Staff

Carly Bahnsen

Carly Bahnsen joined Iowa Campus Compact as a program coordinator in September of 2018. She works primarily to support Campus Compact AmeriCorps. She graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics. Carly is an avid Hawkeye fan who, prior to joining the IACC team, worked for her alma mater at the University of Iowa – Des Moines Programs.

 

Carissa Bailey

Carissa is serving as the Iowa AmeriCorps VISTA leader for Iowa. She is a graduate of the University of Iowa, where she received a degree in Ethics and Public Policy and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management. She completed her first year of AmeriCorps VISTA at Shelter House in 2016 as the Volunteer Coordinator. She then went on to work as the Executive Director of the Food Pantry at Iowa and the Program Assistant for the online sexual misconduct prevention programs at the University of Iowa. 

Jaquelyn Chagnon

Jaquelyn previously served as the VISTA Leader for the College Health Corps and as a VISTA at a local health department in North Bend, OR working on public health department accreditation, and believes the VISTA program is an invaluable program and resource. Jaquelyn received an individualized B.S. in Public Health, Addiction Studies, and Psychology from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.

 

Monique Ellefson

Monique serves as Program Manager for Student Success and works with our Campus Compact AmeriCorps Program. Her journey into civic engagement began as an impassioned student leader at the University of South Dakota. This led her to serve as an AmeriCorps VISTA for Oregon Campus Compact. Later, she served as the VISTA Leader for Iowa Campus Compact. After her terms of service, she earned her Master’s of Science in Education at Indiana University where she was a Graduate Assistant for Community Engagement.

Justin Ellis

Justin Ellis began at Iowa Campus Compact as a program coordinator in 2013. He graduated from IUPUI with a Master’s Degree in Museum Studies. While there he served as a graduate assistant in the Center for Service and Learning administering a scholarship program among other duties. Justin hails from Minnesota and received his undergraduate degree from Luther College in Iowa.  He manages all of our national service programs including Campus Compact AmeriCorps and the VISTA Community Corps.

Faith James

Faith graduated from Elon University with a B.A. in International Studies and minors in Leadership Studies, Poverty & Social Justice Studies, and Teaching & Learning. Based in Minneapolis, she is currently serving as one of two AmeriCorps VISTA Leaders. Faith is originally from North Carolina and is entering her second year living in Minnesota. She spent her first year serving as a VISTA with the Minnesota State Office of Equity and Inclusion with a focus on training development. 

Mila Kaut

Mila graduated from the University of Iowa with majors in History, Music, and Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies. She is currently a Lead for America Fellow serving as an Equity Research VISTA with IAMNCC and the Des Moines Civil & Human Rights Commission. Mila is committed to exploring and actualizing the links between education and enfranchisement. She is also developing the Iowa Community Histories Initiative, which aims to recover, teach, and preserve Iowa’s unheard histories. 

Isaas Newsome, Jr.

Isaac’s primary role is to support the development and success of our part-time AmeriCorps members. In May 2019, he graduated from the University of Northern Iowa with a Master of Arts in post-secondary education. His background included academic advising, working with first-generation college students, and held supervision roles within UNI’s multicultural education center.

Emily Shields

Prior to coming to IACC in 2011, Emily served as Chief of Staff of the Rebuild Iowa Office. She also served as the Senate Liaison and Policy Adviser to Governor Chet Culver. Emily also worked in field organizing and fundraising for various campaigns and committees. Emily has a Master’s in Philanthropy and Nonprofit Development from the University of Northern Iowa and a Bachelor’s from the University of Iowa in journalism and political science. Emily also spent a year as an AmeriCorps VISTA in San Antonio, Texas.

Kara Trebil-Smith

Kara Trebil-Smith is Program Manager for Community Impact, working with our AmeriCorps VISTA program and community organizations. She has spent more than 10 years in community engagement roles on Iowa college campuses. In 2018 she completed her doctoral degree in higher education from the University of Denver where her research focused on building the capacity of community engagement professionals to practice inclusion of racially minoritized students.

Erik Trelstad

Erik is currently serving as the VISTA Leader and works hard to support our AmeriCorps members for a successful year of service. He previously completed a term of service for our program with Open Door Health Center in Mankato and graduated from North Dakota State University with a degree in Political Science and Philosophy. He has a passion for healthy food and is interested in the role public health has with helping communities have better outcomes relating to quality of life.

Jane Turk

Prior to joining the team in 2020, Jane worked to support and strengthen Hamline University’s culture of teaching and learning as Educational Development Coordinator in the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). Before coming to Hamline, Jane held teaching positions at several public, private, and community institutions. Jane earned a Master of Philosophy and a Master of Arts in Communications at Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Communication & Media Studies and Humanities & Cultural Studies at Macalester College.