Our Staff

Glenn Cerosaletti - Assistant Dean of Students & Director RCCL

Glenn Cerosaletti

he/him/his

Assistant Dean of Students and Director

Glenn is a Rochester alumnus, having earned both BA (English) and MA (Global Studies) degrees from the University. He also served as a VISTA volunteer, coordinating a literacy program in the state of Wyoming, and as a Peace Corps volunteer, working as a crop extensionist in Bolivia, South America. His community leadership includes serving as a board member for the Rochester Cycling Alliance; board member for the UR (Iota) Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society; a founding member of the Rochester Returned Peace Corps Volunteers; and a founding member of the Rotary Club of Southwest Rochester. He is an avid bicycle commuter.

If you would like to meet with Glenn, schedule an appointment during his open office hours.

Halima smiling

Halima Therese Gbaguidi, PhD

she/her/hers

Associate Director

Halima recently moved from Pennsylvania to Rochester to join the Center of Community Engagement (CCE) team. She earned her Bachelor's and Master's degrees at Shippensburg University in Political Science and Organizational Development and Leadership, respectively. Halima obtained her PhD in Education, Development and Community Engagement (EDCE) at Penn State University. She worked with different organizations in different capacities to promote students' success and community engagement/development at different scales. Halima loves cooking, reading, travelling and spending quality time with her family and loved ones.

Andrew Gold

Andrew Gold

he/him/his

Associate Director of Community Engaged Learning

  • Office Location: 107G Lattimore Hall
    Intramural Address: 270444
  • Phone:  (585) 276-3986

Andrew Gold is a Rochester transplant from Los Angeles, California. As a non-traditional student (over 25 years of age), he received his bachelor’s in history with a minor in education leadership from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2018. During that time, he conducted scholarship that focused on contemporary and economic history, radical, civil-rights, and labor movements, and theories on punishment and the school-to-prison pipeline. After working with various community-based organizations like the Museum of Social Justice and volunteering with neighboring high school programs to teach students local socio-political history.

In 2019 he moved to NYC to pursue and earn a master’s degree from Columbia University in American Studies. In the city, he focused his work on harm reduction, drug decriminalization, mass incarceration, and ultimately shifted his studies to the field of higher education with an emphasis on creating pathways and expanding access into postsecondary institutions for first-generation, and underserved, and underfunded communities. He spent his time working with local organizations that served communities in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Brooklyn to offer pathways to higher education for city members.

His goal is to continue to serve the Rochester community with the vision of bringing positive change through scholarship and education. Other hobbies include catching live music performances, bicycling around the river trail, writing music, and creating new experiences through travel.

Candace smiling

Candace Davis

she/her/hers

Operations Manager

Candace is a Rochester native with a background in Communications, Advertising and Public Relations. She is a massive fan of musical theater, true crime and reality television. When not at work, you can find Candace listening/reading a book, working on a novel, singing or playing with her two dogs, Sage and Bender.

Lily

Lily Bencivenga

she/her/hers

Operations Assistant

Lily is originally from Connecticut. She received a BA from Marist College in May 2023 in Communications and Italian, and a minor in Global Studies. She spent her first year of college abroad in Florence, Italy. While at school, she interned with Habitat for Humanity, The Alzheimer’s Association, Magazzino Italian Art, and spent several semesters organizing, canvassing, fundraising, and helping draft laws with For The Many (a grassroots political organization in the Hudson Valley.) On campus, she was involved in Marist Femme and the Blue Butterfly Organization which works closely with Nepalese survivors of human trafficking and conducts legal work and fundraising for these survivors while also educating others about human trafficking.

She dreams of continuing to help underserved communities in legal and practical ways and possibly serving in the Peace Corps or working with UN Women. She has always had a connection with kids and animals. She has also always loved writing in various forms. She loves to spend time with her brother, cats, and hairless guinea pig, Dwayne. She loves nature documentaries, travels as much as possible, practices yoga, does spinning, and attempts to paint and doodle with her mom.

Sarah's headshot

Sarah Murphy

she/her/hers

Program Manager: Rochester Youth Year & Urban Fellows

Sarah is an alumna of the University of Rochester, where she received her BA in English. She is also an AmeriCorps VISTA alumna, having participated in two CCE-administered VISTA programs: Rochester Urban Fellows and Rochester Youth Year. As a VISTA, she focused on creating educational programming for youth and promoting racial, social, and economic justice within her organization. Sarah is a proud Rochester transplant, and she loves to support local businesses, eat at local restaurants, and participate in community events. She is a voracious reader, an avid crossword puzzler, and a novice fiber artist.

Rachael

Rachael Baldanza

she/her/hers

Program Manager: Community Engaged Employment

Rachael previously worked at the Memorial Art Gallery’s largest community serving art school, the Creative Workshop, and a non-profit, un-censored teen newspaper in Atlanta, VOX. At the CW, she collaborated to better diversify and support teachers, assistants, interns and volunteers. She particularly enjoyed mentoring interns and helping them find and apply to opportunities. She managed large educational programs like summer art camps and was on the team that brought classes and camps back after pandemic closures.

At VOX, Rachael taught publishing, editing and art skills to a diverse group of young people who devoted their time to making and distributing the newspaper. She is most proud of the teens and adult mentors who made the original VOX website on a limited budget and tight timelines. She is a recent graduate of the Warner School’s Human Development program (MS, 2020). While juggling graduate school and life, she volunteered to help international families and studied our region’s high rates of volunteering and charitable giving compared with pathways for success for teens depending on where (what zip code) they lived in.

Rachael is excited about contributing to the work of supporting existing CCE programs, making connections between the center and community partners, and doing what needs to be done. When not working, Rachael loves to spend time with her family, making art alone or with friends, and reading for curiosity and pleasure. She loves cartoons, puns and wordplay.

Placeholder image.

Hannah Witkin

she/her/hers

Community Engaged Learning Program Assistant

Hannah Witkin is a current senior from Elkridge, Maryland pursuing a double major in Philosophy and Political Science with a minor in Religion. In 2022, she participated in Urban Fellows, where she worked as a summer associate with Refugees Helping Refugees and Friends of the Rochester Public Market. She is enrolled in the Community-Engaged Learning Program and is partnered with the Rochester Education Justice Initiative for her capstone project. Outside of CCE, Hannah is a Senior Program Assistant at the Burgett Intercultural Center, is a member of Creative Arts Club and Pride Network, and has held various positions in the Students' Association.

Emma Headshot

Emma Lynch

she/her/hers

Rochester Youth Year Vista

  • Office Location: 107 Lattimore Hall
    Intramural Address: 270444
  • Phone:  (585) 276-3277
  • Email:  rochester@youthyear.org

Emma is a Long Island-native. She received her BA in Political Science from SUNY Geneseo in 2022. She recently finished her first VISTA Service at Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, where she helped to create trainings for mentors on various aspects of social identity, diversity, justice, and equity. In her free time, she enjoys getting lost in bulky fantasy books, listening to R&B/metal music, and watching old school horror movies.

Robin Headshot

Robin Osito

they/them/theirs

Rochester Youth Year Vista

Joining AmeriCorps through Rochester Youth Year has given Robin the opportunity to take part in exciting projects aimed at supporting the communities from which they, themself, have benefited for the last four years. Robin hopes to accomplish a great many personal projects during this time, as well as gain networking skills and knowledge about organizational partnership management for the purpose of building resilient and mutually interdependent communities.

Get to know our staff even more and check out this list of our Top 20 Favorite Places to Eat in Rochester!