The Engagement Scholarship Consortium (ESC) held its 25th International Conference, “Bridging Resources to Build Stronger Communities,” on Oct. 8 - 9, with pre-conference sessions on Oct. 6 - 7 in Roanoke, Virginia, hosted by Virginia Tech University. Lehigh joined ESC in 2024 and served as a co-hosting institution for the 2025 conference.
Lehigh’s delegation included Bill Whitney, assistant vice provost for experiential learning programs; Thaksheel Alleck ’25, IBE major; and three students from Global Social Impact Fellowship’s Mothers of Sierra Leone project team: Julia Killar ’27, Population Health major; Chloe Chan ’27, Behavioral Neuroscience major; and Madeline Boughner ’26, English major. In all, three accepted presentations were given by the Lehigh cohort. The group met with peers, shared practices, and gathered ideas to bring back to campus.
Whitney and Alleck led two sessions. One described Lehigh360’s approach to mapping and assessing high-impact practices so students can find the right programs faster. The other showed how the Lehigh360 initiative is utilizing generative AI tools to connect students with opportunities more efficiently, and provide an AI-assisted chatbot to help students identify programs that might be an ideal fit for them.
Reflecting on the program, Alleck said the event brought like-minded people and higher education institutions together.
“It was a very refreshing conference, everyone was truly trying their best to redefine the role of higher education institutions in their communities beyond just educating students,” he said. “The keynote, the presentations, the posters, all of them were answering that question in their own way.”
The Mothers of Sierra Leone team presented an interactive workshop, “Engaging Sierra Leonean Communities in Filmmaking to Improve Maternal Health.” Killar, Chan, and Boughner showed how community-made films share health messages, build trust, and lift local voices. The session named key barriers for women in Sierra Leone: limited health education, low trust, minimal support, and restrictive norms. It also gave examples of how their workshop content addresses these challenges and helps Sierra Leoneans make their own films and tell their own stories about maternity and motherhood.
Reflecting on the experience, Chan said preparing and presenting helped her reflect on the work from a different perspective.
“Listening to the questions that people had about our presentation allowed me to look at our project from a different perspective and look into potential directions our project could go towards that we haven't thought of before,” she said.
“Attending others' presentations at ESC has also taught me the importance of systems that facilitate the implementation of solutions,” Chan added.
Killar echoed that focus on learning and collaboration. “My ESC experience was enjoyable and insightful,” she said. “I learned how important it is to pay attention to others’ experiences and to work with people, rather than around them, to create sustainable change.”
“Lehigh benefits from the networking and professional development that ESC offers,” Whitney said. “We look forward to participating in next year’s conference, as well as continuing to take advantage of all the opportunities that ESC offers its member institutions.”