Staff
For all general inquiries, please call (540) 672-2728 x200, or email center4constitution@montpelier.org.
Kelly Carmichael, We the People VA State Coordinator and Outreach Education Manager
(540) 672-2728 x202
Kelly Carmichael is the Education Outreach Manager and We the People State Coordinator at the Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier. In this role, Kelly works directly with teachers and social studies specialists across Virginia conducting professional development using the "We the People" material and providing classroom textbook sets to civics and government teachers. In addition, Kelly directs the Virginia We the People State Finals, which occurs in Richmond, Virginia, each year. In addition to her work with the We the People program, Kelly works directly with the Governor's Commission on Civic Education, the Campaign to Promote Civic Education at the Center for Civic Education, and the Virginia Consortium of Social Studies Specialists and College Educators to influence and recommend sound civic education policy. Kelly has also served on the YMCA DC Youth and Government Board of Advisors since 2007 and was awarded the Service to Program in November of 2007 for her work overhauling the lesson plans and curriculum provided to the student advisors. Prior to working at the Center for the Constitution, Kelly worked in the Curriculum Department at the Close Up Foundation, serving as the Manager of Teacher Programs. Kelly received her M.Ed. in Social Foundations of Education at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, and her B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Women's Studies at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.
Belinda Eddins, Catering Manager
(540) 672-2728 x204
Sean T O'Brien, Executive Director
(540) 672-2728 x206
Sean graduated from the University of Virginia with a Ph.D. in Environmental Science in 1994. While working on his dissertation on tropical forest ecology he lived in Costa Rica and Panama for ten months. After leaving UVa he worked with Stephen Hubbell at Princeton University on temperate and tropical forest ecology. Sean has pursued several unusual opportunities for a scientist. For example, in the spring of 1996, he worked as the Finance Director of the Rush Holt for Congress campaign in central New Jersey (12th CD). Dr. Holt is a physicist with a background in nuclear non-proliferation and alternative energy technology. After the campaign, he then returned to Princeton to complete a project with Professor Hubbell and then went to the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies at Princeton to work with Professor Rob Socolow on several workshops, including one on carbon sequestration and another on scientists following nontraditional career paths. In the spring of 1998, Sean again worked as the Finance Director on the Rush Holt Campaign. He left the campaign to work at the W. Alton Jones Foundation in technology and communications planning with nonprofit organizations around the US and around the world. In 2002 Sean began working at the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership under the leadership of Bill Wood; Sean became the Executive Director of Sorensen in 2005. The Sorensen Institute is a nonpartisan political leadership training organization the runs programs for young people and adults in Virginia interested in getting involved in public service and elected office. Sean is a co-author on papers in Science, Ecology, and Climatic Change. He came to the Center for the Constitution in January 2008.
Jennifer Patja, Program Manager
(540) 672-2728 x205
Jennifer Patja is the Program Manager for the Center for the Constitution, where she manages the marketing effort, updates the Web site, tracks the Center's statistics, and is responsible for evaluating the long-term effects of the Center's programs. Prior to coming to the Center, Jennifer worked as a Museum Educator at Montpelier while she was pursuing her graduate degree in Sociology from the University of Virginia. At UVa she was a Teaching Assistant for an array of sociological courses, including Classical Sociological Theory and Sociological Research Methods, and she was also a Graduate Instructor in Criminology. Jennifer has worked as a Freelance Editor and Researcher for 8 years, completing both academic and corporate projects. In 2008, she co-wrote an article for White House Studies, titled "Conceptualizing James Madison's Constitutional Vision: The Center for the Constitution at James Madison's Montpelier." Jennifer has been with the Center for the Constitution since 2007.
Susan Simpson, Administrative Assistant
(540) 672-2728 x200
Andrew Washburn, Managing Director
(540) 672-2728 x201
