Our Team
Valerie provides leadership and oversight for the center’s programs and services. Over 25 years, she has built trusting relationships across campus. Valerie has worked alongside students and campus partners to design enriching intercultural initiatives that have created a sense of belonging for diverse communities at Penn. As a result, the center is known as a space for supportive collaboration and innovation. Valerie also loves using her background in psychology and counseling to coach and mentor students and colleagues. In her free time, Valerie enjoys traveling, recommending good eats in Philadelphia, and reading inspiring fiction and poetry.
Kia is a first-generation low-income Hmong-American college graduate. She is a political refugee of the Vietnam War, born in a refugee camp in Thailand but raised in snowy St. Paul, Minnesota. Ask Kia about the GIC’s signature programs such as the Alliance for Understanding (AU) program, the Intercultural Leadership Program (ILP), our courses for credit, and our communications outreach. She also serves as the advisor to the United Minorities Council (UMC). As an Alumna of PennGSE’s Intercultural Communication program (GSE’16), Kia can also help answers about the job hunt post graduate school in the intercultural field. When not at the GIC, you can find her running a race in the city or hiking in the woods.
Mary Ann is coming to the GIC team this Fall 2023 from Wahiawā, Hawaiʻi. In her new role, she will assist in designing leadership development opportunities and cultural wellness initiatives to help students from diverse backgrounds thrive at Penn. Mary Ann will provide oversight for PennFLASH, our intercultural virtual alumni community platform, and will also bring experience and passion to her role in supporting Native, Indigenous, and First Nation students. As the advisor for Natives at Penn (NAP), she will provide guidance on community building, advocacy, and program planning and implementation. In her free time, Mary Ann plans to spend lots of time outdoors, exploring the city and finding ways to get involved.
Patricia serves in an administrative role and as the building manager, overseeing the facility, executing financial transactions, and providing critical support for center courses, educational programs, student organizations, workshops, and events. She uses her experience as a mother of two to help parents and students navigate their college experience. She loves to connect with parents, students and alumni to create the feeling of a home away from home at the GIC. She brings knowledge and skills sets from her work in local non-profit settings to event planning and community building at Penn. In her free time she loves spending time with her family, cooking and gardening.
FAQ
Getting Involved:
The mission of the Albert M. Greenfield Intercultural Center (GIC) is to build community, create a sense of belonging, and foster intercultural understanding. The center also works closely to advise and support student organizations interested in planning campus-wide intercultural activities. We are also available to assist in designing and implementing workshops on diversity issues for student organizations and administrative offices on campus. For graduate students interested in doing applied work in intercultural education, the center provides a small number of intercultural internships.
You can get involved with the GIC both formally and informally. Formally, you can join one of our several intercultural offerings. Informally, you can just show up at our center and join us for our weekly events such as Pancake Mondays, Immigration Series, FruiTea, and more!
You don’t have to sign up or interview or be on a specific listerv in order to engage with the GIC. All you have to do is show up!
The UMC represents a number of individual student organizations. You can join by participating in on our the UMC’s constituent groups and representing that organization at UMC’s General Body meetings. You can also contribute by applying to join the UMC Board.
Yes. The GIC has worked with departments across the university to design workshops that meet student and staff needs. Some examples include training workshops for CHAS staff; summer workshops for student interns in Engineering; and training workshops for tutors, and peer advisors.
Yes, depending on the breadth and nature of the program. The very nature of intercultural work requires collaboration and the leveraging of diverse resources and talents. All of our programs are collaborations between GIC, our campus partners as well as, community partnerships. For more information, contact Director Valerie De Cruz at decruz@upenn.edu.
No, all students are required to attend the spring break trip which will be Sunday afternoon through Thursday morning.
Graduate Students:
Yes! Many graduate students take our courses and participate in our signature programs. There are also a few internships at the center for graduate students who are interested in doing applied work in intercultural education. To learn about our courses and signature programs, contact our Associate Director Kia Lor at lork@upenn.edu. For questions about the internships at the center, contact the Director Valerie De Cruz, decruz@upenn.edu.
Program Support:
The GIC funds programs with an intercultural goal. You can learn more on our Student Organization Funding page.
View our meeting spaces here: Meeting Space
If your group is under 25 people, at least three-week notification is required. If your group is 25 people or more, at least one month of notification is required. For more information, contact Associate Director Kia Lor at lork@upenn.edu.
A computer cluster is available on the third floor of the GIC for use by Penn students. It is equipped with three computers and a printer. Should you experience concerns with the equipment, please contact a staff member.
Penn Resources:
Penn Compact 2020 illustrates the University’s commitment to increasing access and diversity. Penn strives to meet the full financial need of traditional undergraduates with an all-grant aid policy and to strengthen financial aid for graduate and professional students. Penn offers additional resources and supports that may be helpful for low-income or first-generation students. This web page provides links to services, support, and administrative contacts to assist you with any concerns. LEARN MORE
Contact
Albert M. Greenfield Intercultural Center
3708 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104—6188
Phone: (215) 898-3358
Fax: (215) 573-2597
Email: gic@dolphin.upenn.edu
GIC Hours of Operation Summer 2024
Monday: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Tuesday: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Wednesday: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Thursday: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Friday: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
History
The Albert M. Greenfield Intercultural Center was established in 1984, in response to the 1978 United Minorities Council’s call for a campus center for minority students. Under the direction of the founding Director Rene Gonzalez, the Greenfield Intercultural Center’s mission was twofold: to provide support for student of color and to foster intercultural understanding on campus. He and his family lived in the house behind GIC and cultivated a culture of close-knit community at GIC. In addition to fostering intercultural understanding, the center was home to four major communities and helped establish ethnic heritage months and programs to celebrate the rich heritages of African American, Latino, Asian American and Native American communities.
A decade ago, Penn expanded on the center’s mission by adding three sister centers, Makuu the Black Cultural Center, La Casa Latina- Center for Hispanic Excellence and PAACH- the Pan Asian American Community House. As these vibrant centers began to absorb and increase programming to serve those communities, the GIC in turn expanded its support for Native communities and has reached out to newer communities such as Arab communities, Turkish students and international students. The center also offers numerous courses for credit, programs, and services designed to engage students around diversity and enhance their cultural competency skills for the 21st century.
Faithful to its original mission, the center continues to serve as an intercultural incubator of new ideas and programs and a resource not only for students but also to the greater Penn community.