Team

Whitney Gherman is a Family Engagement Learning Coordinator with the Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center at The Ohio State University. In this role, she leads initiatives to develop and advance professional learning among schools, district leaders, and other family-facing professionals. With more than a decade of experience as an educator and advocate for youth and families, Whitney supports the Ohio Network of Partnership Schools through capacity-building efforts that help district and school leaders implement research-based family engagement practices.

Whitney holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan and is currently a Ph.D. student in Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University’s College of Education and Human Ecology. In 2021, she was recognized by Ohio’s Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Commission for her commitment to keeping Dr. King’s dream alive through nonviolent social change. Her work has been featured in publications such as Voyage Ohio Magazine and the textbook Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice: Building Social Work Practice Skills. She has also received local, state, and national awards for promoting diversity, and her peers describe her approach as “warm, open, and authentic.”

Outside of her professional work, Whitney enjoys exploring ancestry—a passion that deepens her understanding of identity and belonging—and spending time outdoors with her family, including her dog, cat, and backyard chickens.

Greg works with the Family Engagement Team to provide technology support like creating this website, editing and posting all webinars, and posting much of this website’s content. Greg has worked over 20 years at CETE sharing his technology expertise on many different state and federal projects.

He has many interests including wanting to implement VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality) in education. He has a BS in Aeronautical/Astronautical Engineering from The Ohio State University.

Wesley Owens is a Family Engagement Research Associate at the Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center. In his role, he leads and supports research-based professional development for out-of-school personnel and other family-facing professionals. In his professional career, Wesley has worked with youth and families in recreation, sports, and educational settings.

Wesley received a BA in Coaching and Management, and a MA in Sports Management, both from The Ohio State University. He received his licensure in Health Education and Physical Education from Otterbein University. Wesley comes to the Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center from a K-8 school in Columbus, OH, where he taught Physical Education for seven years and was the enrollment coordinator and community liaison for two years.

Wesley enjoys serving in his church, fitness and sports, outdoor activities, game nights with friends, and reading more books every year.

Dr. Fan Xu is a Senior Learning Designer at the Center on Education and Training for Employment, where she collaborates with the Family Engagement Team to design and implement research-driven learning experiences using interactive technologies for diverse learners. She leads the “Advancing AI Literacy for Families and Schools in Ohio” project, which aims to close the knowledge gap by developing accessible, comprehensive programs tailored for students, educators, and families statewide.

Fan holds a Ph.D. in Education Studies (Learning Technologies) from The Ohio State University and a Master’s in Information Technology in Education from The University of Hong Kong. Originally from Shandong, China, she now resides in Columbus, Ohio. In her free time, she enjoys painting, traveling, and capturing moments through photography with her antique film camera.

Amy Duncan, M.A. Ed., is a Graduate Research Associate working with the Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center at the Center on Education and Training for Employment (CETE) at the Ohio State University. She will be collaborating with Dr. Meredith Wellman to develop family engagement in literacy resources for K-12 students and their families. 

Amy Duncan is a literacy specialist, initially trained in the Orton-Gillingham approach. She received her training from the Dyslexia Training Institute and mentored under a veteran specialist for five years at a private literacy center. She received her Master’s in education and Ohio Intervention Specialist license and is now in her third year as a doctoral student at The Ohio State University. She is studying special education with a focus on improving teacher education and interventions for students with dyslexia. She is a board member for Central Ohio International Dyslexia Association, co-presented at the IDA conference in 2023, and at OSLHA in 2024. She was recently invited as a guest speaker for the School of Speech Podcast. Her current research interests include the dual encoding and automation of letter transcription with phonemes in kindergarten and the role of morphology in dyslexia interventions. 

Amy has an undergraduate degree in Environmental Science and loves the outdoors. She enjoys jogging, hiking, and walking her dogs. She also has a love for Bikram yoga and watching her sons play soccer and football.  

Hind Haddad is a dedicated educator, researcher, and community activist with a passion for promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion. Currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Higher Education and Student Affairs at The Ohio State University, Hind holds a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Ashland University and a Master’s degree in Islamic Studies from the University of Jordan. With over a decade of experience in teaching and education, Hind has worked with students of all ages, from preschool to higher education. She has taught Arabic language and culture, Islamic studies, and English as a second language. Her research focuses on the experiences of Muslim students and Arab females in higher education, exploring barriers and developing strategies to enhance support for these students.

As an emerging writer and presenter, Hind has published articles and presented at conferences on education-related topics, with a particular interest in addressing the digital divide in educational settings. She has also volunteered with various organizations to support teaching and community development. Hind has demonstrated leadership, communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills throughout her career. She is committed to creating inclusive learning environments and promoting social justice through education.

Outside of academia, Hind enjoys life with her husband and two children, exploring new travel destinations, hiking, and trying her hand at furniture restoration and baking.

Gahyun Park, M. A. is a Graduate Research Associate working with the Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center at the Center on Education and Training for Employment (CETE) at the Ohio State University. She has been collaborating with Dr. Barbara Boone to develop family engagement initiatives in mental health resources for K-12 students and their families.

Gahyun is a second-year Ph.D. student in the Counselor Education program at the College of Education and Human Ecology at the Ohio State University. Before joining OSU, she worked as a researcher, clinical mental health counselor, and mindfulness teacher. Her works have been published in counseling and psychology journals, covering topics such as social support, self-injury, and adverse/positive childhood experiences.

Her research interests center on children/adolescents’ mental health in both school and non-school settings, with a special focus on building strong positive childhood experiences. Gahyun is particularly interested in how families and schools can collaborate effectively to support these areas. She positions herself at the intersection of clinical mental health counseling and school counseling, aiming to bridge the two fields to benefit children/adolescents the most.

Gahyun is originally from South Korea. Outside of academia, she is a viola player and often performs on campus and in the local community.

Sangeun Lee, M.Ed, is a Graduate Research Associate at the Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center at the Center on Education and Training for Employment (CETE). In this role, Sangeun contributes in various ways, including data collection and analysis, providing technical support to schools, managing projects, and conducting research and evaluation across multiple initiatives. She has also worked with CETE’s Excellence in Engagement, and Evaluation program, where she helped develop a resource kit to enhance education for multilingual learners.

Sangeun is currently pursuing her PhD in Counselor Education at The Ohio State University. She earned her Master’s degree in Counseling from Korea University and has field experience as a counselor at Korea University, a Youth Counseling and Welfare Center in Seoul, and in schools in Ohio. Sangeun has published articles in counseling and psychology journals and has presented at national conferences on topics such as hope, family engagement, adverse childhood experiences, and school counseling. Her research aims to bridge the gap between school counseling practice and research by evaluating and enhancing school counseling programs. She is particularly interested in exploring adverse childhood experiences and strategies to mitigate their impact in schools.

Originally from Seoul, South Korea, Sangeun enjoys jigsaw puzzles and exploring different parks and cafes in Columbus.

Julie Planke, M.A., is a Graduate Research Associate at the Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center at the Center on Education and Training for Employment (CETE) at the Ohio State University. Julie supports the center’s work and various projects in diverse ways, including writing newsletters for educators and families, taking care of public inquiries, collaborating on project content development, writing research briefs, and more. 

Julie is a fourth-year Ph.D. Candidate in the Educational Psychology program at the College of Education and Human Ecology at the Ohio State University. Before joining OSU, she received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychobiology and Master of Arts in Psychology from the State University of New York at New Paltz. Julie’s passion for psychological science and education was further nurtured by her undergraduate students, both during her time as a graduate teaching assistant and as an adjunct professor at New Paltz. Also an avid researcher, Julie served as lab manager for several research labs during her time at New Paltz. She later translated her acquired skills in the nonprofit sector, supporting a human service and educational organization as a Data Analytics Specialist and Manager of Information Systems. Julie’s general research focuses on family-school engagement in early childhood education and its impacts on young children’s socioemotional development. Her work emphasizes the need for culturally responsive engagement practices that value and leverage families’ strengths. For her dissertation and in collaboration with her advisor, Dr. Laura Justice, and additional co-investigators at the Crane Center for Early Childhood Research and Policy at OSU, Julie is applying implementation science to better understand the effectiveness of a connection-focused intervention designed to support children’s transition from preschool into kindergarten. 

Outside of her work, Julie is a dedicated vinyasa yoga practitioner and poet, often finding that these passions support her work in unexpected ways. She loves spending time sitting outside with her husband and their mini poodle, Brady, and taking care of her bearded dragon, leopard gecko, and parakeets. 

Jiarui Xie is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Learning Technologies program at The Ohio State University and a graduate research associate at the Center on Education and Training for Employment, specifically the Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center. She works with Dr. Hadley Bachman on creating online learning modules for adults, developing accessible resources for educators and families, and supporting research projects and administrative tasks.

She holds a BS and a MSc in Educational Technology from Shaanxi Normal University, China. In 2018, she studied at the University of California, San Diego as an exchange student. The topics of her studies include asynchronous online discussion, teacher online training, rural education, deep learning, problem-solving, and learning analytics. Her current research interests include online teaching and learning, self-regulated learning, AI in education, and mixed research methods.

She is from Xi’an, China, and now lives in Columbus. She enjoys working out, cooking, hiking, and playing board games with friends.

Senay Daniel is a Marketing and Operations Specialist at the Ohio Statewide Family Engagement Center at the Center on Education and Training for Employment (CETE) at The Ohio State University. In Senay’s current work he supports and organizes marketing strategies that amplify CETE’s mission and offerings, and guides CETE’s outreach to educators and families through social media, conferences, and workshops. Senay is also involved with the day-to-day operations at CETE.

Senay started his career as a technology consultant at Ernst & Young (EY). Senay then accepted a fellowship with Venture For America, a nonprofit founded to empower recent graduates to build and work at startup companies in smaller, underinvested cities across the United States and accelerate entrepreneurship in these cities. Senay was placed at SmartLogic through Venture For America, a custom software development company where he collaborated to increase gender and racial diversity at the company through implementing a hiring approach that dramatically improved the diversity in the talent pools SmartLogic drew from. Senay then moved on to found several entrepreneurial and nonprofit ventures, including Autism In Color, a nonprofit dedicated to serving as a support group and resource center for young adults of color on the autism spectrum.

Born and raised in the Columbus area, Senay earned his Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration cum laude from Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business with a concentration in Management Information Systems. Senay is excited to return to his alma mater as a staff member at CETE and currently resides in Pickerington, Ohio.