MEET THE CLC STAFF
DIRECTOR
Tobi Jacobi is a composition and literacy specialist in the CSU English Department and the current director of the Community Literacy Center. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in public writing, composition and literacy theory, critical pedagogy, and prison writing.
Her passion for writing, teaching, and learning is driven by a deep respect for the role of community in our lives and a commitment to understanding and advancing the role of writing and literacy in the world. Her research explores the relationship between literacy, representation, and social change and has included projects ranging from interviews with incarcerated women writers to pop-up museums featuring archival materials from an early twentieth century training school for girls. Recent scholarship on prison literacy and community writing appears in journals such as Reflections, Community Literacy Journal, The Journal of Correctional Education, Feminist Formations, and Radical Teacher and in edited collections. Her co-edited book Women, Writing, and Prison came out in 2014, and she is currently working on a collaborative literacy remix project that blends contemporary pedagogy with archival prison texts.
For her, work with the Community Literacy Center interns and community writers represents literacy in action, a concrete way to enact a commitment to challenging the uneven power relations that attempt to “fix” the life experiences of some people through limited access to education. Like Bell Hooks, Adrienne Rich, and Gloria Anzaldua before her, she believes that language has the power to cause ruptures, pain, joy, and hope-and that our work at the Center can contribute to moving literacy beyond pages with red marks.
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
Mary Ellen Sanger is the Associate Director of the Community Literacy Center since 2015. She has been leading creative writing workshops since 2005 in New York City and Fort Collins, with a focus on under-represented communities. She lived in Mexico for 17 years, and has published short stories, creative nonfiction and poetry in Spanish and English in Mexico, the US and online. Mary Ellen has been a member of the fiction and poetry committees for the PEN Prison Writing Program, and was a post-production coordinator for the Emmy award-winning Mexican documentary “Presunto Culpable” (Presumed Guilty). Her book “Blackbirds in the Pomegranate Tree: Stories from Ixcotel State Prison” relates stories of the women she met when she was unjustly incarcerated in Mexico. That experience has led her to work closely with confined populations.
2022-2023 INTERN PHOTOS AND BIOS!
Constance Davis
Constance Davis is a graduate of Colorado State University majoring in Ethnic Studies with a concentration in Sociology. Concentrating her school work within the realms of ethnic studies and sociology, she has expanded her skills of critical analysis in the subjects of psychology and criminal justice, where her interests are most prevalent.
She is a First Generation Student who also spent time in Key Communities in Leadership, TRIO Upward Bound, and other volunteer experiences around the US. An avid writer, Constance enjoys poetry, mystery and children's literature. Besides writing, her passions include snowboarding, golfing, photography and traveling.
Constance loves to be involved in helping the community for the greater good. She aims to aid others in finding the inspiration and motivation to do the things that brings warmth to their souls, because life is too short to do anything ordinary.
Grace Dotson
Grace Dotson is a third year sociology student concentrating in criminology. During her time at CSU she has loved volunteering as a College of Liberal Arts ambassador and at SpeakOut! Grace has a passion for people and feels incredibly lucky to be spending her last year at CSU connecting with others through the Community Literacy Center. After graduation, Grace plans to attend law school in hopes of being a public defender. When she is not working on school, Grace enjoys playing the guitar, reading, painting and enjoying the beauties of Colorado.
Mia Manfredi
Mia Manfredi is a fourth-year student at CSU. She has a major in English with a concentration in Creative Writing and a minor in Sociology with a concentration in Criminology. Mia is an aspiring writer, artist, and activist. She enjoys writing and reading YA fiction, painting, drawing, and collaging. She is very passionate about women’s rights, educational equity, environmental justice, and economic justice.
Mia loves to spend as much quality time as she can with her friends and family, preferably outdoors, picnicking, hiking, or camping. Mia has worked to advocate for social change through a variety of volunteer programs, and she is extremely excited to continue doing so through her internship at the Community Literacy Center. She believes that human connection is the first step to creating change. Being able to collaborate and communicate with others through a shared admiration for writing, reading, and creating art is a beautiful thing and must be celebrated!
Ainhoa Palacios
Ainhoa Palacios is a fiction candidate in the MFA program at Colorado State University, as well as a graduate teacher for the English department. She enjoys writing fiction, and creative nonfiction and has been published in journals like Lumiere Review, Somos En Escrito, and Sunspot Literary Journal. Her stories are often themed around Latinx characters, and the displacement commonly felt by immigrants and children of immigrants.
She is incredibly excited to write with the community through the internship at Community Literacy Center. She believes storytelling has the power to heal, connect, and bridge gaps between different communities.
When not writing or reading, Ainhoa can be found with her dogs—a wild-eyed husky and a three-legged miniature pinscher.
Tanya Sopkin
Tanya Sopkin is a student at Colorado State University majoring in Sociology and Creative Writing. They enjoy writing poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction and have been published in the Honors Spiritus Mundi literary magazine. One of Tanya's favorite parts of creative writing is working with others and seeing the art they create, and Tanya hopes to spread the love of writing with others, as not only is it therapeutic, but it is also a unique form of self-expression. In their free time, Tanya loves reading, climbing, biking, and hanging out with friends.
Tanya is originally from Aurora, Colorado, where they spent a lot of time volunteering with the unhoused population, and they hope to continue to do more work advocating for marginalized communities. Tanya hopes to use their majors for education or social work in the future.
Nick Page: Work Study Student
Nick Page is a first year student at Colorado State University studying sociology with a focus in criminology. He’s working at the CLC on a work study award, taking care of general office duties and assisting the director/assistant director with their duties. Nick was drawn to the work study position because of the CLC’s work with the Larimer County Jail, and his interests in criminology.
In his free time, Nick enjoys hanging out with friends, making and listening to music, and video games. Nick has a passion for content creation and also does personal projects in the social media space, as well as helping his friends with films and videos. Nick loves getting to know people, and also enjoys spending his time helping others. Nick hopes to go into a position focused on criminology in the law enforcement, research, and legal fields to help people.