Meet Our Speakers

Tracy Davidson

For 30 years, 15-time Emmy Award-winning journalist Tracy Davidson has connected with audiences as both a news anchor and a highly sought-after resilience speaker. In November 2025, she stepped away from the news desk—where she co-anchored NBC10 News in Philadelphia and served as an Investigative Consumer Reporter—to dedicate herself full time to speaking.

Tracy’s mission is to empower women and girls personally and professionally. Through candidly sharing her own life experiences and actionable strategies, her talks—including a TEDx presentation on digital distraction—teach audiences to transform their lives by directing their focus, energy, and self-acceptance.

She also co-created Lifting Your Voice, a day-long experience in partnership with leadership consultant Jen Croneberger. The initiative blends science-backed insights and personal storytelling to foster deep connection, resilience, confidence, and empathy among women and teenage girls.
 

Allison Hoesch

Since joining Widener University in 2018, three-time Widener graduate Allison Hoesch became the first woman to serve as Executive Director of Campus Safety and Emergency Preparedness. In this role, she oversees Campus Safety and Emergency Management and collaborates with students, faculty, staff, and local partners to cultivate a safe, welcoming, and prepared campus environment across all locations.

As a doctoral researcher, Allison’s work focuses on women leading public safety departments in higher education, examining gendered power dynamics, resistance, and strategies for change. Her professional experience and research reflect a passion for understanding the unique challenges women face in traditionally male-dominated leadership roles. Allison is committed to fostering personal growth, building resilient communities, and encouraging others to recognize their own potential as leaders. She believes meaningful leadership begins with connection, courage, and the willingness to challenge expectations, creating space for new perspectives and stronger, more inclusive organizations.

Pamela McCauley

Currently serving as Dean of Widener University’s School of Engineering, Dr. Pamela McCauley is a nationally recognized expert in ergonomics, biomechanics, high-consequence disaster management, and engineering leadership.

She brings a wealth of higher education experience to her role, having previously served as Associate Dean at NC State, Professor at UCF, and MLK Jr. Visiting Professor at MIT. Dr. McCauley’s public service and research impact extends to roles as a National Science Foundation Program Director, a U.S. Department of State Jefferson Science Fellow, and an ASEE Faculty Fellow at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.

Beyond academia, Dr. McCauley serves as a high-tech entrepreneur and author and actively advocates for STEM and DEI initiatives. As an industry consultant and dedicated mentor, she connects analytics and human factors in industrial engineering to drive innovation and support the next generation of engineers.

Melissa Mroz

Melissa Mroz, MS, is an educator, speaker, author, yoga therapist, recreation therapist, and founder of Inspired Athletix™, an education and training company dedicated to advancing Neural Literacy and whole-person well-being and performance. A brain injury survivor herself, Melissa has spent over two decades exploring the extraordinary capacity of the human mind and body to adapt, heal, and develop. 

Her career has spanned an inclusive community center, personal training at a medically aligned health and fitness center, clinical rehabilitation with professional athletes, continuing education for professionals, coaching, and teaching at Widener University since 2016. Her work integrates neuroscience, movement, breath, and embodied practice to help people better understand and intentionally participate in their own health and development. Melissa’s mission is simple: to help create a healthier, happier, more conscious and connected world. Outside of her work, her greatest joy is spending time with family, exploring the world, being immersed in nature.

Stacey Rose

Stacey Rose is an award-winning consent educator and founder of Pearbond and Chatterbox who connects consent education with responsible, relational AI. She draws on 10+ years in higher education to design sex-positive, trauma-aware curricula for schools, institutions, and government agencies on consent, Title IX, and receiving disclosures of harm. 

Stacey's doctoral research at Widener University focuses on sexual victimization disclosures to AI, inspiring her to reframe AI literacy as a form of consent. This has allowed her to expand her work to teach people how to examine the intersection of AI relational building, consent, and data privacy. Through research, consulting, and curriculum design, Stacey helps others build AI-literate, agency-centered practices that keep people safer, more respected, and joyful.

James Vike

James Vike received his PhD in political science with concentrations in American politics and public administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. Since joining the Widener faculty, he has taught graduate-level courses for the masters in public administration program and a range of undergraduate courses relating to American politics and statistics for the political science department.

Under his proud leadership, the department has adopted political engagement as a core student learning outcome, an objective he has passionately worked to extend. James' associations with Project Pericles and the Widener Political Engagement Committee involve working with others to promote engaged citizenship across the campus as a whole.

Emily Battaglia

Dr. Emily Battaglia is a dedicated nursing professional with experience in medical-surgical nursing, research, and nursing education. She currently serves as an Assistant Professor at Widener University, where she integrates her clinical experiences into an academic environment. She believes learning is a lifelong process and should be enjoyable. 

Working closely with students has allowed her to enhance her student-teacher partnership, which she believes is an integral component of teaching. Her role as a Family Nurse Practitioner has shaped her research interest in the mental and physical health impacts on adolescents who vape. Dr. Battaglia's work highlights the need for a deeper understanding of the mental, physical, and social factors associated with vaping, which can provide valuable insights for developing effective screening tools, preventive education, and cessation programs. Through her teaching and research, Dr. Battaglia aims to uphold and promote the health of the adolescent population.

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WATCH: From Cool to Crisis: Clearing the Air on Youth Vaping 

John DeSantis

John DeSantis is a high school math teacher who earned his Masters in Education from Widener University. His dog, Ingrid, is an eight-year-old rough collie. Together, they have been a certified pet therapy team since April 2021. In that time, John and Ingrid have made over 800 visits to schools, senior healthcare and rehab facilities, businesses, first responder stations, and community events to bring comfort and ease anxiety for the people they meet.

John and Ingrid were selected for the Collie Club of America Ambassador Award for 2023 signifying them as the best community service team in the country. The Chester County Commissioners awarded them a Proclamation recognizing their service to the community. Ingrid has earned the “Gold Dog” Gold Medal for her accomplishments.

WATCH: Ingrid, my once-in-a-lifetime therapy dog

Kristina Dorsett

Kristina serves as liaison to the health sciences and outreach coordinator for Wolfgram Memorial Library on Widener’s Chester, PA campus. She has experience working in corporate science as well as being the User Experience (UX) designer for a team of instructional designers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She was drawn to librarianship because she loves helping people find what they are passionate about. She is a specialist in evidence-based practice, mindfulness, and team science. Her professional interests include the use of graphic design in health literacy, social justice issues in health care, and UX for libraries.

Kristina has been awarded with the Eta Beta chapter’s “Friend of Nursing” award and the “Friend of MSA” Award from Widener University's former Office of Multicultural Student Affairs. She strives to include diversity, equity, and inclusion in her teaching and work on campus through collaboration and promoting information literacy skills.

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Keeshea Turner Roberts

Keeshea Turner Roberts is an Assistant Professor of Law at Delaware Law School, where she teaches Family Law, Civil Procedure, and Poverty Law. A distinguished expert in family law and civil justice, she has over two decades of experience.

Keeshea began her legal career as a public benefits and family law litigator at the Neighborhood Legal Services Program, rising to manage a neighborhood office. She also served as co-director of the Civil Protection Order Project (CPOP)—a first-of-its-kind program providing legal services to respondents in domestic violence cases.

In 2021, the Association of American Law Schools named her a Bellow Scholar for her groundbreaking research on the benefits of legal counsel for respondents in civil protection cases. Her research also explores the relationship between law, structural inequality, and access to justice. Additionally, she writes on the African American experience, including anti-racism and Critical Race Theory.

Prior to Delaware Law, she taught at Howard University School of Law and lectured at law schools throughout the D.C. area. She is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia.

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WATCH: Invisible Within the Invisible

Dallas Woodruff

Dallas Woodruff is a communication studies major in her junior year. She serves as the president for the Public Relations Student Society of America as well as the vice president for Widener University’s radio station. She is a student worker for University Relations and a social media intern with the Communications Department. She worked as a research assistant for the textbook Speaking Professionally. 

In addition, Dallas has a marketing-focused internship with Intermetro Industries Corporation and works as a freelance podcast consultant. She is also a member of Lambda Pi Eta, the official honor society of the National Communication Association, and was recently placed on the President’s List for her academic achievements. She has earned certifications in social media marketing as well as search engine optimization. Her passions and interests include hiking, wellness, writing, and educating others on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. 

WATCH: Obsessive Living