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Alumni update: Agresto ’05, Corpus ’01, Gramann ’76, Janssen ’93, Johnson ’98, Mage ’10, McKeithan ’11, Rodd ’99

Meghan Agresto, MSW ’05, was featured in the Raleigh News & Observer article, “From Lighthouse, Curritick Shines.” She manages the lighthouse site for the Outer Banks Conservationists, the nonprofit that owns and manages the lighthouse and its grounds.

Devon Corpus, MSW ’01, is the supervisor for the crisis team in Monterey County, Calif. She coordinates the Hostage Negotiations Team and Crisis Intervention Training for law enforcement. She co-coordinates the County’s Critical Incident Stress Management Team and was recently approved as an International Critical Incident Stress Foundation instructor. They provide peer support and debriefings for first responders and citizens of Monterey County. In September, at the Crisis Intervention Training International conference in Virginia Beach, she was asked to present about the County’s unique relationship and collaboration between law enforcement and behavioral health. “It’s an honor for our crisis negotiation team to be recognized, but even more of an honor for our County’s partnerships to be recognized,” said Corpus.

Diane Meadows Gramann, MSW ’76, was named manager of program services for the Mental Health Association of Tennessee.  She received her Advanced Practice Social Worker License in 2010, a new licensure category for the State of Tennessee.

Scott Janssen, MSW ’93, wrote an article for We Honor Veterans, a National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization website for hospice workers, entitled “Let us Cross Over the River and Rest Under the Shade of the Trees: The Emergence of Memories of War When Combat Veterans are Dying.” This article considers why memories of combat often push into awareness as the final months or weeks of a person’s life approaches. It reviews two areas of concern: the impulse toward life integration at the end of life; and the potential parallels between the experiences of combat and terminal illness. Janssen is a L.C.S.W. who has been working with hospice patients and families since 1992. He works for Duke Hospice in Durham.

Michelle Johnson, MSW ’98, is a clinical social worker and is running for the Carrboro Board of Aldermen, which is the town council for Carrboro. She is also a yoga instructor, and will be traveling to Kibera in January to work with a project called the Africa Yoga Project. Johnson will be working with young girls who are in the equivalent of a brothel. She will be teaching yoga and using her social work skills to talk about trauma and PTSD. Here is a video clip about what she’ll be doing.

Caroline Mage, MSW ’10, is living in New York City and working at MDRC, a social policy research organization, as a research analyst. MDRC evaluates social programs for low-income populations.

Francinia McKeithan, MSW ’11, has been selected to serve as a 2011 State Policy Fellow along with four other top graduates from around the country. The five fellows will work as research and policy analysts at independent think tanks across the country in the program’s second year. The highly competitive State Policy Fellowship Program aims to analyze the impact of budget and policy choices on low-income people. McKeithan graduated from UNC with master’s degrees in public administration and social work in spring 2011. She also completed her undergraduate education at UNC.

Carolyn Rodd, MSW ’99, has been named principal of Charlotte’s Huntingtowne Farms Elementary School after a year leading the business and finance school at Garinger High School. Rodd began her career in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools in 1999 as a bilingual family advocate at Merry Oaks Elementary. She worked as a social worker and a case manager before joining the district. Rodd has stepped into the Huntingtowne Farms administration along with a new assistant principal and a new group of guidance counselors who plan to reenergize the students and boost student achievement.