Speakers and Biographies
Cammie Jones-Friedrichs, Director of the Carnegie Elective for Community Engagement, Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education
Cammie, who is originally from Dallas, TX, has spent over 16 years in higher education and nonprofit leadership, continually paving the way for social justice and civic engagement. She is a first-generation college student with a B.S. in Kinesiology from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.A. in Higher Education Administration from Louisiana State University A&M. Cammie has devoted her life to service and leadership, sitting on various boards and committees for local NGOs and collecting multiple awards for her contributions to higher education and community engagement. She was recently appointed to the board of directors of the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE) where she is the Special Programming Co-chair, participates in AACU’s Global Learning Conference Planning Committee and is the Civic Engagement Chair of the Westchester Black Women’s Political Caucus. She also serves on the Sister to Sister International, Inc. Steering Committee.
Cammie has garnered multiple honors for her civic engagement and community development leadership. She was named to the Chamber Foundation Inc.’s 2021 ATHENA Award, as well as the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce’s 2012 Forty Under 40 Class. Other honors include the N4A 2014 Professional Promise Award for Region 1, the AWCC 2017 Forty Under 40 Class, and the Arc of Dutchess 2017 Peggy Martinko Community Trailblazer Award.
Sheila Martin, PhD, Vice President for Public Affairs and Chief of Staff, Portland State University
Martin was a member of the PSU faculty from 2004-2018 in the School of Urban Studies and Planning. During her time at PSU, she was also the director of the Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies and the Population Research Center. She has a Doctorate of Philosophy in Economics from Iowa State University; a Master’s of International Studies from University of Kentucky; and a Bachelor’s of Arts in Economics and Political Science from Southern Illinois University. Martin is the founder and principal of Triple Helix Partnerships, LLC, and is highly regarded in the region and internationally for developing strategic economic and community initiatives that engage with higher education.
She is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC) and, from 2018-2021, was the Vice President for Economic and Community Engagement at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities. On her day off, she likes to bike around the D.C. region and then cook a great meal. She also loves the DC music scene, especially the great roots music.
Sharon Paynter, PhD, Chief Innovation and Engagement Officer, Interim Chief Research Officer, East Carolina University
Dr. Paynter received a BS in Biology and MPA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, MS in Legal Administration from the University of Denver, PhD in Public Administration from North Carolina State University, and completed postdoctoral training at Brown University.
Dr. Paynter’s scholarly activities and publications span across the disciplines of public policy, public administration, innovation, entrepreneurship, and community-engaged scholarship. She has received over $4.4 million in grants and contracts from diverse sources, including federal, state, and private sponsors. The funding has supported more than 250 assistantships for undergraduate and graduate students at ECU.
As assistant vice chancellor for community engagement and research, Dr. Paynter implemented faculty development programs to build interdisciplinary collaborations and partnerships. Programs such as the Engagement and Outreach Scholars Academy, institution-wide symposia on innovation, faculty writing retreats, an annual bus tour of eastern North Carolina, and workshops on topics including grant writing and publishing engaged scholarship have connected faculty with community partners and extramural sponsors. Since 2016, grants and contracts to ECU for community engaged research and creative activities have grown from $7 million a year to nearly $40 million in 2021.
Dr. Paynter has been a strong advocate for ECU at the national level. Under her leadership, the university was designated as an Innovation and Economic Prosperity University by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), maintained its Carnegie elective classification for Community Engagement, and received recognition as a national finalist for the C. Peter Magrath Community Engagement award in 2016, 2017, and in 2021 as exemplar university for community engagement scholarship by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Fewer than 50 campuses nationwide hold both the APLU and Carnegie designations, which signals the depth of structure, focus, strategic direction, and scholarly work anchored in mutually beneficial partnerships with industry and the public sector. Dr. Paynter currently serves as the vice chair for the Council on Economic and Community Engagement and serves on the Board of Directors for APLU.