State Outreach Coordinators (SOCs)help meet the needs of new and existing STAND chapters within a specific state or states. Each SOC provides chapters within their states with materials, tools, updates and guidance throughout the year. The SOCs and the Regional Outreach Coordinators (ROCs) work hand in hand, ensuring that all STAND chapters in the assigned area are fully equipped with the information and resources they need to effectively advocate for an end to the genocide in Darfur.

Andrea Kayne

Michigan State Outreach Coordinator (Michigan State University, 2010) Andrea Kayne is the Michigan State Outreach Coordinator, working to guide and support Michigan's college chapters of STAND by providing encouragement and national resources. She is a sophomore attending Michigan State University, studying for a degree in Professional Writing—hoping to one day work as a writer, editor, or publisher. She joined the MSU STAND chapter her freshman year and has actively continued to support Darfur's cause. She is originally from Rochester Hills, Michigan

Ari Osteen

Florida State Outreach Coordinator (Lake Mary High School, 2008) I was born in Lake Mary, Florida and have experienced all 17years of life there. Many of my family perished in the atrocities of the Holocaust and we said, "Never Again." I do not make empty promises. I strongly believe that oppression of anyone, regardless of race, color, or religion is immoral and unjustified. Although I've lived in the same house my whole life, it was on my travels around the world that I pull my inspirations from. I have been to 8 countries and it will be 9 this year when I travel to Egypt. One particularly inspirational story occured on my trip to Ukraine. My father was asked by Doctors Without Borders to travel to Ukraine and teach the doctors there modern procedures and to deliver more sophisticated equipment. Before my trip to Ukraine, I didn't know much of life outside the U.S. But when I walked into the operating room and doctors were fixing broken bones with a hammer and chisel, and smoking during the whole bit--I realized that not everyone lives like me. As a result of all these inspirations, I founded a STAND chapter at Lake Mary High School, which has been a tremendous success. I now look forward to connecting all of Florida in such a great and awesome undertaking as State Outreach Coordinator. I feel that to save one life is to save the world and if we can impact the world in any positive way, than we have done a great deed to humankind.

Caroline McCarthy

Illinois High School State Outreach Coordinator (North Country Day School, 2009) Currently a junior at North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka, Illinois, Caroline has been an anti-genocide activist for several years. She founded her school's first STAND chapter in the fall of 2007, and is now the high school State Outreach Coordinator for the state of Illinois. As an SOC, Caroline is working to organize and energize the approximately 30 high school STAND chapters across the state, as well as promoting awareness of the situation in Darfur and educating students on their ability to make an impact. Her other activities and interests include field hockey, Model UN, Snowball, photography, running, politics, and Community Service club.

Eva Jacobson

New Hampshire State Outreach Coordinator (University of New Hampshire, 2009) Eva Jacobson initially started her Darfur activism as one of the co-founders of University of New Hampshire STAND in the fall of 2007. In the previous semester she was very active in the "Ask the Candidates" campaign as she spoke with Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, Joe Biden, Mitt Romney and Ron Paul about Darfur. She is now working as the New Hampshire State Outreach Coordinator to expand STAND into more schools and to promote genocide awareness around the state. She continues her sophomore year in pursuit of a dual major in political science and international affairs as she plans to study abroad in South Africa and Spain. She guarantees that she will advocate for Darfur wherever her studies may take her!

Jayson Joyce

Massachusetts High School Outreach Coordinator (Bishop Feehan High Schoo, 2008) Jayson Joyce is the High School State Outreach Coordinator for Massachusetts, intimately working with high school chapters in the area and helping them to organize. He is a senior at Bishop Feehan High School, in Attleboro, Massachusetts. After learning about the genocide in Darfur at a State Radio concert, he felt compelled to act. He founded his high school chapter and proceeded to get involved with STAND in any way possible. After high school, he plans on being a Poli-Sci major in a New England or DC university, continuing to fight for the Sudanese people.

Kat Clark

Wisconson High School State Outreach Coordinator (The Prairie School, 2008) Kat Clark is a senior at The Prairie School in Racine, Wisconsin. Her main interests are art, writing, film, her cross country and track teams, and of course, STAND. Learning about the Holocaust as a kid had a huge impact on her life, and she has always been an advocate of genocide prevention. She became involved with STAND in early 2006, after she saw a documentary about Darfur, and have been working to spread awareness and raise funds since then. She is also involved in greening efforts in my community, where her goal is to create sustainability and protect the environment.

Katherine Nolan

Vermont/New Hampshire/Maine High School State Outreach Coordinator (Brattleboro Union High School, 2006) As high school state outreach coordinator for Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire, Katherine Nolan works to help new chapters develop and experienced chapters grow. She has been dedicated to the Darfur cause for several years and diligently keeps up with news about the conflict. Some of her initiatives in her community have included fund raising, an Olympic Torch Relay for Darfur event, and peer education. Katherine would eventually like to go to Darfur as an aid worker to help trauma victims.

Katrina Field

Virginia State Outreach Coordinator (Norfolk State University 2009) Katrina Field is a returning adult student of History at Norfolk State University in Norfolk, VA. She became involved in student anti-genocide activism in 2004, when she learned of what was happening in Darfur, Sudan and what had previously occurred in Southern Sudan over the past two decades. Katrina is also actively involved with the local Sudanese refugees, known as the "Lost Boys of Sudan" in the southeastern Virginia area.

Laura Glace

Pennsylvania State Outreach Coordinator (Ursinus College 2008) Pennsylvania@standnow.org Studying genocide has always been very important to me and I became involved with advocating for Darfur when I was a part of starting a Darfur Awareness club at Ursinus College. I became involved with STAND at our regional conference in the Fall of 2006. My majors are History and German and my minors are Sociology and Politics. I am originally from Springfield, Pennsylvania (Delaware County).

Lauren Downey

Arizona College State Outreach Coordinator (Arizona State University, 2011) My name is Lauren Downey and I am the Arizona College State Outreach Coordinator. I am currently attending Arizona State University, with a double major in Global Studies and Political Science, and I hope to graduate in 2011. I am currently part of the STAND chapter at ASU and I was part of the chapter at my high school. I learned about the atrocities in Darfur last year and I have been doing all that I can to help ever since. I hope to encourage and support the STAND chapters in Arizona all that they do.

Leran Minc

Texas College State Outreach Coordinator (University of Texas at Austin, 2009) Leran has been obsessed with politics since middle school and ever since transferring to the University of Texas and joining the local STAND chapter he has been hooked into the anti-genocide movement. As a government major focusing on international affairs along with race relations, he hopes to make a career out of human rights advocacy. Leran looks forward to utilizing his experience in political organizing and his passion for the cause in his job as the Texas SOC.

Leslie Brian

California High School State Outreach Coordinator (Polytechnic High School, 2008) Leslie Brian is a current senior at Polytechnic High School in Pasadena, California and founder of her school's STAND chapter. She is thrilled to be working this year as California's High School State Outreach Coordinator, providing a resource for STAND chapters across the state, facilitating chapter communication and relaying information from the broader national STAND organization to smaller-scale student groups. The Polytechnic STAND chapter has raised over $20,000 since its start two years ago. All the money has been donated to the Darfur Peace and Development Organization which provides for health care and education in refugee camps in both Darfur and Chad. Last year, Leslie traveled on a volunteer vacation to Niger, Africa with her family, where she visited nomadic tribes, distributed vitamins, and absorbed their culture. She hopes to continue work with STAND when she attends college next year.

Lisa Godenick

South Carolina State Outreach Coordinator (Converse College, 2011) My name is Lisa Godenick. I am a freshman at Converse College in Spartanburg, South Carolina and I am the new SOC for SC! wooo hooo! I have 2 sisters and I love my family dearly. I enjoy being outside. I love to go hiking and backpacking. I enjoy reading books (especially Harry Potter) and this past summer, I lived in a tent while working in a national park. I want this genocide to end with every cell in my body and Mr. Omar Bashir is on my hit list!

Mariam Abuhaideri

Georgia State Outreach Coordinator (University of Western Georgia, 2009) I am an international student from India studying Mass Communication and Global Studies at UWG. I host and produce my own TV show on UTV13 formerly called "Cultural Voyage" and now "Global Pathways", where my guest/s and I discuss global issues and crisis such as genocide and resource conflicts. I am extremely involved with my campus and the community educating people about the world that so abandoned by the American media. My goal is to work as an international correspondent covering wars and other conflicts, thus showing the world the whole reality. I have been involved with STAND for the past year and hope to make some significant contributions to the team and create awareness about the forgotten part of the world because it is our duty to heed to cries of help from our neighbors.

Mackenzie Miller

Washington State Outreach Coordinator (Western Washington University, 2008) Mackenzie Miller is a senior at Western Washington University where she is majoring in anthropology. As a co-founder of the STAND chapter at WWU she has organized several events to raise awareness about and humanitarian aid for the situation in Darfur, and to bring about political change to help bring it to an end. Before transferring to WWU in the fall of 2006, she helped organize Portland Voices for Darfur, a community benefit and awareness event. Mackenzie is excited and honored to be able to work with all of the Washington state STAND chapters this year.

Meaghan Collins

New Jersey High School Outreach Coordinator (Red Bank Regional High School, 2009) Meaghan Collins is the New Jersey State High School Outreach Coordinator for STAND. She is sixteen years old and a Junior at Red Bank Regional High School in Monmouth County, New Jersey. For the past year, Meaghan has been researching more about the history of genocides, and hopes to soon help others understand the importance of Darfur Awareness. She originally learned about Darfur from reading Nicolas Kristof's column in the New York Times. Meaghan is also the editor of her high school newspaper. In her spare time, she also enjoys politics and reading. She hopes to major in International Relations in college.

Melissa Barber

Arizona High School Outreach Coordinator (Arcadia High School, 2008) Melissa is a senior at Arcadia High School in Phoenix, AZ. She became aware of the Darfur genocide at the end of her sophomore year at Arcadia . After realizing how much could be done by high school students to help end the crisis in Sudan, a teacher of hers asked her to be involved in starting a STAND chapter on campus. She served as the vice-president last year, and helped the club raise over $10,000 as well as awareness and advocacy efforts for Darfur. Melissa loves learning about other cultures and global politics. She also has a passion for participating in volunteer trips to work overseas. She has experienced three cross-cultural trips to impoverished communities in the Dominican Republic as well as, most recently, traveling this past summer to work in Uganda. Melissa is currently the president of STAND at Arcadia and plans to begin a six month program in Sudan after she graduates before beginning college at a university to study either world missions or global studies.

Mervin Jebaraj

Arkansas State Outreach Coordinator (University of Arkanas, 2007) Mervin recently graduated with a degrees in Economics and International Relations major at the University of Arkansas. He believes that young people around the world should take a stand against the genocide in Darfur, the first genocide of his generation. In the spring of 2007, he chaired the Divestment Campaign in Arkansas which pursued and accomplished divestment at the State and University levels. Mervin has also co-produced a play about the genocide in Darfur called "Darfur Stories: Tell Them". This was the first production of the play as a full theatre piece. In the summer of 2007, he co-founded a microloan program that provides loans for education in Belize and has since worked extensively on service learning and global community engagement. He currently works for the University of Arkansas and continues to take classes.

Sarah Gold

California State Outreach Coordinator ( UC Davis, 2010) As STAND's California State Outreach Coordinator for Northern California, Sarah is the liasion between the chapter leaders and the Western Regional Outreach Coordinator. Each week she contacts chapters in her area to keep them updated about new developments and assist chapter leaders with any upcoming events. Sarah got involved with STAND after attending the Western Regional Conference at UC Berkeley in February of 2007. Since then she has been an active member in her STAND chapter at UC Davis where she is a sophomore majoring in International Relations and Spanish. She is originally from Sacramento, CA.

Stephanie Aines

Massachussetts State Outreach Coordinator (UMass Amherst, 2008) Whenever 9-year-old Steph was worried about completing her book reports, her family would remind her that everything would be okay: she was not the victim of a holocaust. This strange lesson inspired her to join the anti-genocide movement, founding and coordinating the Save Darfur Campaign at UMass Amherst, and working heavily for the successful University of Massachusetts system wide divestment campaign. Steph studies history and community organizing, and serves as STAND’s State Outreach Coordinator for her homestate of Massachusetts.

Stephanie Figgins

Washington DC State Outreach Coordinator (George Washington University, 2011) As the State Outreach Coordinator for Washington D.C., Stephanie is your contact for chapters in the DC area. She became involved with STAND three years ago, after co-founding a STAND chapter at her high school in Phoenix, Arizona. She is a freshman majoring in International Affairs and Economics at the George Washington University.

Valerie Blum

Georgia State Outreach Coordinator (Georgia College & State University 2008) Originally from Baltimore, Maryland. Valerie is a senior studying History and Political Science at Georgia College & State University. She started to become interested in Darfur when she had the chance to participate in a Teach - In about genocides in Africa. After extensive research, she became interested in STAND and formed a chapter at GC&SU. Now, a State Outreach Coordinator for Georgia, she works closely with Georgia chapters to encourage development and collaborative efforts.