Dr. Kara Dillard comes to the Madison Center for Civic Engagement with 15 years of experience researching, teaching and professional practice in the deliberative democracy and public engagement fields. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication Studies and is a Co-Director at the Institute for Constructive Advocacy and Dialogue.

Dr. Dillard's current research focuses on innovations in civic-oriented design-built technology, specifically examining the behavioral and attitudinal effects of facilitated public deliberative dialogue in online spaces. Her research has been featured in Journal of Applied Communication Research, Journal of Political Science Education, and the International Journal of Communication. She’s given invited talks on facilitation and innovations in student online deliberation for Campus Compact, International Association for Public Participation, National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation, and the popular international podcast Facilitating Public Deliberations. She serves as a curriculum program coach and in assessment design for the Interactivity Foundation’s Collaborative Discussion certificate program. Most recently, she built large-scale data visualizations as part of the City of Harrisonburg’s recent $23 million pandemic relief fund public input process, making data about civic engagement transparent and actionable.

She holds B.A. and M.A. degrees in communication studies and earned a PhD in political and rural sociology from Kansas State University. Outside of the office, Kara is an avid runner, sports enthusiast, sometimes cyclist, and mom to two kids and a dog. She moved to Harrisonburg after living almost all of her life west of the Rocky Mountains. 

Angelina has extensive experience in nonpartisan civic engagement and education, voting rights, election administration, and civic technology and policy. Most notably, she worked at the Center for Civic Engagement as an undergraduate and graduate student, where she led multiple programs, events, and contributed to impactful communication campaigns aimed at increasing civic participation on campus. Thanks to her unwavering efforts and commitment to nonpartisan civic engagement, James Madison University saw over a 20% increase in the student voter turnout rate during her time as a student. After she graduated from JMU, she worked for nonpartisan pro-election related groups in Washington D.C.. Her work focused on strengthening the public’s trust and knowledge in our election administration system, including fostering and growing multiple coalitions of election administrators and Chief Election Officials from across the country. 

Angelina has also contributed to multiple presentations, publications, and has won awards for her work, including presentations at the Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement conference about her work on civic learning and fostering deliberative dialogues to bridge political divides and differences and at conferences for election administration officials. Her work on fostering student participation in election administration has been published in Political Science Today. 

Angelina received her B.A. in Political Science and her Master of Public Administration from James Madison University. During her time in graduate school, she was awarded the Public Service Student Leadership Award and the Outstanding Student Award, both a demonstration of her high academic achievements and her legacy and leadership in advancing the public good by creating opportunities for campus and community civic participation.

In her free time, Angelina enjoys reading, gardening, trying new recipes, and exploring her home state of Virginia with her dog and family.

Logan is the program coordinator for the Madison Center where she supports the mission and programming of the department. She is a graduate of Mary Baldwin College (now University) where she studied International Relations. Logan previously worked in JMU Student Affairs within the University Career Center (UCC), where she provided guidance on recruiting best practices to students and employers. During her time at the Madison Center, Logan has been vital in developing highly effective administrative processes for the Better Conversations Together initiative and the Institute for Civic Studies and Learning for Democracy international summit, media strategies for telling the Madison Center's story, and programming related to asking all 22,000 JMU students to register and vote. Logan is an advocate for accessible and inclusive practices at JMU. She received the College of Arts and Letters Staff Recognition Award in spring 2022.

A recent graduate from James Madison University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a minor in Civic Leadership, Emma displays a strong passion for policy analysis, civic engagement, and sustainability. As Program Assistant, Emma works directly on civic engagement initiatives on campus. She will lead the Dukes Vote team, JMU’s student voting campaign, by organizing events like voter registration tabling, classroom visits, and election week programming. Emma will also be collaborating with our Democracy Fellows to help students stay informed and engaged in the democratic process.

Aidan is the Better Conversations Post-Graduate Fellow. He earned his B.S. in Communication Studies from James Madison University with a concentration in Advocacy Studies and a minor in Political Communication. Aidan was the recipient of the 2024 Advocacy Outstanding Student Award for his academic work and commitment to democracy. He previously worked as a Democracy Fellow for the Madison Center and Campus Vote Project and was also a Political Correspondent for Breeze TV, where he closely followed the 2021 Virginia Gubernatorial election.

Aidan is passionate about fostering an environment where people feel comfortable participating in civil dialogues and sharing their personal beliefs while still respecting the opinions of others. 

Regan Elmore is the Presidential Engagement Fellow for the Madison Center for Civic Engagement. She graduated in May 2025 from James Madison University with a B.A in Independent Scholars, with a concentration in East Asian Studies, as well as minors in Anthropology, Asian Studies and Honors Interdisciplinary Studies. Her focus this year is to inform, connect and help the JMU community to be educated on the work the Madison Center does in the form of high-quality social media posts, stories and videos. She looks forward to working closely with the undergraduates in her media team, gaining more experience with graphic design, and developing her leadership skills throughout the year in the various roles she is assigned. 

Kristina Nano is an International Ph.D. Student in Strategic Leadership Studies at James Madison University and the Senior Democracy Fellow at JMU’s Madison Center for Civic Engagement. Kristina received her Bachelor’s degree in Economy and her Master’s degree in Economic Development and International Economy. She also has experience in civic engagement and leadership within the nonprofit sector. Kristina has been serving as Executive Director of the Forum for Democracy and Ethics (FDE) in her country Albania, leading initiatives that have worked tirelessly for the advocacy and promotion of democracy, ethics and active citizenship across political and community divides.

Kristina’s doctoral research centers on transformational leadership in post-communist, post-war, and post-colonial contexts, with a particular focus on Albania. She is especially looking forward to digging even deeper into her research, engaging students and communities through the Madison Center’s programming and collaborative civic initiatives, and assisting in building the capacity for stronger democratic practices both at home and abroad this year.