Campus Compact enthusiastically welcomes Danielle Leek as its Director of Professional Learning. Leek is currently Associate Professor in the School of Communications at Grand Valley State University, where she is also Executive Director of the Speech Lab Communication Center. Leek has extensive experience creating engaged learning experiences, building and administering academic and co-curricular programs, and fostering the development of multi-institutional partnerships.

At Campus Compact, Leek will lead the development and implementation of a new professional certification for higher education community engagement professionals. She will also oversee Campus Compact’s new partnership with Stylus Publishing to provide leading-edge publications for the field, Campus Compact’s online learning resources, and the annual survey of Campus Compact member institutions.

At Grand Valley, Leek has served in a variety of leadership positions, including Associate Director and Director of Planning and Assessment in the School of Communications. She has also directed a study abroad program in London.

Leek is a national leader in high school and college debate. For nine years, she was Program Director for the highly regarded summer high school debate institute at Northwestern University. She is a past president of the National Debate Tournament, the collegiate debate championship, and has served as tournament coordinator and Treasurer for the organization.

Leek has a long history of developing and teaching courses integrating student civic engagement. In 2009, she was the winner of Michigan Campus Compact’s Faculty Community Service Learning Award.

“In order to advance higher education’s contribution to democracy, we at Campus Compact believe the practice of community engagement professionals must constantly be elevated,” said Campus Compact president Andrew Seligsohn. “Danielle Leek brings an extraordinary combination of experience, intellect, commitment, and energy to the task. She believes deeply in the role of higher education in building civic capacity, and her track record makes a compelling case that she will contribute mightily to Campus Compact’s achievement of our mission.”

“I am delighted to be joining the Campus Compact team,” Leek stated. “My mission is to guarantee that every college and university student has opportunities for vibrant civic engagement learning during their academic career. I have been working to make that happen in my research and teaching, through academic programming, and with leadership positions in national speech and debate organizations. I look forward to bringing this experience to all our Campus Compact members”

“Danielle is a fantastic person with boundless enthusiasm and energy,” said Sherry Hall, past President of the National Debate Tournament Board of Trustees. “During her tenure as the treasurer of the National Debate Tournament, she brought our finances into the 21st century.”

“As an educator and researcher, Dr. Leek has been a passionate advocate of the skills that enhance excellent teaching and learning, including vital work in the areas of effective assessment, innovative advising, and civic and political engagement through service learning,” said Anthony Thompson, Professor and former Director of the School of Communications at Grand Valley State University. “She represents the ideal of the public intellectual in service to others.”

Leek will relocate from her current position at Grand Valley State University to Boston this January to join the Campus Compact team in a full-time capacity.

Campus Compact is a national network of colleges and universities dedicated to advancing the public purpose of higher education by deepening institutions’ ability to improve community life and to educate students for civic and social responsibility. Campus Compact comprises a national office based in Boston, MA, and 33 state and regional affiliates.