ‘21 is from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and is a junior in Computer Science in Engineering with a minor in Community Action and Social Change. She hopes to help all students have the same educational opportunities one day and eradicate the achievement and opportunity gap that exist today. Her passion for education led her to pursue her CASC minor to learn more about the education system and nonprofit organizations. She is a small group coordinator in Asian InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and also volunteers with Habitat for Humanity.

Sara Kenward

Sara is a junior majoring in Art & Design at Stamps School of Art & Design.  Since her freshman year, she has declared a CASC minor in the School of Social Work to incorporate her passions for art and design with community engagement and social justice.  As an open-minded individual who is self-motivated to learn and broaden her experiences, CASC has given her the opportunity to learn from other individuals on campus that are equally passionate about similar topics, as well as help expand my passions.

Sara is interested in pursuing a career in ceramic design.  She sees ceramic design as a platform to utilize mundane, everyday objects to encourage habits, creating spaces to promote social interaction and communicate ideas that may eventually influence social behavior.  In the future, she hopes to create ceramic pieces that establish a connection with the objects’ users, evoking emotive and intuitive responses, while keeping a sense of the user’s touch in mind to determine how they may interact with the object.