In partnerships with youth and communities, Mary Jo Callan has spent her career working to advance equitable access to social, political, and economic power. She served in K-12 schools, local governments, and nonprofits prior to coming to U of M. Her time at Ozone House, a youth development and housing organization, was particularly formative as she learned alongside young people to stand up, organize, and persist for change. As the founding director of Washtenaw County’s Office of Community and Economic Development, she led cross-sector efforts to collectively address the growing racial and economic inequities playing out across our region.
At the Ginsberg Center, Mary Jo is continuing her efforts to work with others to create a more just world. The Ginsberg Center’s community and civic engagement work supports student service and faculty teaching and research to come to bear on pressing community challenges. Like her colleagues at Ginsberg, Mary Jo is wholeheartedly dedicated to partnering with others who want to help build healthy and vibrant communities by advancing opportunities for everyone to thrive.
Mary Jo earned undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Michigan, where her participation in curricular and co-curricular community engagement ignited her passion for public service toward social justice.
As the director of the Edward Ginsberg Center at the University of Michigan, Mary Jo has resumed her efforts to prepare young people to work toward a more just community and world. The Ginsberg Center's community and civic engagement work is aimed at advancing two goals: developing students while developing the community.
Contact Mary Jo if you want to learn more about:
- Institutional partnerships with the Ginsberg Center
- Collective impact through campus and community partnerships
- Research on how community engagement and service learning impacts community partners
- Strategic approaches to leadership education for social change
