NC ACE Members
Meet the team behind the North Carolina Advancing Civic Engagement (NC ACE) interdisciplinary hub!
Faculty
Dr. Emma Braaten, Director of Digital Learning, Friday Institute for Educational Innovation
Emma Braaten leverages her 23 years of experience as a former Chief Technology Officer in Chatham County Schools (NC), Digital Learning Specialist and Digital Learning Coach with NCDPI, School Librarian, and Classroom Teacher to inform research and application in the K-12 setting and beyond. The work of Digital Learning is primarily focused on the FI’s impact area around the use of existing and emerging technologies, especially in the age of AI, to amplify teaching and learning in North Carolina and beyond.
Dr. Maru Gonzalez, Associate Professor & Youth Development Specialist, Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences
Dr. Gonzalez’s areas of inquiry and outreach include youth development with a focus on social impact storytelling, belonging, and civic and community engagement. She serves as co-director of #PassTheMicYouth, is the principal investigator of the statewide project Youth Voices into Action: Teens Teaching Storytelling for Civic Engagement, and is the co-founder of Georgia Safe Schools Coalition.
Dr. Catherine Hartman, Assistant Professor, Community College Leadership, Department of Educational Leadership, Policy, and Human Development
Catherine Hartman is an Assistant Professor of Community College Leadership and Faculty Scholar at the Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research. Her research focuses on community college student persistence and engagement, student transfer to baccalaureate degree-granting institutions, and college leadership.
Dr. Amanda J. Stewart, Professor, Director of the Master of Public Administration program, Department of Public Administration
Mandi J. Stewart’s research interests include nonprofit leadership and careers. She helped bring the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s National Civics Bee to North Carolina and hosted the inaugural state finals in 2026 with nearly 400 middle schoolers competing. Mandi has her PhD in public administration from American University; her Masters degree in social work from Boston College; and her Bachelors degree in business administration from Birmingham-Southern College.
Dr. Paul Umbach, Professor, Higher Education and Adult and Lifelong Education Programs, Department of Educational Leadership, Policy and Human Development
Paul uses advanced quantitative methods to study policies and practices that affect college student access and success and the careers of college faculty. Central to much of his work are issues of equity and diversity. He seeks to work with students who are interested in education policy, particularly as it relates to issues of access, attainment, and labor market outcomes. His former students work in a range of positions including faculty, policy research, institutional research, and student affairs.
Dr. Angela Wiseman, Associate Professor, Literacy Education, Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences
Angela Wiseman is an Associate Professor of Literacy Education at NC State University and is affiliated faculty of the Center for Visual Literacies at San Diego State University. Her research focus centers on developing and advancing critical visual and multimodal qualitative research methods to examine how people make meaning across educational contexts with a sustained commitment to equity and social justice.
Dr. Carl Young, Associate Professor of English Language Arts, Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences
Carl Young serves as Program Coordinator for Undergraduate Middle Grades ELA and Social Studies (MSL) Education and as Program Coordinator for both MAT and MEd ELA Education. Dr. Young’s research focuses on effective methods for teaching ELA, especially with regard to digital literacies and emerging technologies, including a current focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and civic literacy and engagement. He is a founding member of the North Carolina Advancing Civic Education (NC_ACE) interdisciplinary initiative.
Graduate Students
Davis Harper, Doctoral Student, Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences, Social Studies
Davis Harper is a former high school civics teacher and a current doctoral student in the Social Studies program area of the Teacher Education and Learning Sciences department at North Carolina State University. He is interested in how secondary social studies classrooms can be spaces that connect students to their communities, raise critical consciousness, and offer transformative learning experiences.
Rachel Waltz, PhD Candidate, Department of Teacher Education and Learning Sciences
Rachel Waltz is a former middle school social studies teacher and a current PhD Candidate in the Social Studies program area of the Teacher Education and Learning Sciences department at North Carolina State University. Her research focuses on democratic and civic education within the field of social studies. She is a contributor to the North Carolina Advancing Civic Education (NC_ACE) interdisciplinary initiatives Dining with Democracy and NC ACE Fellows.