Who We Are

The Project on Civic Reflection is staffed by thoughtful, friendly people with expertise in the practice of civic reflection. Since 1998 they have been leading group discussions, selecting readings, developing training materials, and serving as mentors to facilitators and other civic leaders. They use their education and experience to help people all over the country create fruitful civic conversation.

Adam Davis, Director
Kelli Covey, Associate Director
YangYang Zong, Program Coordinator
Catherine Tufariello, Program Director, Reflective Reading
Judith Upton, Financial Administrator
Becca Bernstein, Program Associate
Mike Wilson, Program Associate
Debbie Garbukas, Administrative Assistant
Elizabeth Lynn, Founding Director

STAFF

Adam Davis
Director

Since 2003, Adam has been training facilitators, leading workshops and discussions, developing resources, and making the case for reflective discussion as a key strategy for strengthening community. Adam is the editor of Taking Action: A Reader (2011), Hearing the Call across Traditions (2009) and the co-editor, with Elizabeth Lynn, of The Civically Engaged Reader (2006). Several years ago, Adam created "Justice Talking/Meaning of Service," a discussion program for AmeriCorps and other service organizations across the country. He is the board chair, co-founder, andformer director of Camp of Dreams, a non-profit organization providing year-round programming for underserved young people in Chicago; a philosophy and literature instructor in The Odyssey Project, a college-level humanities program for low-income adults; and a past leader of wilderness trail crews for the US Forest Service. Adam received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 2003.
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Kelli Covey
Associate Director

Bringing over fifteen years' experience in the academic, business, and nonprofit sectors, Kelli joined PCR as Director of Programs and Development in August 2008 and assumed the position of Associate Director in July 2011. Kelli trains facilitators, leads discussions, assists individuals and organizations to integrate reflective discussion into their work, and delivers keynotes and presentations to make the case for reflective discussion as key to sustaining civic engagement and supporting social change. Kelli has also been instrumental in defining the impact–and raising the visibility—of PCR's work in the fields of service, higher education, and public programming. Her previous position was as senior development officer at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, where she wrote grant proposals, worked with foundations, corporations and consultants, built an individual donor program, and created a culture of fundraising within the organization. She also has past experience as a web site strategist, information architect, and writer. Kelli has served as a mentor for the Pan-African Association in Chicago and as a VISTA member in North Dakota, where she developed a drug abuse prevention project for youth in a 5-county region. She received her B.A. in English and Theology from Austin College in Texas and completed her graduate coursework in English and Cultural Studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where she specialized in Native American and African American literature.
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YangYang Zong
Program Coordinator

YangYang Zong joined the Project on Civic Reflection in the summer of 2010, after receiving her M.A. in the Humanities from University of Chicago.
Originally from Beijing, YangYang completed her B.A. in English Literature from Peking University in 2009. Her service experience at Davidson College included volunteer teaching in one of the most impoverished villages in China, helping to renovate an elementary school in Alabama, and serving as an English teacher during the Beijing Olympics. In Chicago, she has been volunteering with the Chinese American Service League, the social service agency in the Midwest dedicated to serving the needs of Chinese Americans. YangYang is excited about working at the Project on Civic Reflection and seeing the humanities change the world for the better by engaging individuals to read, think and share.
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Catherine Tufariello
Program Director, Reflective Reading

Catherine Tufariello joined the Project in January 2006, bringing teaching, administrative and writing talents. After serving for five years as associate director for communications, in July 2011 she became director of Reflective Reading, a program of civic reflection for healthcare professionals. Catherine received her Ph.D. in English Literature from Cornell University, where she was a Mellon Fellow in the Humanities and specialized in American poetry. She has taught literature and writing at several colleges and universities, including Valparaiso University, and is the author of a book of poems, Keeping My Name (Texas Tech UP). Her administrative experience includes serving as program coordinator for the National Center on Philanthropy and the Law at New York University. Catherine is especially interested in the way that civic reflection uses literary and historical texts to inspire conversation, connection and change.
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Judith Upton
Financial Administrator

As PCR's Financial Administrator, Judith Upton has worked in an advisory capacity with the organization's staff on financial management, grant writing, and organizational development since September 2009. She received a Bachelor's degree in History from Indiana University (1979) and completed coursework toward a Master's degree in education at Purdue University West Lafayette (1994). Since 1986, Judith has worked in non-profit administration and on development campaigns, grant-writing projects, and financial management for a number of organizations and non-profit boards, including the League of Women Voters in Indiana and Illinois. An Indiana native, Judith co-owned and managed a successful small company in North Central Indiana with her husband while raising their three children.
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Becca Bernstein
Program Associate

Becca joined the Project on Civic Reflection in September 2011. As a Program Associate, Becca develops programming, identifies and develops new content for the PCR electronic resource library, facilitates civic reflection discussions, and helps to plan and facilitate workshops that train members of civic groups to lead reflective discussions in their own organizations and communities. Prior to her experience at PCR, Becca was a member of AmeriCorps Project YES! where she served at Pritzker College Prep, one of the top non-selective charter schools in Chicago, and participated in PCR's "Justice Talking: Meaning of Service" program. Becca received her B.A. in English and Gender, Women's and Sexuality Studies from Grinnell College, where she graduated with honors.
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Mike Wilson
Program Associate

Mike joined the Project on Civic Reflection in the fall of 2011. Hailing from the UK, Mike first came to the United States on a Fulbright scholarship and received his M.A. in the Humanities at the University of Chicago. Before joining PCR, he worked as a high school teacher, on a strategy team in the UK government and, most recently, as an associate producer in Chicago public radio. Mike has a longstanding interest in the forms of conversation and reflection that are required to sustain a critical, honest and healthy public sphere. He received his undergraduate degree in Theology and Religious Studies from Cambridge University.

Debbie Garbukas
Administrative Assistant

Debbie began working as an administrative assistant with the Project on Civic Reflection in January 2007. In January 2011, she began also working with the Project on the Education and Formation of People in Faith at Valparaiso University. She is a member of Valparaiso University's Salaried and Concerns Committee and Campus Community Policy Committee. Originally from Milwaukee, Debbie worked at an elementary school there while raising her two children. Her work experience also includes fifteen years at the accounting firm Deloitte & Touche, where she assisted senior audit partners and served as Recruiting Coordinator for the Milwaukee office. Debbie is a member of Christ Lutheran Church in Valparaiso, serving as a small group leader in that congregation's youth ministry.
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FOUNDER

Elizabeth Lynn
Founding Director

Elizabeth Lynn founded the Project on Civic Reflection at Valparaiso University in 1998 and served as its director until 2011. Begun as a local experiment in Northwest Indiana, PCR evolved under Elizabeth's leadership into a unique national resource center for reflective humanities-based discussion. She is now a Senior Research Fellow in Humanities and Civic Life at Valparaiso University, examining the role of the humanities and reflection in American civic life, with special attention to the public humanities movement of the last fifty years. Elizabeth assists the advisory board of the Project on Civic Reflection, consults with other programs nationwide and is an active citizen in her own community and state, serving on the board of the Indiana Humanities Council, the advisory board for the Lake Family Institute on Faith and Giving at the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University and the Valparaiso Board of Zoning Appeals. A former Mellon Fellow in the Humanities, she holds a PhD in Religion and Literature from the University of Chicago and is the co-editor of The Civically Engaged Reader with Adam Davis.
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