The Empowerment, Leadership, and Mentorship (ELM) program aims to provide support for positive change of academic performance, leadership and the development of a conscientious community. Below you'll find our Academic Coaches and Certified Peer Mentors. You can reserve a 30 minute appointment with one of the coaches through this central booking website below. You must be signed into your @hawk.iit.edu email account to access the booking site.
Empowerment, Leadership and Mentorship Program
Meet the Team
Academic Coaches
Joseph P.R.O. Orgel
Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Professor of Biology and Biomedical Engineering
orgel@iit.edu
Sarah Coates
Academic Coach
Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program
scoates@hawk.iit.edu
Andrew De Leonardis, M.S.
Academic Coach
Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program
adeleonardis@hawk.iit.edu
Nisha Jagannathan
Academic Coach
Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program
njagannathan@hawk.iit.edu
Natalie Turchmanovych
Academic Coach
Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program
nturchmanovych@hawk.iit.edu
Christopher Gonzalez
Academic Coach
Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program
cgonzalez10@hawk.iit.edu
Isabel Quinones
Academic Coach
Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program
iquinones@hawk.iit.edu
Maria Izabel Lockwood
Academic Coach
Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program
mlockwood@hawk.iit.edu
Drawn primarily from highly recommended and qualified graduate students from the psychology department, the academic coaches treat the student seeking coaching with empathy and respect. They also treat them like athletes, in need of motivation and guidance to reach their academic goals. The coach meets one to one, follows up with the student and provides a continuity from peer-support to professional academic level peer-like support. The academic coaches instruct General Learning strategies and assist in developing and running the student worker training for: peer mentorship and learning strategies as part of the certified peer mentor program.
List of ELM Certified Peer Mentors
Alongside over 300 students, faculty and staff members who have been ELM trained through workshops, we have a developed a cadre of ELM Certified peer mentors who continue to engage with new inductees into the program and train future peer mentors on campus.
| Name | Title/Year | Faculty Staff | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jose A. Amezcua | BS Mechanical Engg. 26 | jamezcua1@hawk.iit.edu | Student |
| Samantha M. Blanchard | BS Mechanical Engg. 25 | sblanchard@hawk.iit.edu | Student |
| Cesar Cuevas | BS Computer Science, ME Structural Engg. 24 | ccuevas@hawk.iit.edu | Student |
| Melissa N. Gomez | BS Chemical Engg. 26 | mgomez16@hawk.iit.edu | Student |
| Rachel Hirsh | Director of Campus Life | rhirsh@iit.edu | Staff |
| Galilea Ines | BS Arch Bldg Sciences/Technology | gines@hawk.iit.edu | Student |
| Alexander R. Kern | BS Chemical Engg. 23 | akern@hawk.iit.edu | Student |
| Anisha Manivannan | FYE Mentor, RA, BS Chemical Engg. 25 | amanivannan@hawk.iit.edu | Student |
| Arlen Moller | Associate Professor of Psychology Undergraduate Program Director | amoller@iit.edu | Faculty |
| Andrea Ocampo | BS Computer Science 26 | aocampo3@hawk.iit.edu | Student |
| Derek A. Rhea | BS 25 | drhea@hawk.iit.edu | Student |
| Sean B. Straub | BS Elec. Engg.; Bus and E3 Minors 21 | sstraub1@hawk.iit.edu | Student |
| Henry A. White | Associate Academic Coach, FYE Mentor | hwhite8@hawk.iit.edu | Student |
| Diana Wu | BS Chemical Engg. | dwu30@hawk.iit.edu | Alumni |
| Diana Silvas | BS Information Technology and Management 21 | dsilvas@hawk.iit.edu | Student |
| Emylin Thomas | Associate Academic Coach, FYE Mentor and Resident Advisor | ethomas13@hawk.iit.edu | Student |
| Ed Zeifert | Head Baseball Coach | ezeifert@iit.edu | Staff |
| Meghan McCarthy | Head Women's Lacrosse Coach | mbrady2@iit.edu | Staff |
| Ethan K. Schreiber | BS Astrophysics 25 | eschreiber@hawk.iit.edu | Student |
| Nevin Abdelghani | BS Arch Bldg Sciences/Technology | nabdelghani@hawk.iit.edu | Student |
| Kristjan Gudmundsson | FYE Mentor, BS Biomedcl/ Medcl Engrg 25 | kgudmundsson@hawk.iit.edu | Student |
| Peter Kilpatrick | Provost | pkilpatrick@iit.edu | Leadership |
| Amit Thomas | Director of Human Resources | athomas18@iit.edu | Staff |
| Thy Nguyen | Associate Vice Provost, Career Services | tnguyen25@iit.edu | Leadership |