Gary Kirk
Executive Director
Gary R. Kirk is associate provost at Dickinson College, where he leads the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and the Center for Civic Learning and Action. Kirk’s interdisciplinary teaching and research are grounded in the fields of public administration and nonprofit studies, and his current projects consider civic infrastructure, collective action, and community resilience. He is an expert on experiential learning pedagogy and community-engaged scholarship. Kirk holds M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in public and international affairs from Virginia Tech and a B.A. in ecology from New College of Florida.
Email: kirkg@dickinson.edu
Telephone: (717) 254-8917
Kimberly Flinchbaugh
Operations Manager
Kim assists the executive director in all the internal operations of the Forum, which include supervising the student project managers, developing publicity/marketing for all Clarke Forum programming, maintaining the Clarke Forum’s website, and managing the budget. Kim has been with the Forum since 2004. She has a B.S. in business administration from Shippensburg University.
Email: flinchbk@dickinson.edu
Telephone: (717) 254-8110
Sara Markowitz
Program Coordinator
Sara joined the Clarke Forum in 2020. A Carlisle-area native and Dickinson alum, Sara oversees Clarke Forum programming operations by functioning as the executive director’s liaison with guest speakers, faculty, administrators, students and outside organizations and works alongside the director to develop programming.
Sara manages the logistics of the guests’ visit, reviews and supervises the work of the student project managers, schedules and orchestrates livestream programs, and maintains the Forum’s program calendar. She has a B.S. in Middle East studies and religion from Dickinson College and a M.A. in global environmental policy from American University.
Email: markowis@dickinson.edu
Telephone: (717) 245-1796