Our Staff
Gayle Hilleke
Executive Director
execdirector {at} kycompact(.)org
859-572-7634
Darlene Ryan
Finance Director, Operations Manager
darlene.ryan {at} kycompact(.)org
859-572-7837
In January, 2006, Gayle became the founding executive director of Kentucky Campus Compact (KyCC), the 31st state affiliate chapter of Campus Compact, a national coalition of over 1200 college and university presidents committed to the civic purposes of higher education. At KyCC, Gayle loves to brainstorm with faculty, students, and community partners to form creative partnerships that benefit the whole network. As an example, she worked with the University of Kentucky and other partners to create the annual Kentucky Hunger Dialogue. She also partnered with Berea College and Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority to create the Kentucky College Coaches AmeriCorps program.
Prior to moving to Kentucky, Gayle spent eight years in Washington D.C. at the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) where she served as an AmeriCorps program officer and as a project manager for a national assessment initiative, the State Administrative Standards project. Prior to working at CNCS, she was the first program officer of the Ohio state commission (Governor’s Community Service Council) from 1994-1997.
Gayle has over twenty-five years of experience in strengthening communities through work in nonprofits, educational institutions, and government agencies. Her focus is on using strength-based strategies in promoting community change and personal growth.
Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Gayle has a bachelor’s degree from Eastern Illinois University and a master’s degree in Organization Development from American University in Washington, D.C. She loves being outdoors hiking, canoeing and biking and is currently enrolled in a cooking class.
Darlene is the Business and Operations Officer for Kentucky Campus Compact. She is responsible for all budgeting, financial, administrative and personnel duties for KyCC. She has been at the Compact since 2011. Prior to working at KyCC, she was employed at Cincinnati Bell Telephone for 30 years. Darlene also spends her summers selling frozen margaritas at Riverbend, an outdoor concert venue in Cincinnati.
AMERICORPS PROGRAMS
Tori Vogelgesang
Director of Academic Engagement
tori.vogelgesang {at} kycompact(.)org
859-572-7812
Meg Stephenson
Director of Student Success
meg.stephenson {at} kycompact(.)org
859-572-7836
Wilson Mejia
Director of Community Impact
Wilson.Mejia {at} kycompact(.)org
859-572-5667
Tori Vogelgesang is Director of Academic Engagement at Kentucky Campus Compact. She has been doing community engagement in higher education since 2017. Prior to this role, she was the Director of Alumnae Engagement at her high school alma mater and has worked abroad as a field hockey coach in Durham, England at an independent co-educational day and boarding senior school. Tori received her Bachelor’s in Sociology from Wittenberg University, Master’s in Public Administration from Northern Kentucky University, and is a doctoral student at Northern Kentucky University. Her dissertation is on how participation in High Impact Educational Practices is related to students’ civic engagement outcomes at community colleges. Tori also teaches Nonprofit Management and First-Year Experience classes.
Working in the educational arena for the past twenty years has shown Meg that the practice of “education” offers a seemingly endless array of challenges. The programs she has directed, a Service Learning program at the University of Utah, a TRIO Project at the University of Idaho, and presently a mentorship program through Kentucky Campus Compact at Northern Kentucky University, have all focused on very different means to drive student success.
The Kentucky College Coaches Program takes advantage of peer mentors on college campuses who coach and guide those who typically come from families with limited incomes and modest educational resources. The benefits can be great, as the team is continually reminded of students who persist by using their inventive resourcefulness, despite their unique situations and unmet needs.
Meg received her undergraduate degree from McGill university in Montreal and spent two years with her husband in Peace Corps Mali, West Africa before receiving her graduate degree at the University of Idaho. When not working, she loves to explore the outdoors with her family, backpacking, camping and travelling, or simply working in her backyard with the garden, chickens and bees.
Wilson was born in the Dominican Republic and raised between Santo Domingo and New York City. Since completing his bachelor’s degree in History and Latin American Studies from City University of New York’s Lehman College, he has dedicated his efforts to helping eradicate educational inequities that disproportionally affect our communities of color. He began his professional career as a Teaching Fellow with Citizen Schools, and in 2015, he joined Teach for America and moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where he used his Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training to develop leadership skills and become a community advocate. As a graduate student in our Community & Social Change Master’s program, Wilson was part of a cohort that learned to combine theory with reflective practice to promote well-being among multicultural communities. His interest in the role that social identity plays in everyday interactions led him to work as a Graduate Assistant in the Office of Institutional Culture, where he played a crucial part in the development and implementation of the first intergroup dialogue course at the university.
Wilson joined the Kentucky Campus Compact as Director of Community Impact in July of 2019. In this current role, Wilson oversees the KyCC VISTA program and collaborates with community organizations and stakeholders to collectively strengthen communities across the Commonwealth.
Wilson has confessed to be addicted to bowling, and in his spare time he enjoys being part of the local bowling league. In addition to bowling, Wilson loves to spend time with family and friends.
Specialists
Kyle Dorriere
Recruiter
kyle.dorriere {at} kycompact(.)org
Kyle is a native of Northern Kentucky and grew up 5 minutes down the road from Northern Kentucky University. He went to Eastern Kentucky University for his Bachelor of Arts in French. He then received his Master’s in Public Administration from NKU in 2017. He has studied abroad twice: once to Paris and once to Austria. He has worked part time at the Skyline Chili in Highland Heights for over 10 years. He has previously worked as an EKU Guru, as a Floor Supervisor at the Aronoff Center for the Arts, and as a Patron Services Representative at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Before becoming the Recruiter/Member Coordinator for Kentucky Campus Compact he served as an AmeriCorps VISTA member with the office where he worked on STEM+ programming and a conference on service learning. In his current role as Recruiter/Member Coordinator he works with about 150 AmeriCorps members across three programs. In his free time he enjoys going to a weekly bar trivia, travelling, and going to the movies.
