Anchor Institutions Task Force (AITF)

Paul Sather Distinguished Director, University of Nebraska Omaha Service Learning Academy

Dr. Dierberger began her graduate work at an anchor institution and has never left. She has committed herself to a region and built authentic relationships that allow for deep trust and collaboration to innovate toward social change. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are important aspects of her approach. She listens to partners, goes into the community instead of requiring partners to come to campus, and builds priorities based on voices from the community. When working on priorities such as investing in disinvested, redlined spaces, she has included leaders from the local community in University of Nebraska Omaha initiatives. She has a long history of serving in community engagement roles in anchor institutions with increasing leadership and responsibility to set priorities, develop relationships, and assess the outcomes of these efforts.

During her AITF Fellowship, she will develop her understanding of how other anchor institutions and communities are approaching their goals. She is excited to build relationships that could foster research and scholarship in the anchor space. She is passionate not only about learning from others but also about sharing best practices and disseminating results across sectors to inspire new ways to increase community health.

Organizational Development Specialist, Main Line Health

Mr. Ireland has a unique blend of public and private industry experience working with new technologies, and project teams. As a small business owner, he partnered with Orga Systems (German microchip card manufacturer) to develop SmartCard solutions under the brand, “Community Federal Reserve”. This unique card-based loyalty program focused on encouraging low income and unbanked populations to access healthcare services via Federally Qualified Healthcare Centers in local neighborhoods. They were able to accumulate points from local businesses to offset their medical copayment cost.

As the President of a small healthcare consultancy Mr. Ireland led the team that designed, built and installed “Einstein at Enon,” a Convenient Care Clinic operated by Einstein Hospital inside the 15,000 member Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church. They also designed, built, and installed a similar clinic inside a Frederick, Maryland Walmart operated by My Healthy Access Inc. These ventures provided a wealth of experience in training, loyalty payment systems, project management, and healthcare technology.

Mr. Ireland later applied these skills in the public sector. Beginning as a Biology teacher he earned a series of promotions over a 20yr career to become a high school Principal for the Philadelphia School District. In his present position working with Main Line Health, he leads pipeline employment efforts, and creates sourcing strategies to identify unsourced diverse talent in alignment with Main Line’s long-term strategic plan.

Provost, Senior VP of Academic and Student Affairs

Dr. Paula O’Loughlin is the Provost and Senior Vice President at Augsburg University overseeing the academic affairs and student life divisions and serving as a strategic partner to the President and the other vice presidents in living out all facets of Augsburg's mission.

Paula comes to Augsburg University after six years serving as Provost and Dean of the Faculty at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. During her tenure at Coe, Paula also served as Chief Student Affairs Officer and Title IX coordinator between 2020-2022 and was actively engaged in the Cedar Rapids community serving on the boards of three local non-profit organizations as well as continuing her work with multiple national higher education boards. Prior to her time in Iowa, Paula spent her entire career in Minnesota higher education. She was on the faculty of the University of Minnesota (Morris campus) between 1996-2012 and spent four years (2012-2016) as Associate Provost and Dean of Arts and Humanities at Gustavus Adolphus College. Paula earned her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota and her B.A. in Government from Smith College. She is widely published and has been recognized for excellence in teaching, advising, leadership and scholarship throughout her career.

Director of Engaged Scholarship, Community Engagement and Inclusion, Department of Urban Studies, Barnard College

Dr. Mary Rocco is the Director of Engaged Scholarship and Community Engagement in the Office of Community Engagement and Inclusion at Barnard College. In that role she convenes campus and community partners to further opportunities for engaged teaching, learning and research toward public impact. Rocco leads the college’s local community engagement strategy through collaboration and partnership with local stakeholders and organizations across NYC. Her research interests include: city planning, and neighborhood development with specializations in the roles of philanthropic foundations, community economic development and shrinking cities. Her writing has appeared in the Journal of Urban Affairs, Planning Perspectives and elsewhere. Rocco is an affiliated faculty member in Urban Studies at Barnard + Columbia University and an Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Urban Policy and Planning, Hunter College-CUNY.