Voinovich School Alumni share how their work impacts the communities they serve

The Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service reconnected with alumni Andreana Madera-Martorell, Alex Wesaw, and Stacey Frohnapfel-Hasson to see where they are today and learn more about how they are making an impact in their own communities.

A Dedication to the Environment

While Andreana Madera-Martorell was completing her undergraduate geology degree in Puerto Rico, she also interned with the Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement in Pittsburgh. There, she connected with the hydrology team who worked with professors at Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service. This connection encouraged her to pursue a Master of Science in Environmental Studies (MSES) degree in 2018, where she began research in geothermal energy and was offered a graduate assistantship.

“I wanted to do something that would not only benefit the environment, but people too,” Madera-Martorell said. “So, when (Dr. Dina López) called and explained to me what geothermal energy was and how we could be using an abandoned coal mine that was just sitting there, I was very interested. This was not only a hard science thesis, it's something that has to do with the community as well.”

Her research focused on the potential to use an abandoned underground coal mine near The Plains, Ohio as a heat source through geothermal energy and develop education efforts for the field. During her time at the Voinovich School, Madera-Martorell said her interest in sustainability, combined with the collaboration amongst others in the program, assisted in her research.

“What I loved about my research was that I received help from not only professors but also my colleagues,” Madera-Martorell said. “Since my graduate assistantship was making geothermal energy, that helped me to understand my thesis. I always am so grateful for that.”

In addition to her energy research, Madera-Martorell also worked with the Geological Society of America (GSA). Her grants from the MSES program enabled her to attend an annual meeting for GSA, where she presented her thesis as well as content for The Geology Project, for which Madera-Martorell is a content creator and editor.

“(The Geology Project) serves as a platform for Latinx geoscientists to share their research, work and experiences,” Madera-Martorell said. “At this conference I had the opportunity to meet and network with many Latinx geoscientists which I still keep in touch with.”

Madera-Martorell completed her Master’s degree in 2020, and now works as a physical scientist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the water division. Through her work at the Voinovich School, Madera-Martorell said she learned about the government’s role in environmental efforts, which helped her in her current position with the EPA.

“(My research) not only taught me more about hard sciences but also taught me about how to engage with the community,” Madera-Martorell said. “It also helped me learn more about groundwater modeling, which is great for what I want to work on in the future.”

While her research at OHIO has been valuable for her career, Madera-Martorell said the strength she felt among other women in the industry served as a force of hope for her.

“Something that I always carry in my heart and as an inspiration is when I entered the MSES program, I noticed that there was a strong female empowerment feeling there,” Madera-Martorell. “I feel like that really made an impact on me. I was really inspired by them and I still am.”

Getting Things Done

After Alex Wesaw completed his Bachelor of Science in Communication degree from Ohio University Lancaster in 2012, he became interested in public administration. The possibility for a graduate assistantship prompted him to apply to OHIO’s Master of Public Administration (MPA) program at the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service that same year.

During his time at the Voinovich School, Wesaw focused his research on his interests in tribal governments and economic development, particularly in reference to his own tribe, the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians.

Currently, Wesaw serves as the Division Director for American Indian Relations for the Ohio History Connection and an elected treasurer of his tribe.

Wesaw said he sees his research focus and work as a student in the Master of Public Administration program intertwining often in his current professional life.

“Having a better understanding about, frankly, the lack of tribal awareness in public administration, or the lack of tribal administrators in the field, helped me see that there's a really big need for this,” Wesaw said. “In my role with the tribe, I see that these skills that I've learned are really invaluable.”

After graduating from the Voinovich School in 2014, Wesaw went on to obtain a Ph.D. in city, urban, community and regional planning at Ohio State University, becoming one of the only tribal planners with a doctorate degree. This year, he was named in the 2022 class of Native American 40 under 40 award recipients by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development. Wesaw said achieving these milestones was especially significant to him in his connection with his tribal community.

“When I was at the Voinovich School, Dean Mark Weinberg would always say, ‘we're not really a think tank, we're a do tank, we actually do things.’ And that's always resonated with me, because I think it's really easy to talk about doing something or talk about why an idea is a good idea, but actually doing it is hard,” Wesaw said. “And that's one thing that I walked away with graduating, was I had an idea about how to start doing things and how to get things done.”

Wesaw stressed that while a lot of educational programs are turning to online instruction, he hopes more students enter the MPA program, as it has been very impactful to his professional and personal life today.

“I met people in the program that I'm still good friends with to this day, and I've developed long-lasting relationships with my professors and I’m really thankful for that. I would encourage other folks to consider getting out of their comfort zones. I think (attending the MPA program) was really one of the best choices that I ever made,” he added.

Achieving a Lifelong Goal

Stacey Frohnapfel-Hasson had a life goal: to complete her master’s degree before she turned 50 and before her three adolescent children began their higher education journeys. When she learned of the Executive Master of Public Administration Program at Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service, she enrolled in 2007, and began to make that goal a reality.

At the time, Frohnapfel-Hasson was working at the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services, and she said her professional and educational life began to cross paths.

“It was a perfect opportunity to marry my professional work demands with what was happening in the courses that I was taking for the Executive MPA,” Frohnapfel-Hasson said. “Whatever the course assignment was, anything from public policy, public education, even budgeting and management pieces, I was able to combine them with the policy, programming and marketing I was doing within state government.”

The department she was working at then has now merged into the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, where Frohnapfel-Hasson currently serves as Chief for the Office of Prevention Services.

“Everything that we do at the state level is focused on being data informed for the best possible outcome for the citizens of Ohio, and especially for those people who might need behavioral health services,” Frohnapfel-Hasson said. “I think (the Executive MPA) was absolutely the background I needed to be able to move forward in my career, and in helping a dedicated team establish the best possible services for Ohio communities.”

Presently, the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services is working with the Voinovich School in implementing the Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health Prevention and Promotion.

In reconnecting with the Voinovich School through this new program, Frohnapfel-Hasson was reminded of her time at the university.

“Having past experience with Ohio University, I was confident in building a solid foundation for science to practice among the Center of Excellence and the state’s behavioral healthcare prevention providers and partners,” Frohnapfel-Hasson said.

In achieving her goal of obtaining her master’s degree, Frohnapfel-Hasson reflected on the importance of connecting with colleagues during her time at the Voinovich School, as they helped her to approach her work from a number of perspectives.

“Within my cohort, we had professionals from all walks of life in all stages of their careers,” Frohnapfel-Hasson said. “The experience helped  me to view the issues that I would be challenged with in the coming years through a number of different lenses. I was better equipped to look at new initiatives from every angle, which I believe helped to ensure greater success overall.”