SEFLIN 2021 Spring Meeting of Membership Council

May 13, 2021 10:00am -
May 13, 2021 12:00pm

Event Type: Meeting

Speaker Information

Caryn Lavernia, Assistant Vice President, FIU Office of Engagement

About Caryn
Caryn Lavernia joined the Florida International University Engagement team in August 2015 as Assistant Vice President to continue the university’s legacy of creating triple win partnerships that benefit the community, public and private enterprise, and FIU. Prior to this role, she helped lead City Year Miami from its founding in 2008 through years of exponential growth and major leadership transitions. Caryn served overseas as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Vanuatu for three years prior to her time at City Year. A Miami native, Caryn invests the majority of her time in the city that raised her. She is the Vice President of the Board of the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of South Florida and also serves as the Development Chair for Genesis Hopeful Haven, a program that supports children in the child welfare system in Miami. Caryn is a member of Connect Florida Class VIII, Miami Fellows Class VIII, and is a two-time Panther having earned her Master’s in Public Administration from FIU’s Green School of International & Public Affairs and her Bachelor in Science from the Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management.

Umer Rahman, Program Director, FIU Urban Potential Laboratories

About Umer
Umer Rahman is leading the implementation of FIU’s workforce development initiative, Urban Potential Labs (UP Labs). This program prepares underemployed, non-BA residents for middle-skills careers in high demanding industries. The idea is to bring together industry partners with FIU’s dynamic pool of faculty and cross-units collaboration and provide ‘just in time’ workforce (South Florida residents) for everchanging job market. Umer brings over six years of robust experience within higher education administration, where he led FIU’s Honors College mission to foster creative programming initiatives that enhance student engagement through workshops, lecture series, community outreach, volunteering, living-learning community, and student organizations. He has published and presented his research within the higher education circles on topics of student retention, curricular and co-curricular programming, innovative pedagogies, and student success models. Umer holds a Bachelors of Arts (Phi Beta Kappa – Summa Cum Laude) in International Relations and Geography and Master's of Arts in Asian Studies from FIU. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in International Relations at FIU with a focus on Modern South Asian history and historiography; security studies, postcolonial theory and transcultural studies. His primary research emphasis is on Pakistan and the multiplicity of identities and narratives of existence in modern times. Umer has taught undergraduate courses at FIU’s Honors College where he was inducted as a fellow in 2014. He has also taught courses through Asian Studies Program and School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA).

Vanessa Valdes, Program Coordinator, FIU Urban Potential Laboratories

About Vanessa
Vanessa Valdes is the Program Coordinator for Urban Potentials Laboratory (UP Labs) at FIU's Office of Engagement. UP Labs focuses on meeting the ever changing needs in the labor market by engaging non-traditional and Pell-grant eligible learners in a 14-week program designed to prepare learners for middle-skills jobs in the health care industry. In her role, Vanessa works alongside the Office of Engagement team to build this first of its kind program. Prior to working for FIU's Office of Engagement, Vanessa served as the Client Relationship Manager for Florida Roofing, Inc. Vanessa earned her Bachelors in Business Administration with a major in finance and a minor in business analytics from FIU.