Joe Barber
Director for the Office of Community Service and Civic Engagement
Phone: (860) 297-4256 Email: joseph.barber@trincoll.edu
Bio: Joe Barber has worked at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut for thirteen years and has been the Director of the Trinity College Office of Community Service and Civic Engagement for the past seven years. Prior to his employment at Trinity, Joe worked as an environmental organizer on an urban water quality project with the Connecticut Public Interest Research Group. Joe attended the University of Connecticut where he received an MPA, graduating top of his class, and a BA in Sociology, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. In addition to his work at Trinity, Joe is involved with transportation, neighborhood revitalization and community economic development issues. Among his current activities, Joe is the co-chair of Hartford 2000, a coalition of all of Hartford’s Neighborhood Revitalization Zones (NRZs), a member of the North Frog Hollow NRZ Committee, and serves on the board of 1000 Friends of Connecticut, a statewide smart growth education and advocacy organization.
Quote: "If I can't dance, it's not my revolution!" – Emma Goldman
Favorite Movie: Office Space, Casablanca, American Beauty, and Annie Hall
Favorite Book: Grapes of Wrath, Brave New World, The World According to Garp, and the Lord of the Rings trilogy
Hobbies: Running, reading, community activism, Hartford and Connecticut history
Lindsey Eichler
Graduate Assistant for the Office of Community Service and Civic Engagement
Phone: (860) 297-2383 Email: lindsey.eichler@trincoll.edu
Bio: Lindsey Eichler graduated from Trinity College in 2008 with a B.A. in Religious Studies and is currently finishing up her Master's Degree here in Public Policy Studies. While at Trinity, Lindsey participated in intercollegiate athletics, was a member of TCAC, studied abroad in Cambodia, and worked in the Underground Coffeehouse and Cinestudio. Lindsey’s tenure in the Community Service Office began in June of 2008 where she serves as an advisor to a variety of students-run organizations including the Relay for Life, Habitat for Humanity, and F.A.C.E.S. (Friends Active in Civic Engagement & Service).
Quote: “Be the change that you want to see in the world.” -Mohandas Gandhi
Favorite Movie: Hocus Pocus
Favorite Book: Three Cups of Tea
Hobbies: Lindsey enjoys gardening outside Praxis, biking around campus, and answering her banana phone in Mather.
Romulus J. Ferrer-Perez
Program Coordinator for the Trinity College-Hartford Magnet Middle School Partnership Academic Mentoring Program
Phone: (860) 297-2160 Email: romulus.perez@trincoll.edu
Bio: Romulus’s desire to assist people has been expressed through the Rising Stars and Vision Academic Mentoring Program (VAMP) for his past three years at Trinity College. He keeps sane by playing sports, reading, retreating into his organic garden, or by attempting gourmet cooking in the kitchen. Romulus is pursuing a Master’s in Public Policy (because “there exists no degree for heated political debating!”).
Quote: The Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you want others to do unto you"
Favorite Movie: High Noon (Gary Cooper, Grace Kelly)
Favorite Book(s): Ian Fleming’s FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE (“The best Bond episode ever!”) & Jane Austen’s PRIDE & PREJUDICE (“One of the finest examples of the use of the English language!”).
Hobbies: Traveling, swimming, tennis, skiing, classical music, cinema, reading, writing, cooking and eating!
Dana Leeper
Phone: (860) 297-3510 (work) & (804) 539-9920 (cell)
Bio: Recent graduate of Hollins University with a major of environmental studies and a minor in social work. Grew up in Richmond Virginia. Was a resident assistant as a sophomore. In the summer of 2007 I interned for the Savage River Watershed Association, a non-profit watershed group in rural Western Maryland. The fall semester of my junior year I was a Head Resident Assistant. In January of 2008 I interned at a retirement home where following a presentation on pressing environmental issues a group of residents started a recycling program. During the summer of 2008 I canvassed for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, then interned at a sustainable community in southern Virginia. In the fall of 2008 of my senior year I assisted in a green fee getting passed on my campus. The fee money will go into a grant fund which will be available for those who have environmental projects or a vision. As my senior project I installed eight rain barrels on my campus and planned a free rain barrel workshop. In January and February of 2009 I interned at a free clinic where I planned a educational class for children and adults on healthy eating. During the spring of 2009 I then interned at Refugee Services in Roanoke, Va. I was involved in my environmental club on my campus. As a senior I volunteered in our on campus community garden on weekends and helped gather future support and volunteers. Before joining ConnPIRG I volunteered at Refugee Services doing case work for three families.
Also ConnPIRG Organizer at Greater Hartford.
Quote: At each and every junction in our history someone has been audacious enough to stand up and say we can do something different. And more often than not it has been young people that have done it. - President Barack Obama
Favorite Movie: Ferngully
Favorite Book: The Journey of the Pink Dolphins or Three Cups of Tea
Mary Franco
Dream Camp Program Coordinator
Phone: (860) 987-6209 Email: mfranco@esfcamps.com
Bio: Mary Franco has been part of the Community Service Office for the past three years. She is the coordinator of a summer program for children in Hartford. More than 300 Hartford children take part in the free summer program, which Trinity has hosted since 1998. The campus is operated by ESF summer Camps and staffed by counselors who are local teachers or college students. Children aged 6 to 9 participate in Dream Camp's activities such as arts and crafts, games, swimming, science, geography, dance, storytelling and skits. Many campers also attend the programs’ after- school enrichment activities during the school year, in which Trinity students volunteer as tutors and mentors.