Middlebury Social Impact Corps

Students

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Marion Ayers is an International Policy and Development and Public Administration joint degree candidate at MIIS. Originally from South Carolina, Marion served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Indonesia from 2017-2019. After his Peace Corps service, he spent several years working as an English teacher in Indonesia before deciding to pursue a masters degree. He has lived in Monterey since January 2023.
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Josh Hulbert is an Environmental Studies-Earth Sciences Joint Major at Middlebury College from Portland, Oregon. He loves rock climbing, hiking, biking and yoga to stay active. He appreciates learning something new everyday and is always down for a simple board game or puzzle. He enjoyed his time in Monterey immensely and he can't wait to return.
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Diana Cortez Carlos is an Environmental and Architectural Studies joint major from Santa Barbara, California. She loves long distance running, weight lifting, watching the sunset, and exploring the outdoors. As a traditional artist, Diana finds immense joy in deriving inspiration from her relationship with nature and her meaningful interactions with people which serves as the foundation for her artistic creations. During her time in Monterey, Diana’s curiosity prompted her to delve into the history of the adobe houses and even got to visit a few of them in person!
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Joneldina (Dina) Bazou is a Psychology and Environmental Studies double major from Delray Beach, Florida. She enjoys teaching and practicing yoga and running. She is captivated by the tales that plant life tells about different places—her time in Monterey sparked her interest in understanding these stories, evident and hidden, wherever she goes.

Professors

Dr. Netta Avineri is Language Teacher Education and Intercultural Communication Professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS). She also serves as the Intercultural Competence Committee Chair, Kathryn Wasserman Davis Collaborative in Conflict Transformation Graduate Education Pillar Lead, CoLab Co-Director, and Middlebury Social Impact Corps Faculty Director. Netta teaches Critical Service-Learning and Teacher Education courses at California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB). For the past decade, Netta has committed to working with local Monterey-based community partners focused on social change. She is co-editor of Language and Social Justice in Practice, author of Research Methods for Language Teaching: Inquiry, Process, and Synthesis, co-editor of Metalinguistic Communities: Case Studies of Agency, Ideology, and Symbolic Uses of Language, and co-author of An Introduction to Language and Social Justice: What Is, What Has Been, and What Could Be. She is Series Editor for the book series Critical Approaches in Applied Linguistics. She has served as the American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Public Affairs and Engagement Committee Chair and is currently the Secretary/Treasurer of the Society of Linguistic Anthropology. Netta’s research interests include language and social justice, critical interculturality, heritage language socialization, and ethical community partnerships.

Dana Anderson is the Associate Director of Creativity and Innovation at the Elzabeth Hackett Robinson ’84 Innovation Hub at Middlebury College. In this role, Dana is responsible for the development, implementation, and evaluation of experiential learning opportunities that foster creativity and innovation. Dana oversees co-curricular and academic programs that support accessible, integrated, and immersive student learning to inform creativity and innovation at Middlebury College. Working as Youth Programs Specialist for the City of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, is where Dana Anderson found her passion for program development and applied her skills as a licensed teacher to directing experiential learning and adventure programs. Upon moving to Vermont, she continued as the director of a 21st Century Community Learning Center, collaborating among schools and community and national organizations to provide high quality experiential learning programs for school-aged youth. These skills served her well through Vermont Afterschool, Inc., where she worked as a regional coordinator, in addition to being a contracted curriculum developer and staff trainer. Anderson holds a B.A. in Education and a B.A. in Psychology and is also a graduate of The Snelling Early Childhood Leadership Institute. Dana’s experience led her to serve as regional coordinator for Building Bright Futures. Her work with this non-profit focused on health, education and human services systems building using a collective impact model. Dana has been lead coordinator for multiple state and local committees and continues to work with the Snelling Center for Government as a guest facilitator for team building and systems thinking initiatives.

Students