Elizabeth Pulanco / Winonan

“All that is necessary for evil to triumph, is for good men to do nothing.”

This quote, which was made famous by 18th century philosopher Edmund Burke, has been a mantra for Jodi Saunders throughout her life and career.

Saunders is currently the director of Winona State University’s Child Advocacy Studies (CAST) program and started working at Winona State in the fall of 2015.

Before working at Winona State, Saunders taught at the University of Iowa within the rehabilitation counseling department.

Last May, Saunders and a group of her colleagues published an article, “Development and Initial Psychometric Properties of the Participatory Ethics Scale.”

Saunders said this article described how being actively involved with their treatment affects different patients.

“When you are dealing with clients in counseling situations, having them participate in sessions, rather than doing things to them, allows them to have a voice in their process,” Saunders said.

While researching for different scholarly publications, Saunders enjoys participating in applied research, which can improve the hands-on experience of being an advocate.

“I like the applied research, which is where the rubber hits the road,” Saunders said. “I have published some theoretical pieces, but I like to go out and figure out what makes a difference.”

The feeling of wanting to make a difference has followed Saunders throughout her career and her personal life. Most of her work has been with children. As a counselor, she worked with school-aged children with disabilities.

According to Saunders, when children receive special education, different individualized educational plans (IEPs), are created to serve the individual child’s needs.

“There were IEPs in the schools for children with learning disabilities and the parents were invited,” Saunders said. “I was shocked at the number of parents that didn’t attend. It broke my heart.”

In addition to her work as a counselor, Saunders has hands-on experience with child advocacy through her work as a foster parent. Saunders has been a licensed foster parent for 10 years.

“I have fostered 20 children and currently, including my own children, I have seven children in my home,” Saunders said.

Dean of the College of Education Tarrell Portman said Saunders’ experiences translate well into the work she does at Winona State.

“I would say that her experiences and professional training have given her the feet on the ground to deal with advocating for those in need, whether it is children or individuals with disabilities,” Portman said. “She brings to the students a richness of experience that I believe is the core of what Winona State has to offer to our students across campus.”

One of the changes Saunders has implemented during her short time as director includes setting up an online minor for the program.

“We are offering our minor online so we can reach a broader audience of students outside of Winona State. It helps people with tight schedules and it is increasing awareness,” Saunders said.

According to Saunders, almost 500 students take CAST-related courses a year.

The CAST program has been at Winona State since 2004, and has recently found its home in the College of Education. Portman said that the 2016-17 academic year is the program’s first year within the College of Education.

Prior to the College of Education, the CAST program was found within the College of Nursing and Health Sciences and before that, the program was led by the College of Liberal Arts.

Due to the connection with bettering the lives of children, Portman believes the College of Education is a great fit for the CAST program.

“In the College of Education, we are focused on people from birth to age 20, so we work with children and we train people to work with children,” Portman said. “It brings people together who are focused on children and on meeting the needs of children, whether that’s academically, intellectually or emotionally.”

Julie Thompson-Hakes has been a professor within the CAST department since its development. Thompson-Hakes said that after the death of fellow CAST professor Jackie Hatlevig, she felt that a gap had been left in the department. With Saunders’ employment as director, Thompson-Hakes believes that the department has been revitalized.

“I see [Saunders] as fulfilling Jackie’s dreams,” Thompson-Hakes said. “Their brains are so similar and Jackie would have been [Saunders’] best friend.”

With her extra resources, Saunders has been finding ways to get students involved with child advocacy. Saunders is a member of the Child Abuse Prevention Council. Child abuse prevention month is in April, and she will be working with Winona State’s CAST club to create awareness for the cause and get the students involved.

For Saunders, her whole career has been about bringing awareness to vulnerable populations.

“All I have ever wanted to do is make a difference. If you were to look at my dissertation, I wrote a quote that says, ‘It doesn’t matter if anyone knows I made a difference, what matters is that the difference is made,’ and I really believe that,” Saunders said.

During her time as a foster parent, Saunders has said that she believes this is where she has been able to impact children the most.

“When children experience trauma, their brains are impacted in a negative way, and even though we can’t undo everything, research shows that if we give these children a safe place and a loving home, that we literally change the neuro-pathways in a positive direction,” Saunders said. “Sometimes people say ‘How can you do foster care and then let them go? I just have to hang on to that fact that I made a difference.’”

By Elizabeth Pulanco