Carolyn Swabek joined CAEL in 2022 as Director of Community Engagement. Skilled in strategic planning, collaborative facilitation, and volunteer management, she focuses on conveying the value of CAEL to members and administers and oversees CAEL’s member engagement platform systems. In this role, she also directly engages in ongoing outreach with CAEL’s member community as well as overseeing member retention.
Swabek most recently served as director of the Trinity Fellows Program at Marquette University, an innovative graduate fellowship program dedicated to developing urban leaders with a commitment to social and economic justice. Her previous experience includes a senior associate role at Fund Development Corporation, where she supported a variety of strategic plans and campaigns for local and national nonprofit organizations, and development officer for Discovery World Science + Technology Museum in Milwaukee. Swabek also previously served in various programming, outreach and volunteer roles at organizations such as YWCA SE WI, Slow Food Wisconsin Southeast, Global Youth Leadership Institute, and RefugeeOne. She is a proud AmeriCorps VISTA alumna.
Swabek holds a bachelor’s degree in organizational communication from Ohio University and earned her master’s degree in public service, with a focus on nonprofit leadership from Marquette University. She resides in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Areas of Expertise
Swabek has extensive experience in community engagement and partnership development within the nonprofit, philanthropic, and higher education sectors, as well as project and grants management, training, and facilitation expertise. Her work incorporates justice, equity, and human-centered frameworks.
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