A professor in Barry University’s Adrian Dominican School of Education, Leadership, and Human Development is among the winners of an award that recognizes community changemakers.

Dr. Katsiaryna Matusevich received the Changemaking Education Award from Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of South Florida at an event on September 23 in Miami Springs. The cash award was presented in recognition of her achievements in human resource development (HRD) education benefiting nonprofit organizations.

Presented annually, the award honors K-12 and college/university educators for “contributing to the integration of changemaking education into the curriculum and for making a commitment to connect students through civic learning and service to help meet critical needs in the … community.” 

Dr. Matusevich guided her students in serving as HRD consultants who provided more than 2,500 hours of service to 40 nonprofits across Florida and in The Bahamas. 

“The students developed a sense of agency, which they leveraged in recommending HRD-focused organizational change as a driver of community-level social change,” noted Dr. Glenn Bowen, executive director of Barry’s Center for Community Service Initiatives, who nominated Dr. Matusevich for the award. “Students’ consulting and research-based projects served as a capacity-building mechanism for nonprofit organizations, increasing their effectiveness in delivering programs and services to their clients and to the community at large.”                                 

Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of South Florida is a membership organization that includes not only former Peace Corps volunteers but also current and former Peace Corps staff as well as family members. They work together to promote peace through cultural exchange and continuing service in communities at home and abroad.

The organization presents the Changemaking Education Award in partnership with the Miami-Dade County Teacher of the Year Coalition and the Armando Alejandre Jr. Memorial Foundation.