Dan received his Bachelor of Arts in Urban and Public Affairs with a minor in Urban Planning and Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago. During college, Dan interned with 41st Ward Alderman Mary O’ Conner, where he worked on zoning and land use projects; Norwood Park Chamber of Commerce, where he worked in economic development planning; and Michael Schubert Consulting, where he created professional-quality maps and used ArcGIS to perform spatial analysis. With his Bachelor’s degree completed, Dan comes to the RARE AmeriCorps Program hoping that it will help him leave his comfort zone of Chicago and allow him to gain hands-on experience to help him assist communities. After his year with RARE, Dan plans to stay in Oregon to find a meaningful and long-term career.
About Marion County Community Services Dept.
The Marion County Community Services Dept. promotes safe and successful children, youth, families and communities through a range of programs and services. The department supports community-based programs that teach effective life and family management skills, promote healthy, pro-social youth development, and provide education and applied research in support of agriculture, forestry enterprises, natural resources and related workforce development within Marion County.
Dan is serving with Marion County Community Services Dept., where he will assist with leading the organization through a community engagement process that will help determine local workforce readiness. Dan will work to identify employment opportunities and skills needed; coordinate local resources that are available to support, address or align efforts that bring the supply and the demand together; and establish a sustainability plan that ensures the project would successfully continue beyond RARE’s involvement. Additionally, Dan will assist three rural communities in connecting to and using Marion County Community Services’ recently created Community Resource Network.