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. 

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.

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.