Our Leadership
Rena Cotsones, Ph.D.
Vice President,
Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development and Chief Engagement Officer
rcotsones@niu.edu
815-753-0835
Bringing people together for a common good has been a lifelong passion for Dr. Rena Cotsones.
As vice president and chief engagement officer for NIU, Dr. Cotsones leads the Division of Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development (OERD), advancing the university’s public mission and providing leadership, partnership and support for faculty, staff and students interested in engaging with the broader region. Dr. Cotsones created and leads implementation of the university-wide Centering Engagement, Driving Impact Action Plan, in collaboration with leaders from across campus. She originated and co-chairs the NIU Engagement Roundtable (ERT) with Executive Vice President and Provost Laurie Elish-Piper and led the institutional team to ensure the 2026 reclassification of NIU as a Carnegie Engaged Institution.
In addition to leading the institutional mission function of outreach and engagement, Dr. Cotsones’s portfolio includes overseeing the Center for Governmental Studies, the P-20 Center for Engagement, Northern Public Radio, and the university’s regional centers. She co-leads NIU’s Strategic Development Team, a multi-divisional initiative to expand campus collaboration and expand funding for NIU initiatives.
During her 25+ year NIU career, Dr. Cotsones has worked with regional partners to create and implement collaborative approaches to advancing education, economic development, workforce development, and innovation initiatives in northern Illinois and Chicagoland. For example, she worked with NIU engineering, community college and industry leaders to create NIU Engineering @ RVC, a community-based, industry-integrated engineering baccalaureate completion program in Rockford, Illinois. This collaborative workforce solution has inspired the development of other innovative approaches to education and workforce development in the region and won the 2017 Award of Excellence for Talent + Place Development from the University Economic Development Association (UEDA).
Dr. Cotsones is actively engaged in the national dialogue on university engagement and outreach. She is former Chair of the Executive Committee of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) Council on Engagement and Outreach and Executive Committee member of the APLU Commission on Community and Economic Engagement. A frequent speaker on economic and community engagement, Dr. Cotsones is a faculty member for the Engagement Academy for University Leaders, a Fellow of the Strategic Doing Institute. In recognition of her leadership in the field, she was elected to the Academy of Community Engagement Scholarship in 2024. On the local level, she previously won the Athena Award in DeKalb and YMCA Community Leadership Award in Rockford.
As vice president and chief engagement officer for NIU, Dr. Cotsones leads the Division of Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development (OERD), advancing the university’s public mission and providing leadership, partnership and support for faculty, staff and students interested in engaging with the broader region. Dr. Cotsones created and leads implementation of the university-wide Centering Engagement, Driving Impact Action Plan, in collaboration with leaders from across campus. She originated and co-chairs the NIU Engagement Roundtable (ERT) with Executive Vice President and Provost Laurie Elish-Piper and led the institutional team to ensure the 2026 reclassification of NIU as a Carnegie Engaged Institution.
In addition to leading the institutional mission function of outreach and engagement, Dr. Cotsones’s portfolio includes overseeing the Center for Governmental Studies, the P-20 Center for Engagement, Northern Public Radio, and the university’s regional centers. She co-leads NIU’s Strategic Development Team, a multi-divisional initiative to expand campus collaboration and expand funding for NIU initiatives.
During her 25+ year NIU career, Dr. Cotsones has worked with regional partners to create and implement collaborative approaches to advancing education, economic development, workforce development, and innovation initiatives in northern Illinois and Chicagoland. For example, she worked with NIU engineering, community college and industry leaders to create NIU Engineering @ RVC, a community-based, industry-integrated engineering baccalaureate completion program in Rockford, Illinois. This collaborative workforce solution has inspired the development of other innovative approaches to education and workforce development in the region and won the 2017 Award of Excellence for Talent + Place Development from the University Economic Development Association (UEDA).
Dr. Cotsones is actively engaged in the national dialogue on university engagement and outreach. She is former Chair of the Executive Committee of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) Council on Engagement and Outreach and Executive Committee member of the APLU Commission on Community and Economic Engagement. A frequent speaker on economic and community engagement, Dr. Cotsones is a faculty member for the Engagement Academy for University Leaders, a Fellow of the Strategic Doing Institute. In recognition of her leadership in the field, she was elected to the Academy of Community Engagement Scholarship in 2024. On the local level, she previously won the Athena Award in DeKalb and YMCA Community Leadership Award in Rockford.
Staci Hoste is the director of the region’s public radio stations. Northern Public Radio is a five-station network of public broadcasting services owned and operated by Northern Illinois University. 89.5 WNIJ, the network’s flagship station, is a charter member of NPR and programs news, information and entertainment throughout northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. Meanwhile, 90.5 WNIU provides the region’s only source for 24-hour non-commercial classical music.
Staci has been a lifelong listener to WNIJ and WNIU – first as a “prisoner of public radio” in her parents’ backseat, and now of her own enthusiastic accord. Staci joined the stations in 2008 and became director in 2012. In her role, she oversees general station operations as well as the fundraising and community engagement strategies.
She also maintains and represents an active presence in the public radio industry nationally. Staci is a director on the University Station Alliance (U:SA) governing board. The U:SA is a national organization focused on strengthening relations between stations and license holders like that of Northern Public Radio and Northern Illinois University. Work on the U:SA board is centered on building strategic alliances, sharing resources, guarding editorial integrity, benchmarking performance and reviewing governance. Hoste also engages on legislative issues related to public broadcasting throughout the state in her role on the executive committee of the Illinois Public Broadcasting Council.
Staci also spends time working with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting on issues related to ensuring “universal service” and examining ways to maximize the public/private partnership nature of the Community Service Grants. And, in hopes of learning from others and maybe talking about something other than radio, Staci serves on the NIU Friends of the Library board as well as the Northwestern Medicine Hospice board of directors.
Outside of the station, Staci enjoys spending time outdoors, running, reading and keeping busy raising two “prisoners of public radio” of her own.
Jeannine East is the director of community engagement impact in the Division of Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development at Northern Illinois University. In this role, Jeannine helps measure, elevate and celebrate the community engagement work happening on campus through several initiatives including creating and maintaining the NIU Partnership Map and assessing the outcomes and impact of community engagement across the division. She was project manager for NIU’s collaborative community engagement self-study resulting in NIU’s 2026 Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement. She's a member of NIU’s Community Engagement Roundtable, now in its third year. With over 25 years of marketing experience, Jeannine also serves as the marketing content expert in OERD.
From 2018-2024, she coordinated the growth of esports on campus, where she worked to open four esports centers, launch a varsity esports program, and increase the role of esports in student recruitment and retention. She’s also collaborated with faculty, staff, students and the community to help build competitive esports programs that support healthy gaming practices.
Jeannine is a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP). She holds a bachelor’s degree in English and Graduate Certificate in technical writing from NIU and a Certificate in esports management from University of California Irvine.
Mary Strub has been with the Northern Illinois University Division of Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development since 2008, where she has been the senior business manager/administrative associate for multiple departments, including the Center for Governmental Studies and the EdSystems Center. In Mary’s current role as director of outreach administration, she supports the division’s departments and centers by managing personnel decisions and processes, administering contracts and grants, creating and maintaining budgets, processing international employee paperwork, and implementing policies and procedures to support key initiatives. Mary worked in human resources at NIU (then called personnel) from 1982 to 1991 before working as a business and project manager in the private sector until her return to NIU in 2008.
Mary approaches her work with the goal of establishing the framework that will enable OERD to foster partnerships and engagement. She draws on her familiarity with university policies and procedures to support the outstanding research, programs and events that come out of the Division of Outreach. She builds strong working relationships with external clients and across campus to help manage the grants and contracts that fund many of the division’s efforts. Mary enjoys the wide array of work done in the division and the variety of challenges she encounters. Mary holds a BA in English from Northern Illinois University.
Greg Kuhn is director of Northern Illinois University’s Center for Governmental Studies (CGS). Greg has 40 years of combined experience in government administration, consulting and academics. In addition to working at CGS for many years, Greg has also served in city management as Village Manager in Clarendon Hills and Assistant to the Manager in Skokie, both Illinois communities in the Chicago area. He has also served as a consultant to governments as Director of Local Government Management Services at Sikich, LLP, Managing Vice-President of the PAR Group and Senior Associate in Governmental Services at Korn-Ferry International.
As part of CGS, Greg has undertaken research, conducted organizational studies and provided leadership assistance to governments throughout the state. He specializes in strategic planning, public management, organizational design, leadership training, and governance and policy formulation.
Greg is also a lecturer in NIU’s Department of Public Administration and the Northwestern University School of Professional Studies, and he has earned teaching awards at both schools. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Marquette University and a master’s degree in Public Administration and Ph.D. in Political Science from Northern Illinois University.
In his spare time, Greg is active in his community, serving on Amita Health’s Hinsdale and LaGrange Hospital’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, and for 27 years on the Clarendon Hills Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals, including terms as vice-chair and chair. Greg is a native of Grand Ridge, Illinois, and comes from a family with long-standing ties to NIU.
As part of CGS, Greg has undertaken research, conducted organizational studies and provided leadership assistance to governments throughout the state. He specializes in strategic planning, public management, organizational design, leadership training, and governance and policy formulation.
Greg is also a lecturer in NIU’s Department of Public Administration and the Northwestern University School of Professional Studies, and he has earned teaching awards at both schools. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Marquette University and a master’s degree in Public Administration and Ph.D. in Political Science from Northern Illinois University.
In his spare time, Greg is active in his community, serving on Amita Health’s Hinsdale and LaGrange Hospital’s Patient and Family Advisory Council, and for 27 years on the Clarendon Hills Plan Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals, including terms as vice-chair and chair. Greg is a native of Grand Ridge, Illinois, and comes from a family with long-standing ties to NIU.
Sam Ortega Guerrero
Director, Advancement for Institutional and Regional Initiatives
sguerrero@niu.edu
815-753-1386
Sam Ortega Guerrero is the director of advancement for institutional and regional initiatives, a jointly shared position between the NIU Foundation and the Division of Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development. As a part of the corporate and foundation relations team, Sam connects funders to the division’s programs and collaborative projects. He is also part of the NIU Strategic Development Team, which aims to create a culture of strategic development through interdivision collaboration and by matching funders with NIU priorities to create game-changing opportunities.
Sam earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Benedictine University. Previously, he was manager of programming and events at Innovation DuPage. A key leader during the organization’s startup and formative years, he contributed to developing the program offerings for Innovation DuPage’s incubation, acceleration, partnership development and DEIA initiatives, and he worked to recruit and support more than 80 high-growth potential startups and 120 small businesses. Prior to his involvement at Innovation DuPage, Guerrero was a commercial real estate broker, serving as vice president of Golden Group Real Estate.
Sam earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Benedictine University. Previously, he was manager of programming and events at Innovation DuPage. A key leader during the organization’s startup and formative years, he contributed to developing the program offerings for Innovation DuPage’s incubation, acceleration, partnership development and DEIA initiatives, and he worked to recruit and support more than 80 high-growth potential startups and 120 small businesses. Prior to his involvement at Innovation DuPage, Guerrero was a commercial real estate broker, serving as vice president of Golden Group Real Estate.
Dan Streed is the director of outreach operations and budget in the Division of Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development at Northern Illinois University.
Dan oversees NIU's Rockford and Naperville facilities as well as the NIU Esports Initiative.
Prior to joining the division, Dan worked in local government management, including as the budget manager for the fast growing City of Thornton, Colorado, and, most recently, as the deputy and acting county administrator in Boone County, Illinois. Other previous stops include internships at the City of DeKalb, NIU, and the Chicago Rockford International Airport. Dan brings to OERD extensive experience in public sector budgeting, multi-year financial and capital planning, human resources and purchasing.
Dan is a proud native of Rockford and holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a Master of Public Administration degree from Northern Illinois University. Outside of work, Dan enjoys time with family, sports and exploring the outdoors.
Jennifer Groce is the director of community-engaged partnerships in the Division of Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development at Northern Illinois University (NIU). She has been with the division since 2004. In her current role, Jennifer acts as a connector between the university, local governments, businesses and nonprofits to foster and promote collaborative engagement. She is particularly focused on facilitating community-engaged scholarship that addresses critical societal issues, serves the public good, and enriches research and teaching.
Jennifer holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public administration, both from NIU. With over 20 years of experience in the DeKalb area, she has worked as a community relations and economic development professional, leading initiatives and facilitating engagement with higher education institutions, local government, private sector partners and nonprofit organizations.
Throughout her career, Jennifer has received numerous awards for her contributions to the local community, including the Athena Award from the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce. Jennifer is highly regarded for her ability to lead impactful initiatives, her collaborative approach and her talent for bringing diverse perspectives together to achieve common goals. She is fiercely dedicated to ensuring that community voices are heard in all her efforts.
Jennifer holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in public administration, both from NIU. With over 20 years of experience in the DeKalb area, she has worked as a community relations and economic development professional, leading initiatives and facilitating engagement with higher education institutions, local government, private sector partners and nonprofit organizations.
Throughout her career, Jennifer has received numerous awards for her contributions to the local community, including the Athena Award from the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce. Jennifer is highly regarded for her ability to lead impactful initiatives, her collaborative approach and her talent for bringing diverse perspectives together to achieve common goals. She is fiercely dedicated to ensuring that community voices are heard in all her efforts.
Learn about the Engagement Task Force and our institutional goals for Centering Engagement, Driving Impact.