Listening, Lifting, and Learning

As questions around higher education’s relevance and purpose persist, the reviewers of CEA’s funded programs quietly but meaningfully advance a different narrative rooted in collaboration, impact, and civic responsibility. As part of Volunteer Appreciation Month, we’re spotlighting three dedicated members of our review committee from around the state: Monica O’Neil, Emery Peck, and Matt Salzman, whose service exemplifies how higher education can further its civic mission through intentional community engagement.

Service That Reflects Shared Values

For each of these reviewers, service to CEA is more than a professional duty—it’s a personal alignment with deeply held values. Monica O’Neil, Director of Service Learning at the University of Southern Indiana, sees her role as a reviewer as a natural extension of what she values most: hands-on student learning and meaningful community impact. “I like serving as a reviewer because I get to read about everyone’s amazing projects,” she shares. “It also gives me the opportunity to do external service for an organization that has done a lot for me.”

Emery Peck, Vice Chancellor at Ivy Tech, echoes this sentiment with a broader lens on leadership. “Leadership is about service—listening, lifting others, and solving together,” he says. His work connects student success to broader community well-being, and he finds that reviewing proposals allows him to support ideas that reflect both innovation and accountability. “CEA's commitment to rigorous assessment also aligns with my personal values around evidence-based decision-making.”

Matt Salzman, Director of Foundations, Corporations, and Government Relations at Wabash College, views reviewing to bridge institutions and communities. “Personally, I’m grounded in the belief that access, equity, and impact are strengthened when institutional resources are meaningfully connected to the public good,” he explains. His service with CEA is an extension of that belief.

Shaping the Future of Civic Learning

As reviewers, these individuals engage with proposals that often challenge traditional boundaries between campus and community. Across the board, they note a growing trend: deep reciprocity and co-creation. “The most compelling proposals move beyond traditional models of ‘helping’ and toward authentic co-creation,” says Emery. These are projects where community partners act not just as hosts, but as co-investigators and educators—where power is shared, and voices are respected.

Matt sees this trend as a sign of maturity in the field. “We’re seeing interdisciplinary engagement and mutual accountability that’s embedded across fields—from environmental studies to public health,” he notes. “This reflects a deeper understanding that community engagement isn’t peripheral—it’s integral to academic inquiry and student formation.”

Monica brings it back to what excites her most: seeing students learn through experience and purpose. “Every proposal I’ve reviewed wants students to have hands-on learning experiences and to do something good for the community,” she says. “As long as those two things are present, the future of campus-community engagement is bright.”

Growing Civic Mindsets Through Practice

Each reviewer also brings a rich personal experience that has shaped their civic identity. For Monica, it was a roundtable on domestic violence she organized as part of a CEA funded project. “Seeing community leaders talk to the public about such a serious issue showed me that engagement can have a big impact,” she reflects.

For Emery, civic growth came from his early work aligning Ivy Tech’s programming with community needs. “What struck me wasn’t just the issues—it was how people facilitated the dialogue: listening with humility, resisting the urge to solve immediately,” he recalls. That lesson—that civic engagement starts with trust and humility—guides his leadership today.

Matt’s transformative experience came as an AmeriCorps VISTA, working within a nonprofit incubator in Wisconsin. “It was through that experience that I understood the reciprocal power of partnerships—not as charity, but as co-laboring toward shared goals,” he says. That ethos remains core to how he mentors and supports community-engaged scholars at Wabash.

A Ripple Effect of Commitment

Together, Monica, Emery, and Matt model the civic mindset that CEA aims to foster across Indiana’s higher education landscape. Through their time, insights, and reflective practice, they help elevate proposals that hold promise not just for student learning, but for deeper democratic outcomes. Their work reminds us that meaningful community engagement begins not with solutions, but with curiosity, shared leadership, and a commitment to the public good.

At CEA, we’re proud to work alongside reviewers who embody these values. This Volunteer Appreciation Month, we honor their contributions—and invite others to follow their lead.