``Brenna Leach's passion for community engagement and social justice has been an integral part of her undergraduate experience. Ever since Brenna arrived on the Saint Anselm College campus, she has shown a deep commitment to her community through a variety of roles and opportunities. For over three years, Brenna has worked at the Meelia Center for Community Engagement as a Community Partnership Coordinator with Pine Haven Boys Center and Webster House, both programs work with youth ages 5-18 years old. In her role, Brenna supports all Saint Anselm volunteers in their community engagement and learning. Brenna has always stood out in her commitment to ensuring that we are able to facilitate enriching, supportive programs that connect Saint Anselm College students to the youth at Pine Haven and Webster House. She has collaborated with various community members across programs, including agency staff, program directors, administrators, teachers, and direct care staff. Whether she is communicating directly with program staff, or she is working one on one with a youth, Brenna's engagements are led with a strength-based approach; it is how she moves through the world.
During the pandemic, Brenna played a key role a new program developed in partnership with Manchester School District, the Remoter Tutoring Collaborative. Brenna worked closely with school staff, teachers, and parents of students to provide effective academic, social, and emotional support to the students she engaged with. Brenna was able to build strong, empowering connections with these students despite the program being complete remote. Brenna was intentional and thoughtful in her work, and she positively contributed to the overall success of the program because of her deep sense of care and commitment to the students. She was creative is coming up with practices and activities that kept students engaged and motivated, while also working through their own personal challenges.
Brenna is naturally compassionate and empathetic, and she uses these skills to connect with community members in ways that make them feel empowered, heard, and valued. Brenna has been passionate about working alongside children and youth. She sees each one of the youth that she works alongside as showing up in the world with many strengths and skills. She views these community members through a lens that sees the whole person, not just their challenges or barriers. This has made Brenna's ability to strengthen community partnerships even more powerful. ``