KAILI BENHAM
WATERLOO,IA
Summary
My education, work experiences and joy of working and helping others puts me in a position to be an ideal candidate for many positions. My top character strength is “love of learning” meaning I love to master new skills, grow my knowledge, understanding, and relationships with a diverse range of communities, identities, and experiences.
Overview
12
12
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
STUDENT HEALTH & WELLBEING COORDINATOR-SWS
UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA (UNI)
2022.10 - Current
- Oversee the Garrett Lee Smith Suicide Prevention Grant program and objectives.
- Provide evidence-based trainings, workshops, and opportunities to the campus and local community on suicide prevention, mental health, and alcohol and other drug awareness and interventions.
- Collect, record, analyze, and input data into the government grant tracking system, SPARS.
- Serve as chairperson of the Healthy Campus Coalition.
- Serve on Out & Ally Network Leadership Team.
- Provide wellness coaching to students using motivational interviewing, coaching, and strength-based advising approaches.
- Plan, organize, and execute one mental health focused conference per year.
- Supervise and mentor mental health counseling graduate assistant.
- Experience with Blackboard, CMS, Qualtrics, PeopleSoft, Drupal.
Financial Aid Advisor
OFFICE OF FINANCIAL AID & SCHOLARSHIPS-UNI
2017.01 - 2022.10
- Counsel and advise parents and students on eligibility for various financial aid programs, policy, and procedures, and alternative financing options.
- Present financial information to large and small groups and assist with financial literacy efforts (visit days, orientation, outreach events etc.)
- Lead planning of the office’s participation in orientation
- Manage the administration and disbursement of private education loans, and act as back-up for federal loans.
- Oversee TEACH Grant awarding, requirements, counseling, and data collection.
- Lead outreach for delinquency and default prevention.
- Organize, promote, and provide exit counseling opportunities to graduating students and loan borrowers.
- Reconcile $5.3 Million in private loan accounts
- Supervise student employees in assisting with loan operations.
- Supervise graduate assistants in building a default prevention program.
HOUSING SUPPORT SPECIALIST
CEDAR VALLEY FRIENDS OF THE FAMILY
2012.12 - 2016.12
- Provide one-on-one advocacy, educational materials, and outreach services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and the homeless.
- Develop and run a financial literacy education program for domestic violence survivors.
- Meet with clients in home to assist them in maintaining housing by teaching them necessary skills to become self-sufficient: budgeting, tenant rights and responsibilities, decreasing employment barriers, and ways to increase income.
- Maintain positive working relationships with current landlords, and recruit new landlords through effective communication, problem solving, and advocacy for client needs.
- Co-found the Gratis Depot-Inform community of client household needs, organize collection of donations, and recruit volunteers to help operate the free store for clients.
- Assist in writing local and federal grants that fund our housing and crisis service programs.
- Participate in multiple committees, including the communication work group and the strategic planning committee, for a cohesive organization.
Education
MASTERS IN POSTSECONDARY ED: STUDENT AFFAIRS -
University of Northern Iowa
BACHELOR OF LIBERAL ARTS - Psychology
University of Northern Iowa
ASSOCIATES IN LIBERAL ARTS -
Hawkeye Community College
Skills
- Public Speaking & Training
- Crisis Counseling
- Wellness Coaching
- Large Event Planning & Coordination
- Grant Writing
- Program Assessment
- Qualtrics & Blackthorn
- Fundraising
- Curriculum Planning
- Advocate for DEI
- Committee Work
- Financial Management
- Data Entry
Certification
- NASPA Certified Peer Educator (Train-the-Trainer)
- Motivational Interviewing
- Ethics for Professionals and Social Justice Research
- QPR Suicide Prevention (Facilitator)
- Safe Zone Ally
- Green Zone
- Mental Health Ally (Facilitator)
- Green Dot (Facilitator)
- Youth & Adult Mental Health First Aid
- FERPA
- Implicit Bias
- Financial Literacy & Coaching
- Certified Victim Counselor (expired)
- Advanced Trauma Informed Care
- Positive Psych: Resilience Certificate
Accomplishments
- Presented at the American Association for Colleges for Teach Education (AACTE) Annual Meeting in 2022.
- Presented to the Department of Education on Helping Teachers Afford Comprehensive Pathways into the Profession and Achieve Loan Forgiveness.
- Assisted a UNI-led effort that engaged more than 400 educators, scholars, policy leaders, and college and university leaders from every state, to draft a policy memo to the Biden-Harris Transition Team, that later lead to important changes to the EDUCATORS for America Act, through congressional approval.
Timeline
STUDENT HEALTH & WELLBEING COORDINATOR-SWS
UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA (UNI)
2022.10 - Current
Financial Aid Advisor
OFFICE OF FINANCIAL AID & SCHOLARSHIPS-UNI
2017.01 - 2022.10
HOUSING SUPPORT SPECIALIST
CEDAR VALLEY FRIENDS OF THE FAMILY
2012.12 - 2016.12
MASTERS IN POSTSECONDARY ED: STUDENT AFFAIRS -
University of Northern Iowa
BACHELOR OF LIBERAL ARTS - Psychology
University of Northern Iowa
ASSOCIATES IN LIBERAL ARTS -
Hawkeye Community College
- NASPA Certified Peer Educator (Train-the-Trainer)
- Motivational Interviewing
- Ethics for Professionals and Social Justice Research
- QPR Suicide Prevention (Facilitator)
- Safe Zone Ally
- Green Zone
- Mental Health Ally (Facilitator)
- Green Dot (Facilitator)
- Youth & Adult Mental Health First Aid
- FERPA
- Implicit Bias
- Financial Literacy & Coaching
- Certified Victim Counselor (expired)
- Advanced Trauma Informed Care
- Positive Psych: Resilience Certificate
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