Staff

Joy Connolly, ACLS President Read More

Kelly Buttermore is the Chief of Staff. Working closely with the president, vice president, and senior staff, she serves as a strategic thought partner, translating ACLS’s goals and priorities into tangible activities, workflows, and timelines. She is a key resource to the president on internal matters and acts as a… Read More

Sandra Bradley is the Director of Governance and Society Relations. She oversees activity with the ACLS Board of Directors, the ACLS Delegates of Constituent Societies, the members of the ACLS Conference of Executive Officers (CEO), and other members of ACLS (including Affiliates and Associates). She coordinates all aspects of the ACLS… Read More

As Senior Program Officer for Higher Education Initiatives, Jovonne Bickerstaff designs and implements strategic initiatives that will enhance the ability of ACLS to serve its various constituencies and advance scholarship in new directions, with a focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice in the academy. Jovonne previously served as a… Read More

Mona Rad is the Executive Assistant to the President. Before joining ACLS, she worked as a Program Manager at a non-profit in Northern Virginia which focused on affordable childcare. Mona received both her bachelor’s and master’s degree from George Mason University, where she studied Sociology. She recently moved to… Read More

Heather Hewett is a Program Officer for Higher Education Initiatives, where she is working on projects that advance institutional and system-wide change grounded in justice, equity, and humanistic knowledge. Prior to joining ACLS, she served as chair and associate professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and affiliate of the… Read More

Emily Carroll is the Grants Officer. Emily works closely with the Chief of Staff, Finance, and the program staff to manage the workflow of ACLS’s grants. She was formerly the Manager of International Programs. Before coming to ACLS Emily worked on the International Dissertation Research Fellowship program at the Social… Read More

Keyanah Nurse is the Program Officer for Higher Education Initiatives, with an emphasis on digital and publicly engaged humanities. Before joining the ACLS staff in September 2021, she served as an ACLS Emerging Voices Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.  There, she contributed to a variety of doctoral… Read More

James Shulman became vice president and chief operating officer of the American Council of Learned Societies in July 2018. Prior to joining ACLS, Shulman was a Senior Fellow at The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation where he worked with the foundation’s president on strategic issues concerning higher education, philanthropy, and cultural… Read More

Sarah McKee is the Project Manager for Publishing Initiatives, working to support a healthy ecosystem for the creation and dissemination of humanistic scholarship across disciplines and institutions. Prior to her arrival at ACLS she administered Digital Publishing in the Humanities, sponsored by the Mellon Foundation and based at… Read More

Tina Li is the Human Resources Manager. She is responsible for the administration, management, and strategy of the HR function. Before joining ACLS Tina has spent over 12 years in the HR field in both public and private organizations, most recently at a consulting firm for nonprofits. Tina received an… Read More

As the Executive Assistant and Special Projects Coordinator at ACLS, Risca Putri is responsible for the administration, coordination, and execution of the activities of the Office of the VP and COO and ensures that its daily administrative operations are running smoothly. Born in Jakarta, Indonesia, Risca came to the States… Read More

John Paul Christy is the Senior Director of U.S. Programs, where he helps maintain and enhance the Council’s peer-review processes while also developing and implementing new fellowship and grant programs, with special focus on programs that highlight the public dimensions of humanities scholarship. As director, he frequently represents ACLS and… Read More

Desiree Barron-Callaci is a Senior Program Officer in U.S. Programs. She helps to maintain and enhance aspects of the Council’s rigorous peer-review processes and contributes to various projects in ACLS’s evolving portfolio of fellowship and grant programs, contributing to program design, management, and evaluation, with a particular emphasis on programs… Read More

Alison Chang is a Program Officer in U.S. Programs. Prior to her arrival at ACLS, Alison was the Director of Communications, Marketing, and Membership at CAA, where she managed all aspects of membership and internal and external communications. She was also the President of the Association of Print Scholars from… Read More

Derisa Grant is a Program Officer in U.S. Programs. Prior to joining ACLS Derisa was an assistant teaching professor at the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California. Derisa’s most recent research has focused on the classroom experiences of learner-centered faculty of color. Derisa holds a Ph.D. Read More

Tami Shaloum is an Operations Coordinator in U.S. Programs. Prior to joining ACLS in 2018, she spent a combined 10 years in international and experiential education, first with InterExchange’s working abroad program and, more recently, as assistant director of student affairs and administrative services at Long Island University’s Global College. Read More

Nike Nivar Ortiz is a Program Officer in US Programs. Nike received his Ph.D. in Comparative Studies in Literature and Culture from the University of Southern California, with a focus on Latin American Studies and Media Studies. He also holds a B.A. from Vassar College in English and Hispanic Studies. Read More

Jaelen Floyd is an Operations Coordinator in U.S. Programs. Jaelen works to ensure each puzzle piece of administering ACLS’s ever-growing portfolio of programs is accounted for and fits into its appropriate place. He first joined the team in 2016 as a Program Associate. Before that, he lived in Philadelphia as… Read More

Jessica Taylor is a Research Fellow in US Programs. She undertakes research projects aimed at understanding and supporting ACLS’s work, especially its numerous fellowships. Prior to joining ACLS, she was the Louis W. Cabot Humanities Policy Fellow at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, where she worked on the… Read More

McKenzie Maccaux is a Program Associate in U.S. Programs. Prior to joining ACLS, she served as a teaching assistant in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and co-instructed a writing seminar for freshman undergraduates. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2021 with a BA (Comp. Read More

John Zepke is a Program Associate in U.S. Programs. Before joining ACLS, he served at a New York non-profit devoted to educational documentaries. He graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian Studies and a certificate in International Diplomacy. In his free time, John enjoys dancing,… Read More

Oladipupo Oyeleye is a Program Consultant in US Programs. He works to enhance ACLS’s effort at supporting member societies, higher education partners, and a community of fellows on issues focusing on digital and public humanities. He collaborates with colleagues in the division to design and manage re-granting programs and funding for… Read More

Deena Ragavan is the Senior Program Officer for International Programs. Prior to joining ACLS, Deena worked in institutional fundraising and grant writing for a wide range of nonprofit organizations primarily serving under-resourced communities. In that time, she has helped raise more than $15 million in funding from public and private… Read More

Johnny Brennan is a Program Officer in International Programs, where he helps to design and supervise the administration of the department’s annual competitions, projects, and events. Johnny comes to ACLS from Fordham University, where he was a postdoctoral teaching fellow in the philosophy department. While at Fordham, he spent a… Read More

Morgan Day is a Program Associate in International Programs. Before joiningACLS, she worked in field organizing, as well as provided basic literacy andEnglish literacy tutoring to adult learners. She graduated from EasternMichigan University in 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts in both German Languageand Literature and International Relations. After graduating,… Read More

Mary Richter is the Chief Development Officer, working closely with Joy Connolly and the ACLS Board of Directors to raise funds from individual donors through the annual appeal, major gifts and other efforts. Mary has spent more than 20 years in development in New York, mostly in education, and has… Read More

Nicole Glotzer has been the Philanthropy Associate since May 2017. She received her BA in music from Smith College, and her MA in musicology/music history from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, CUNY, studying the use of composer Aaron Copland’s music in politics and film. She also… Read More

Heather Mangrum is the Director of Communications. Heather brings more than 20 years of experience in marketing, PR, and digital and traditional communications strategy. Most recently, she served as Managing Director of Communications with the Drug Policy Alliance. Prior to that, she established and led communications teams at International House… Read More

Anna Polovick Waggy is the Communications Manager. Prior to joining ACLS Anna served as International Communications Manager with NYC & Company, where she helped develop market-specific media strategies across 28 countries and wrote compelling content for the official NYC tourism website. Prior to that she served as Media Relations Coordinator… Read More

Oreoluwa Aribisala is a senior Marketing major, Digital Marketing Minor, in the Fox School of Business at Temple University. She is an SEO intern at ACLS during her final semester at Temple University. Oreoluwa enjoys learning about dogs and playing guitar in her free time. Read More

Moselle Douff is a senior double majoring in Documentary Television Production and Studio Art: Photography, at CUNY Hunter College. She has been working in the film and media industry for more than five years. Prior to ACLS, Moselle created featured visual projects for several small businesses and nonprofit organizations throughout… Read More

Matt Sapienza is the Chief Financial Officer.  In this role, Matt supports and leads a team of dedicated finance professionals to ensure the integrity, accuracy, and efficiency of ACLS accounting and financial systems, and serves as a key resource to the President and Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining ACLS,… Read More

Cindy Grant is the newest member of the finance team. As the Senior Accountant Cindy will support the CFO and finance Staff. Prior to ACLS Cindy worked at Mosholu Montefiore Community Center and Selfhelp Community Services. She holds a Master of Business Administration in Accounting from Colorado Technical University. Read More

Andrea Griffith is the Staff Accountant. Andrea is responsible for all accounts receivables, monthly reconciliations and provides support to the finance department as needed. Prior to joining ACLS, Andrea worked as an Accounts Coordinator at Catholic Charities. Read More

Tsering Dolkar is the Accounts Receivable Accountant. She is responsible for all Accounts Receivable along with providing  support to the finance department as needed. Tsering has previously worked at JASA and prior to that she worked at The Child School. She has a BBA in accounting from Baruch College (CUNY). Read More

Irvin Lozano is the Accounts Payable Accountant. Irvin is responsible of all accounts payables and provides support to the finance department. Prior to joining ACLS, Irvin worked as a Junior Accountant for Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice. Irvin holds a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting. Read More

Servio Moreno is the Office Manager.  In that position, he makes himself available for tasks from all departments. Servio joined ACLS in 1990.  He previously worked at the Council for Interracial Books and Africa Tours. Read More

Zachary Shuster is the CRM Specialist. His responsibilities include maintaining and optimizing the ACLS CRM system to allow for the best possible experience for his colleagues. Prior to Joining ACLS, he worked in Microsoft Dynamics CRM in the private sector. Zachary earned a BS in Environmental Geoscience from Bloomsburg University… Read More