Crew Members

 Year Three

Smith College Leadership Staff 

Sam Intrator, Co-Director of Project Coach & Elizabeth A. Woodson 1922 Professor of Education and Child Study

Erin DeCou, Project Manager for Participatory Action Research

Graeham Dodd, Director of the Urban Education Initiative 

Becca Jacobson, Community Engagement Coordinator 

Denys Candy, Director of The Jandon Center for Community Engagement

 

Springfield Community Members

Joesiah Gonzalez, Director of Youth Services for The New North Citizens’ Council

Yesenia Valentin, Assistant Director of Project Coach

Nyasia Velazquez, Springfield Community Researcher 

*We also worked with a number of high school students from the Springfield Community, including students from Springfield Central High School, The Springfield Renaissance School and Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical Academy*

 

Smith College Project SPARC Fellows

Essence Deras ’23, Annick Lamar ESS ’22, Nicole Lussier ’22, Carolyn McDonald ’24, Sheena Nomura ’22, and Jessica Polin ’23

*In 2021, Project SPARC expanded our research to Holyoke by engaging a group of high school students and recent graduates from LightHouse, an alternative school. In addition, the following Smith students participated as SPARC Fellows with the Holyoke project: Essence Deras ‘23, Clare Sabry ‘21, Emily Grantham ‘23, Aurora Koren ‘22, and Natalie Heacock ‘24

 

 

 

Year One & Two 

My name is Leslie Abraham and I am a research fellow and the events team lead. I also do community organizing work, facilitation training, and graphic recording work around the valley to support community change work at large. Project SPARC for me was a chance to support young people of color like myself, help imagine their futures with the support and dreams of justice that all young people deserve. I know the structural issues in education and beyond, impact young people here in Springfield, but also across the country, as I saw many of the same issues growing up in my own hometown of El Paso TX. I think in Springfield specifically, young people have powerful stories to tell that can impact the broader community and spark change for a brighter future for all.

My name is Sam Intrator and my first teaching job was as a high school English teacher in my hometown of Brooklyn, NY in 1987. In the evenings I taught a GED class and I worked with young adults who were working to move forward in their life. Something I recognized back then that I still see today is how many  young adults who have inspired dreams and specific plans run into complicated obstacles. As a Smith professor and the co-principal investigator on the Project SPARC group, I have the chance to work with our team to better understand the challenges facing young adults as they pursue their plans and, most importantly, work with our group to develop community-based supports that can help them navigate this critical and complicated phase of their life.
Joesiah Gonzalez was born and raised in the City of Springfield. He is the product of Springfield Public Schools, which he is very proud of, and is a graduate from the High School of Science and Technology. Throughout his high school career, Mr. Gonzalez advocated on behalf of the student body by expressing his concerns with faculty, members of the School Committee, and the Superintendent. Joesiah comes from a family of public servants who have served the City of Springfield and he looks to follow their footsteps of servitude. He wants to draw from one of his biggest inspirations, his father, who has been a Springfield Police Officer for over a decade. Currently he is enrolled at Westfield State University, pursuing a degree in Political Science. In addition to being a full time student, Joesiah works for New North Citizens’ Council as the Director of Youth Services. With a commitment to serve his city, community, and neighbors. Joesiah intends to continue to serve his community and the City of Springfield, by advocating for policies and legislation that make for a brighter future for everyone in Springfield.

 

My name is Nyasia Velazquez. I got involved with Project SPARC initially by participating in the research through an interview. It was a great experience that I was able to learn from and share with my friends. Being a part of project SPARC now is so fulfilling, we have a great team and strong goals. I am a community researcher on the team, a part of a few different aspects of the project!

My name is Kadeja Miller, I am a 22-year-old Springfield native on a mission to climb every growing ladder I am put in front of. I am involved in Project SPARC for the simple reason of bettering my community while reflecting our culture within it. Every aspect of my growth throughout life so far has happened within the City of Springfield, proving to me that there are no limits in what one can do, no matter where they come from. I am determined to help the youth in my city accomplish their goals and live under the idea that they also have no limits on how far they can climb in life.

My name is Nicole Lussier and I am on the research and data documentation team for Project SPARC. I am currently an undergraduate at Smith College in my junior year as an English & Education double major. Aside from working with Project SPARC I work as a mentor for Project Coach, which is what originally drew me to this research. Working with youth from Springfield on a weekly basis has led me to want to know more about the daily lives of students from Springfield and the obstacles they face as they transition into their adult lives. Additionally, being from Western Massachusetts myself, Holyoke to be exact, which is a city with similar demographics to Springfield, I am very interested and invested in the work that SPARC is doing because it relates directly to my own experiences and realities. Through SPARC I hope to continue to fight with Springfield’s youth for real and lasting change and learn directly from their experiences.

My name is Erin DeCou and I’m the co-Director of Project Coach and the Operational Lead for Project SPARC. I’ve had the privilege of working with young people taking a stand for their communities for going on a decade, first in Philadelphia and now in Springfield. In Philly this work was through biking – both building and riding bikes via the youth development organization Neighborhood Bike Works. Now, it’s through coaching and mentorship in Project Coach! Through all of this I’ve seen the challenge of the transition out of high school and into whatever comes next. There are far too many obstacles that come up for these brilliant and energetic young people. Project SPARC is exciting to me because it is creating a platform for youth and young adults to engage with their peers and neighbors around a critical issue, investigate the structures that are getting in their way, and work together to break them down and build up something new.

My name is Yesenia Valentin, and I am the Lead Research Coordinator for Project SPARC. What brought me into SPARC was the connection to my community and how relevant this work is with the transitional period from high school to whatever happens next. I was born and raised in the North End of Springfield so the work this project is doing is keeping me connected to my community in a way to pick up where my other job leaves off. I am also the Assistant Director of Project Coach so I work closely with teenagers in the community. When I was a teenager, I was a coach in the program myself. When I graduated, I faced many obstacles and barriers that I wasn’t sure how to handle. SPARC connected all of this for me and brings it full circle. I get to support these teenagers in the program throughout high school and now being involved with SPARC, I am able to learn more about this transitional period of life and find ways to better support those in my community around it.

My name is Denys Candy, and I direct the Jandon Center for Community Engagement at Smith College and lecture for the Community Engagement and Social Change Concentration. Through the Center, students and faculty join community partners in addressing local impacts of social and economic inequalities. I have a background in community organizing and have worked in many towns and cities across the USA and internationally. I am also co-principal investigator in Project SPARC. I think that we have a great team that can make an important difference for young people in our region.

Jo Glading DiLorenzo, picture coming soon! 

My name is Jo Glading-DiLorenzo and I’m a utility player on the Project SPARC team and also the director of Project Coach, the youth leadership organization at the heart of SPARC’s community based participatory research work. I am inspired by Project SPARC I believe that when youth are given the chance to share their wisdom and raise their voices they bring about hope, fresh ideas, new possibilities. The problem our researchers are exploring – how to support Springfield youth as they build their futures – needs them and their considerable power and energy!

My name is Nancy Zigler and I am the Assistant Director of the Jandon Center for Community Engagement at Smith College. On Project SPARC, I’m the Texan with big ideas (most of them involving glitter, holographic balloons, and impractical art demonstrations). I get enraged when I think of how so many young people have to chase their reality instead of their dreams. I’m a mother, and I believe words are a form of activism. I write stories that revolve around scientific symmetries, Chicana culture, desolate spaces, silence, and of course, the possibility of magic.

My name is Priscilla Morales and I am a community researcher for project SPARC. Outside of project SPARC, I am a patient care technician at Baystate Children’s Hospital. I got involved with Project SPARC because if it weren’t for the help I had during my transitional years after high school I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I see many of people in my community struggling and would love to find solutions or resources in order to make the transition to adulthood much smoother!

My name is Jessica Reinert. I am the Documentation Team Lead and a community researcher for Project SPARC, as well as an Ada Comstock Scholar and undergraduate candidate at Smith College. As a non-traditional age, first-generation, and low-income student from a single-parent home, I understand a lot of the barriers and obstacles emerging adults face as they attempt to navigate what’s next. At Smith, I’m studying American government and education to better understand the impacts of policy and institutions on our education system, and its effects on communities and young adults. As a champion of teenagers and emerging adults, I’m involved with this project in the hopes that we can find solutions and create resources to help make this transition easier and more equitable for those in the Springfield community.

My name is Yaritza Barta and I am an Advancement Data Assistant at Smith College. I was born and raised in Springfield, and spent my formative years learning within the Springfield Public School system. Recently, I graduated from Holyoke Community College with an Associate’s Degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences, and am planning on furthering my higher education with the goal of achieving a Bachelor’s degree. As a Springfield native who experienced college non-traditionally, I understand the obstacles faced by the emerging youth in our community. I am excited to embark on this journey with the SPARC team to enrich the minds of the youth in my community, and create a movement of long standing change and prosperity.

Sheena Kuhn is a student at Smith College who handles transcriptions for Project SPARC. They are committed to this work because of their interest in community engagement and social change, particularly as these subjects pertain to the intersection between social work and activism. In high school, Sheena worked in LGBT+ advocacy and feminist journalism; so, Project SPARC’s goal of personal and societal growth is a perfect fit. Through this organization, they hope to support the Springfield community in creating an equitable, just future for its youths, and they hope to learn about community organizing and gain real-world experience in the process.