Our Staff
Dr. Juan M. Benitez
Title: Executive Director
Contact: Juan.Benitez@csulb.edu
Dr. Juan M. Benitez is the Executive Director for the Center for Community Engagement (CCE) at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). As Executive Director, he oversees university-wide community engagement projects, programs, and engagement initiatives; including but not limited to Community Service Learning, Community-based Participatory and Action Research, Academic Internships, and campus-community partnerships & collaborations. At the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), he received B.A. degrees in Political Science and in History and went on to receive his M.A. and Ph.D. in History. His areas of expertise are: U.S.-Latin American affairs, U.S. immigration, Latinx history, asset based community development, civic engagement and the ethnic experience in the U.S..
He has over two decades of experience leading multi-stakeholder projects and initiatives focused on: strategic planning, action planning, community-based action and participatory research, asset mapping, civic engagement, community visioning, systems and policy change, and community building among others.
Dr. Benitez focusses on the implementation of equitable High Impact Practices in education and is driven by his passion for supporting student success.
Mitra Baghdadi
Title: Associate Director
Contact: Mitra.Baghdadi@csulb.edu
Mitra has a stellar and longstanding record of success in the areas of educational equity, community engagement, partnership development, student success, and High Impact Practices, and will be an incredible addition to our CCE Team in her new capacity as Associate Director. Mitra brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, educational background and personal and professional skills, qualities and attributes to the Associate Director position. She has previously served the Department of Anthropology and the Center for Community Engagement here at CSULB in various capacities. Most recently, she served as Community Engaged Learning Programs Coordinator at the CCE overseeing our Service Learning program while expanding partnership opportunities with local community organizations and helping to lead curriculum development opportunities with Faculty offering Service Learning courses.
Mitra is also in the process of completing her doctoral dissertation focused on the correlation between student success, leadership and High Impact Practices like Service Learning in Educational Leadership at California State University, Los Angeles. She has served as past Chair for the President’s Commission on the Status of Women at CSULB, past Chair of Diversity for AAUW’s Leadership Team in the State of California, past member of the Board of Directors for the Iranian-Persian American Association of Greater Long Beach, and has a long history of community service and is an alumnus of CSULB.
Isabelle Garcia, MPA
Title: Administrative Coordinator
Contact: Isabelle.Garcia@csulb.edu
Isabelle joined the Center for Community Engagement (CCE) team in November 2022, bringing with her 13 years of experience serving the California State University system (CSU). As an alumna of CSU, Los Angeles, she completed her undergraduate degree in Political Science and received a master's degree in Public Administration. Isabelle currently works as the Administrative Coordinator at the CCE, where she helps with the day-to-day administrative tasks that keep the center running smoothly.
She is passionate about enhancing educational access and improving the college experience through the exploration of different avenues.
Outside of work, Isabelle is a proud cat parent to her 13-year-old grumpy but loveable cat, Spaghetti. Isabelle enjoys spending her free time reading, watching bad TV, and crafting. She also loves to travel and explore new places. Isabelle is always looking for ways to learn and grow.
This position is currently vacant.
Contact: CCE-SL@csulb.edu
B’Jon Jones is the Community-Engaged Learning (CEL) Programs Assistant for the Center for Community Engagement (CCE) at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). In 2022 B'Jon became an alumna of CSULB, receiving her B.A in Journalism with a minor in Hospitality Management. While working towards her degree, she served as a Student Assistant for the CCE and became a Senior Student Lead for Service Learning. Before rejoining the CCE, she served as an Administrative Support Coordinator in the College of Education's Office of Clinical Practice. B'Jon is passionate about providing quality support and pushing the CCE's mission forward. Her favorite quote is, “The day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit.” (Fabienne Fredrickson)
Contact: Bjon.Jones@csulb.edu
Faculty Fellow
Dr. Sarah Taylor serves as a Faculty Fellow for the Center for Community Engagement (CCE) at California, State University Long Beach (CSULB). She has worked on various CCE projects, including the service learning curriculum design series, resources for service learning faculty, community-based research, and research on service learning and student success. Dr. Taylor received her PhD in Human Sciences from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She also earned a PhD minor in Women's and Gender Studies and a Graduate Certificate in Mixed Methods Research. Dr. Taylor's background includes work in community programming, where she has developed, delivered, and evaluated youth and family programs at the local, national, and international levels. As a family scientist, Dr. Taylor's work is rooted in strengths-perspective, which she applies to her work to bridge students, campus, and the community through the CCE.
Director, Academic Internships Office
Michelle brings a wealth of experience in academic internships, career services, and career counseling. Most recently, she served as the Internship Specialist in the College of Liberal Arts Dean's Office where she established and ran a successful college-wide internship program which now serves over 9,000 students. Through her efforts, she has bridged her student affairs and academic affairs experiences to help build our campus infrastructure for academic internships focusing on culturally inclusive programing. Prior to that, Michelle served as a member of CSULB's Career Development Center.
Additionally, she is the co-founder of the Long Beach Community Internship Program, whose mission is to provide access to and equitable participation in local, paid internships for students who are historically underrepresented. She currently is co-authoring a book with CSULB professors, Dr. Beth Manke and Dr. Bonnie Gasior; under contract with Routledge Publishing focused on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access (DEIA) approaches to internships in higher education. Furthermore, Michelle brings her knowledge in design thinking to her new role — she has been involved with the Stanford Design School and helped revamp Design Your Life activities for our campus' successful multi-million dollar academic internship program, College Corps @ the Beach.
Michelle received her BA in Social Ecology from the University of California, Irvine, and her MS in Counseling, specializing in Student Development in Higher Education from CSULB.
Contact: Michelle.Chang@csulb.edu
Senior Faculty Fellow, Internships
Dr. Manke has over 20 years of experience building institutional capacity at CSULB for equity-anchored undergraduate internship programming. As a faculty member, Dr. Manke served as coordinator for HDEV 470, the required internship course in Human Development, and directly supervised over 400 students in their internship placements. As Associate Dean for the College of Liberal Arts CSULB, she created a centralized internship office and a college-level internship course that now serves over 9,000 undergraduates from 25+ majors.
In 2021, she initiated the Long Beach Community Internship Program, a collaborative effort between CSULB, Long Beach nonprofits, city departments, and local businesses, which closes the loop on the Long Beach College Promise building a bridge back to the community for students to work, live, and thrive. Along with her Co-PI's Dr. Juan Benitez and Dr. Christine Whitcraft, Dr. Manke also leads the College Corps@the Beach program, a grant-funded internship program that places cohorts of 60 students each year with local nonprofits to address three foci: environmental sustainability/climate change, food insecurity, and K-12 education.
Dr. Manke received her B.S. in Child Development and Family Studies from the University of Arizona and her masters and Ph.D. in Human Development from the Pennsylvania State University.
Contact: Beth.Manke@csulb.edu
Kristal Domme is the Internship Program Assistant for College Corps@the Beach and the Long Beach Community Internship Program, two campus-wide paid academic internship programs housed in the Academic Internships Office. Kristal is an alumna of CSULB, graduating with a degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice in 2021. As a student, Kristal had the privilege of participating in the Long Beach Community Internship Program, completing a semester-long internship with Transformational Living Homes, where she acquired hands-on experience working with local community organizations while deepening her understanding of her education and personal interests. This firsthand experience allowed her to gain a unique perspective on the transformative power of internships in shaping one's career trajectory and ignited a profound passion for implementing equity-anchored programs to ensure that historically marginalized students have access to high-impact internships. Currently, Kristal leverages her unique perspective as a former student and Long Beach Community Internship Program participant, as she supports the professional and personal development of students participating in the Long Beach Community Internship Program and College Corps@the Beach.
Contact: kristal.domme@csulb.edu
