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(in the Hesburgh Center for International Studies on Notre Dame Avenue, where the Kroc and Kellogg Institutes are located)
Vice President of Field Operations
International Justice Mission
Make Your Path:
* Liz Mackenzie, Healthy Families, Center for Social Concerns
* Dory Mitros Durham, Indiana Legal Services, Inc.
* April Specht Redzic, United Way of Metropolitan Chicago
Follow Your Passion:
* Sean Litton, International Justice Mission
* Andrew Lynn, Make a Difference Michiana
* Angela Smith Cobb, Allstate’s Civic and Cultural Affairs
Dessert & Coffee Provided
Sean Litton ('97 JD) serves as the Vice President of Field Operations for International Justice Mission. IJM is an international human rights agency that rescues victims of violence, sexual exploitation, slavery and oppression. Based on referrals from relief and development agencies around the world, IJM conducts professional investigations of abuses and mobilizes intervention on behalf of the victims.
Mr. Litton received a B.S. in Business Administration from Miami University and a J.D. from the University of Notre Dame Law School. Before attending law school, Mr. Litton worked with Young Life and served as associate pastor for Youth at Christ Church in Roswell, New Mexico, for four years. Following graduation from law school in 1997, Mr. Litton spent three years as an associate with the law firm of Kirkland & Ellis in Washington, DC.
Mr. Litton joined International Justice Mission in September 2000 and moved to the Philippines for the purpose of establishing an IJM office in Manila. Mr. Litton served as director of the office until transitioning to national leadership at the beginning of 2003.
Upon leaving the Philippines, Mr. Litton assumed leadership of International Justice Mission’s ongoing work in Thailand. Based in Chiang Mai, IJM Thailand is deeply involved in efforts to bring rescue to the victims of sex trafficking and tangible accountability to traffickers. Mr. Litton was soon promoted to director of operations for Southeast Asia and was responsible for developing casework strategies and advocating with local and national authorities. His work in Southeast Asia supported the enforcement of an array of national laws and international legal principles on the continent and has helped rescue victims from a variety of injustices, including violence, unprosecuted sexual violence, abuse of children, police misconduct and sexual exploitation.
While working for IJM, Mr. Litton has led and participated in investigations leading to the arrest and prosecution of over 50 suspected traffickers and rapists and the rescue of over 200 women and children from sexual exploitation. Last year, investigations conducted by IJM’s Southeast Asia offices led to the rescue of 221 women and children trapped in sexual slavery, the arrest of 58 suspected traffickers, and the trial and conviction of 30 more.
As Vice President of Interventions, Mr. Litton currently directs IJM’s casework operations around the world including Latin America, Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia, developing intervention strategies and advocating with local and national authorities.
Article in ND Magazine on Sean Litton
Angela Smith Cobb ('93) is responsible for Allstate’s Civic and Cultural Affairs in Chicago. In this role, Ms. Cobb directs Allstate’s community investments, working with The Allstate Foundation as well as other corporate functions to strengthen support of Chicago’s cultural and civic institutions. Angela joined Allstate in 2005 to create and lead The Allstate Foundation’s Domestic Violence Program, an initiative that seeks to create a holistic network of programs and services – focused on economic self-sufficiency – to empower domestic violence survivors and their advocates. Prior to joining Allstate, Angela was Business Development Director for Monster’s Diversity and Inclusion division. During her tenure Monster revamped its diversity product line and formed a key strategic partnership. As a result, the division doubled its revenue and customer base. Angela has nearly fifteen years of experience in the areas of recruiting, diversity, community development, corporate philanthropy and change management. Her experience includes serving as Program Director for the ATHENA Foundation and working in various capacities at Deloitte, an international professional services firm. Her roles at Deloitte included work in the firm’s change management consulting practice and managing the firm’s diversity and community outreach programs. As Diversity Manager, she worked with the firm’s senior leadership to implement firm wide diversity initiatives, including conducting a diversity environmental assessment, enlisting leadership support, developing strategies and measurement systems, and designing and implementing minority recruitment programs. As Manager of Community Outreach Programs, Angela was responsible for managing record-breaking national, local, and regional United Way campaigns and other outreach activities. She also supported Deloitte’s former Chairman and CEO, in his role as Chairman of the United Way of America Board of Governors. Angela joined Deloitte in 1993 as an Audit Associate in the Cincinnati office and transitioned to the national recruiting staff 1995.
Angela completed a term as a Trustee of the University of Notre Dame in Spring of 2002. She also served as a member of the Advisory Council for the University’s Mendoza College of Business from 1996-1999 and from 2002-2005. Angela is also an Alumni Interviewer for the Kellogg School of Management.
Mrs. Cobb is a 2000 graduate of Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management where she received an M.B.A. in Organizational Behavior and Strategy. Angela is a 1993 graduate of the University of Notre Dame where she received a B.B.A. in Accounting. She is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Ohio.
April Specht Redzic ('08 MNA) is director of public relations for United Way of Metropolitan Chicago. As PR director of one of the major United Ways in the country, she serves as a spokesperson for the organization, handles media relations and leads its corporate communications initiatives.
Previously, April served as director of communications for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago. She handled public relations, marketing and crisis communications for the $170-million agency. She spearheaded the public relations efforts around Catholic Charities’ St. Leo project, the first of five national pilot projects selected by the White House to battle the increasing issue of homelessness among veterans.
Prior to her role as communications director at Catholic Charities, April served as editor of Catholic Charities’ Spirit Magazine and interned at the Chicago Sun-Times, where she handled the newspaper’s marketing efforts for Cows on Parade.
April is past president and a current executive committee member of the Loyola University Young Alumni Board and was co-founder of a reading program for children at St. Sylvester’s Family Shelter in Chicago. She is also a member of the Catholic Charities Junior Board.
April is a May 2008 candidate for a Master’s in Nonprofit Administration from the Mendoza School of Business at the University of Notre Dame and a Bachelor’s degree with high distinction from Loyola University Chicago, from whom she received the President’s Medallion and the Student Leadership Award.
Dory Mitros Durham ('01, '06 JD) is a staff attorney and Skadden Fellow with Indiana Legal Services, Inc., a statewide agency providing free civil legal services to low-income Indiana residents. Dory’s work centers on assisting immigrant victims of crimes or other forms of exploitation in the United States with immigration matters and other civil legal problems in before state and federal agencies and courts. She hopes to empower her clients to access the public benefits and services necessary to overcome victimization and to defend their civil rights and build violence-free futures for themselves and their families in Indiana. As a Skadden Fellow, Dory’s work is generously funded by the international law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, LLP.
Prior to her fellowship, Dory was a law clerk to Hon. Kenneth Ripple of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.
Dory holds a B.A. (Program of Liberal Studies, 2001) and J.D. (2006) from the University of Notre Dame. She began working on behalf of immigrants and refugees as a high school and college student, through projects of the Center for Social Concerns and the Notre Dame Legal Aid Clinic at the law school. Before becoming an attorney, she served on the staffs of the National Immigration Justice Center in Chicago and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C., in the area of immigrant advocacy.
Andrew Lynn ('07) is the Programming Director at Make a Difference Michiana. He grew up in a small town in Southern Indiana and found his way to Notre Dame for his undergraduate studies. During his years at Notre Dame, Lynn studied Political Science and Theology with a concentration in the intersection of faith and politics. He became interested in the non-profit sector through doing internships with three very different non-profit organizations, one of those being Make a Difference Michiana. It was during that internship that Lynn began to develop a proposal for bringing Make a Difference Michiana into the Web 2.0 world by adding a social networking component to the organization's website. After graduating in May 2007, Lynn took a job with Make a Difference Michiana to turn this proposal into reality. He now works with over 275 local organizations to help provide the community with a central point-of-access to non-profits for those needing help or wanting to be involved.
Liz Mackenzie ('97) splits her time as the Director of Senior Transition Programs at the Center for Social Concerns and a supervisor with Healthy Families of St. Joseph County, a not-for-profit serving teen parents. Liz graduated from Notre Dame in 1997 with a degree in Sociology. After graduation, she volunteered in Philadelphia with the Redeemer Ministry Corps and then stayed on to work as a case manager at her placement site, Project Rainbow, for two more years. In 2003, Liz graduated from Boston College with a dual degree in Pastoral Ministry and Social Work. She helped establish the Volunteer and Service Learning Center at Boston College before returning to South Bend in 2005.
Sponsored by Staff and Student Leaders from the Center for Social Concerns, Department of Political Science, Higgins Labor Research Center, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Master of Nonprofit Administration Program, The Career Center, and The Notre Dame Law School Career Services Office.
For more information, call (574) 631-5779 or e-mail cscstp@nd.edu
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Last Modified
November 14, 2007
Site Maintained by: Paul Horn
Center for Social Concerns