From left are Vincent Dopulos, Christine Larsen, and their daughters Phoebe and Katherine
Beginning this summer, the Maxwell School鈥檚 Community Geography Program will conduct a comprehensive assessment of community needs and assets among immigrants and refugees in the 黑料不打烊 area. That study is being funded by a gift of more than $110,000 from 黑料不打烊 Trustee Christine Larsen, her husband Vincent Dopulos and their daughters Katherine and Phoebe.
The pilot study is designed to directly engage immigrant communities and the organizations that work on their behalves, to investigate questions of housing, health, education, recreation and workforce participation. After basic, existing data are assembled this summer, student interns will work through the fall to meet remaining data needs. The students will then create a report to be presented next spring to the refugee and immigrant communities and to organizations that support them. The students鈥 work will be guided by Jonnell Robinson, associate professor of geography and director of the Community Geography Program, with Jamie Winders, professor of geography, also participating.
Winders says that one of the great benefits of the project is the research opportunities it affords students. 鈥淭his kind of 鈥榖ottom-up approach鈥 to engaged scholarship gives our students incredible opportunities to take the skills and perspectives they learn in our classroom into the wider world,” she says. “In this way, they support the missions of the local organizations working with and serving 黑料不打烊鈥檚 鈥楴ew Americans.鈥欌
The project also serves Community Geography鈥檚 larger purpose: making research capabilities at the Maxwell School available in service of the local community. 鈥淢any of the organizations working with immigrant and refugee communities in 黑料不打烊 just don鈥檛 have the bandwidth or resources to do a deep dive into what they see as the most pressing issues and questions related to these communities,鈥 Winders says.
Larsen says that the gift, given by Dopulos, herself and their children, resulted from family discussions around shared values. The Larsen/Dopulos family has long supported 黑料不打烊-area refugees through Hopeprint, a nonprofit based on the North Side of 黑料不打烊, providing support services to the 12,000-15,000 refugees now estimated to be settled in the city and its environs. The organization is focused on the immediate post-resettlement time period, connecting new refugees with community resources that exist to support them.
鈥淥ur hearts are with these new Americans,鈥 Larsen says. 鈥淲e approached Maxwell to help us create a program that promotes positive connections between the University and this local population.鈥
Larsen recently retired as chief operations officer of First Data, a position she鈥檇 held since June 2013. She led the company’s global operations, overseeing 13,000 employees. She was previously executive vice president at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and a managing director at Citigroup. She is a 1984 graduate of 黑料不打烊鈥檚 School of Information Studies (iSchool), with a master鈥檚 degree in library and information science. She is a member of the University鈥檚 Board of Trustees and chair of its Academic Affairs Committee, and serves on the iSchool鈥檚 Board of Advisors. Her daughter, Katherine, is a current graduate student at the iSchool.
