Explore the Neighborhood Speakers

Dr. Chadwick Allen

Professor, University of Washington

Chadwick Allen is Professor of English and Adjunct Professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Washington, where he also serves as the Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement. Author of the books Blood Narrative: Indigenous Identity in American Indian and Maori Literary and Activist Texts, Trans-Indigenous: Methodologies for Global Native Literary Studies, and Earthworks Rising: Mound Building in Native Literature and Arts, he is a former editor of the journal Studies in American Indian Literatures and a past president of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association.

Dr. Troy Hicks

English Professor, Central Michigan University

Dr. Troy Hicks collaborates with K–12 colleagues to explore how they implement newer literacies in their classrooms. He currently serves as Chair of the Department of Teacher and Special Education. He directs the Chippewa River Writing Project, a site of the National Writing Project, and teaches masters and doctoral courses in educational technology. Recently, he has served as the leader of a Teaching with Primary Sources grant through the Library of Congress, and as a co-editor of the Michigan Reading Journal. 

Since beginning work at CMU in 2007, he has earned numerous distinctions including the Michigan Council of Teachers of English Charles Carpenter Fries Award (2008), CMU’s Provost’s Award for junior faculty who demonstrate outstanding achievement in research and creative activity (2011), the Richard A. Meade Award for scholarship in English Education (2014), the Michigan Reading Association’s Teacher Educator Award (2018), CMU’s Excellence in Teaching Award (2020), and the Initiative for 21st Century Literacies Research’s Divergent Award for Excellence (2020). 

In 2019, Hicks earned recognition as an ISTE Certified Educator, in 2021 he took a facilitation certification course in digital storytelling through Story Center. He consults regularly with a number of educational companies and non-profit organizations. Of note, he is a regular presenter at the annual conventions for the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the International Literacy Association (ILA), and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). Dr. Hicks has authored dozens of books, articles, chapters, blog posts, and other resources broadly related to the teaching of literacy in our digital age. Follow him on Twitter: @hickstro

Dr. Brad Lepper

Senior Archeologist, Ohio History Connection’s World Heritage Program

Brad Lepper is a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology at Denison University. He is the principal author of Ohio Archaeology: an illustrated chronicle of Ohio's ancient American Indian cultures, published in 2005 by Orange Frazer Press, Wilmington, Ohio. The book received the Society for American Archaeology's Public Audience Book Award in 2007. His research has encompassed more than 14,000 years of Ohio’s Indigenous history, but has been focused on the monumental earthworks of the Hopewell culture. Next month, eight of their most magnificent and best preserved earthworks will be considered for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Flannery Rokeby-Jackson

Community Resource Developer, CRIS

Flannery Rokeby-Jackson works as the Community Resource Developer with Community Refugee and Immigration Services, a local refugee resettlement agency in Columbus, Ohio. She worked in different roles within refugee resettlement in Jordan, Morocco, and North Carolina before moving to Columbus in 2020. 

Cheri Russo

WOUB Community Engagement Manager, WHO Lies Beneath Podcast Host

Cheri worked as a commercial TV journalist before moving to the WOUB Public Media newsroom in 2004. After working on several historical documentaries and completing her master’s degree while working as the WOUB News Managing editor for eight years, she moved into the Marketing and Communications Manager role at Ohio University Lancaster. Cheri truly enjoyed working with the faculty and students at OUL. In 2015, Cheri accepted the role as the Director of Marketing and Public Relations at Ohio State Newark/Central Ohio Technical College and eventually moved in a position as a Marketing Strategist on the Ohio State main campus in Columbus. In 2019, Cheri came back home to WOUB, as Community Engagement Manager and last year started co-producing and hosting the WHO Lies Beneath podcast.

Dr. Alex Wesaw

Treasurer, Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians and Director, American Indian Relations Division, Ohio History Connection

Dr. Alex Wesaw is a citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians (federally recognized in Michigan and Indiana), where he serves as the elected Treasurer of the Tribal Council, Treasurer of the Tribe’s gaming enterprise (Four Winds Casino Resorts), and is the Chairman of the Pokagon Development Authority, an economic development arm of the Band. Dr. Wesaw serves nationally as a board member of the Indian Gaming Association, a board member of the National Indian Child Welfare Association, and a delegate to the National Congress of American Indians. In 2022, Dr. Wesaw was recognized as one of 40 leaders under 40 years old in the United States by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development.

Additionally, Dr. Wesaw is also the Director of the American Indian Relations Division at the Ohio History Connection managing the relationships between the organization and more than 45 federally recognized tribes with connection to the lands now known as Ohio.

Finally, Alex holds a PhD in City & Regional Planning from The Ohio State University, a master’s degree in public administration from Ohio University, and a bachelor’s degree in communication also from Ohio University.