The staff who develop, lead, and coordinate CDP’s programs and courses.
CDP Leadership Team
Adi Grabiner-Keinan, Ph.D.
Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education
Director & Senior Lecturer, Center for Dialogue & Pluralism
Working closely with Cornell’s academic units and leadership, Adi leads and implements campus-wide educational interventions, aiming to integrate student development principles into curricula, pedagogy, and academic support services, and to foster the growth of Cornell students as engaged and responsible members and leaders of their communities. By creating optimal conditions for multi-phase processes for faculty, students, and student-facing staff, and focusing on areas such as human connection, curiosity, and pluralism, Adi supports change at personal, interpersonal, and institutional levels. Adi has extensive experience in a variety of educational and academic settings, working with both educators and students on identity development, dialogue, experiential learning, leadership, and collaborative change. Adi holds a B.A. in History from Tel Aviv University, M.A. in Cultural Production from Brandeis University, and Ph.D. in Anthropology from Cornell University.
Colleen Eils, Ph.D.
Curriculum Specialist & Lecturer
Colleen earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in American literature from the University of Texas at Austin and holds a B.A. in English from Clemson University. She is the author of The Politics of Privacy (Ohio State UP, 2020), a study of literary technologies of racial surveillance in contemporary American fiction. She comes to CDP from West Point, where she was an associate professor of English and director of a multi-disciplinary fellows program focused on intentional communication and peer mentorship. Invested in cultivating curiosity and deliberate inquiry on campus, she supports CDP’s mission through teaching and curricular development.
Jazlin Gomez Garner, M.P.A.
Pedagogy Specialist & Lecturer
Jazlin was first introduced to CDP’s work as an undergraduate student, and she has held various positions in CDP since. In her current role, she develops sustained educational processes that empower participants to value, connect, and communicate effectively about their differences. She teaches CDP courses, including UNILWYL 1515: Dialogue Across Political Differences, EDUC/ILRID 2610: Intergroup Dialogue, and PUBPOL 2880/5881: Dialogue Across Differences for Public Policy. She also leads many of CDP’s co-curricular efforts, including those for peer leaders and mentors. Jazlin holds an M.P.A. from the Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell and a B.A. from Cornell’s College of Arts & Sciences.
Kellie Ochs, B.S.
Curriculum and Project Development Specialist
Kellie graduated from Cornell with a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations. She discovered CDP in her junior year when she enrolled in EDUC 2610, and went on to join the team as an undergraduate facilitator in her senior year. In her current role, Kellie collaborates on curriculum development efforts for undergraduate students and other university-wide programs, and supports the development and implementation of CDP’s special projects and strategic initiatives.
Marissa Rice, Ph.D.
Research Specialist
Marissa completed her PhD in Psychology (Behavioral & Evolutionary Neuroscience) at Cornell and then continued on to complete a postdoc within the College of Human Ecology. Her research has focused on how social contexts and physical environments influence individual behavior and decision making. Her strength is bringing concepts and frameworks from biology & psychology to the forefront of how we discuss, conceptualize, and solve problems regarding human connection. As one of CDP’s Research Specialists, Marissa is responsible for providing research, program planning, development, implementation and evaluation of CDP programs and courses.
Natasha Steinhall, M.P.A
Academic Initiatives & Operations Manager
As the academic initiatives and operations manager, Natasha plays a key role in overseeing both strategic and operational efforts for CDP. She collaborates closely with CDP staff, campus partners, and alumni to advance the center’s vision and impact. Natasha’s journey with CDP began during her senior year at Cornell, where she first discovered the program. After earning her B.S., she remained deeply involved, serving in multiple roles before stepping into her current position.
Beyond her work with CDP, Natasha volunteers with the Cornell Office of Civil Rights as a hearing panel member and co-investigator. She also enjoys providing animal-assisted therapy visits through Cornell Companions with her dog, Avalanche. Natasha holds an M.P.A. from the Brooks School of Public Policy at Cornell and a B.S. from Cornell’s College of Agriculture & Life Sciences.
Nimot Ogunfemi, Ph.D.
Research Specialist
Nimot completed both her BA in psychology and PhD in educational psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC). Through her concentration in counseling psychology, she learned about, conducted research on, and participated in human change processes. During her doctoral studies at UIUC she was introduced to the intergroup dialogue process first as a facilitator and later as an instructor. Her journey with intergroup dialogue led her to the CDP team, taking on the role of research specialist in 2024. Nimot’s research philosophy is intentionally multicultural, liberatory, and interdisciplinary. Her responsibilities with CDP include providing evaluation, research, and dissemination of new knowledge related to the work being done by the program.
Rachel Sumner, Ph.D.
Associate Director & Senior Lecturer
Rachel arrived at Cornell as a Ph.D. student in the Department of Human Development, where her dissertation focused on the development of purpose in life and identity among college students and adults. Through subsequent roles in a nonprofit organization and the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research she worked with youth work practitioners to use data as a tool for understanding and informing programmatic decisions. In January 2017 Rachel participated in the second CDP session for graduate/professional students and postdocs; it was a watershed moment for her. She’s been grateful to continue her involvement with CDP since then, first as a co-facilitator and coach and now as associate director and senior lecturer. Supervising our research and assessment efforts, Rachel works to understand CDP’s transformative impact on individual participants and the campus community. She also collaborates on the development and delivery of meaningful learning opportunities including tailored programs for faculty and student-facing staff, a 7-week course for MBA students, and undergraduate courses about purpose in life.
Stephen Kim, Ph.D.
Assistant Director for Educational Innovation
Stephen participated in the first iteration of CDP’s course for graduate students and has worked for CDP in various positions since. He focuses on the development of written resources for CDP’s programming and outreach, as well as new applications of CDP’s educational model in both academic and professional contexts. He completed his Ph.D. in Literatures at English at Cornell, with minors in American Studies and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Past teaching experience includes courses on workplace leadership, dialogue for public policy, Asian American science fiction, and Shakespeare.
CDP Co-Instructors & Coaches
Our professional staff partners who co-facilitate for and coach CDP courses and programs for graduate students, staff, and faculty.
Bonnie Comella
Co-Instructor for Advising Across Difference: Course for Academic Advisors
In her role as Associate Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, Bonnie leads several functional and operational areas within the Vice Provost’s portfolio related to organizational effectiveness, academic policy alignment, technology, academic advising, and student access and success. Strategic collaborations with academic and student affairs partners are essential to her work, such as co-leading OVPUE’s First-Year Sophomore Experience Innovation Lab, an effort to advance the university’s developmental goals for first- and sophomore-year students, focusing on agency, connection, curiosity, and purpose. She’s especially thrilled to co-facilitate “Advising across Difference,” CDP’s course for academic advisors with Adi. Additionally, she enjoys serving as an advisor to first-year A&S students, a Becker House Fellow, and a university-certified leadership coach.
As a first-generation college student, Bonnie holds a BS in Biological Sciences from the State University of New York College of Cortland, an MS in Student Personnel Administration from Ball State University, and an EdD in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania.