This week's Team Leader Biography is...

Jill Washburn!

Jill was selected this week as Eric and I visited with her this past Friday for Rocky Mountain College's Site Visit. Things have been going so well over there, that I felt that she deserved a lil' shout out!

Jill Washburn was born in Lagos, Nigeria Africa. She is trained in disaster response through the American Red Cross of Montana on the local response team and as a state duty officer, instructor and national volunteer. Through the Red Cross she also works with members of the armed forces and their families in times of need. Jill used to live in Burlington, Vermont, but now lives in Billings, Montana. She has a BS in Sociology and an AA in Liberal Arts. Jill finds a sense of fulfillment when giving back to others and is excited about helping college students get involved in that work. When asked what she would do if she was given $100 million? She replied with putting the money in an endowment for the American Red Cross of Montana. Jill is the Campus Corps Leader over at Rocky Mountain College for the 2010-2011 year, so please contact her if you’d like to get involved with serving for your community! Her email is jill.washburn@rocky.edu

This week's Team Leader Biography is...

KATIE KOGAAA!!

Katie was selected today, because we just had our site visit with her yesterday!

Katie Koga (all the way on the left) grew up in Minnesota (DONTCHA KNOW!) She studied Fine Art at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. Katie constantly likes to learn and be challenged with new experiences (playing the banjo being one of them). She’d consider herself a professional hobbyist. Maybe she can knit you a hat, if you’re nice. Another fun fact – She recently biked down the West Coast, starting in WA going all the way down to Southern CA. Anyone else jealous? In terms of service, Katie is interested in learning new ways to engage people in their communities. If you’ve got any out-of-the-box ideas for recruitment methods or new knitting patterns, please let her know.

Katie is based at the University of Montana - Missoula and can be reached at katie.koga@mso.umt.edu

...if you mention something about the movie Drop Dead Gorgeous in your email, it may get pushed to the top of her inbox. Just saying.

This week's Team Leader Biography is...

Jenny Wilson!

Jenny Wilson, twenty six (but her birthday is this Thursday - March 10th, maybe send her a gift. I hear she likes good coffee) was born and raised in Tula, Mississippi. She Graduated from The University of Mississippi in 2006 with a Bachelors in Liberal Arts. As a child, Jenny was always fascinated with books and stories of the American West, but had never been there. She found the Campus Corps team leader position in Butte, MT at Montana Tech of the University of Montana during 2009-2010 and served there. She is currently serving a second term for Campus Corps at Salish Kootenai College in Pablo, MT. She lives in the Pablo with her ten month old puppy, LoLo and enjoys running, biking, hiking and snowboarding in her spare time.

Jenny has uploaded her Make a Difference Day album on facebook. She and her team participated in SKC's Breast Cancer awareness walk. Take a look at the album HERE!

If you're in the surrounding are of Pablo, MT - Jenny is a great resource for getting involved in the community there. She'll even supply some cowboy coffee if you show up at one of her events! To get in contact with Jenny, email her at jennifer_wilson@skc.edu

This week's Team Leader Biography is...

Laura D’Esterre!

Laura is the Campus Corps Leader at Carroll College in Helena. Laura was born in Packagetown, New Jersey (the home of Starburst). She went to correspondence school for 12 years and then decided to go to Carroll College. She graduated from Carroll, double majoring in History and Theology. Laura's goal is to be a marriage and family counselor in the future. One thing you probably didn't know about Laura, is that she has 9 siblings and 21 nieces and nephews! Laura likes Folk and Country music, and her favorite song is “Fishin in the Dark.”

To see Laura and her team in action, check out her Make a Difference Day Album on Facebook!

If you'd like to get involved with the community in Helena, Laura is a great contact. Send her an email at LdEsterr@carroll.edu.