D’Ann Urbaniak Lesch directs the Office of Scholarly Engagement, the campus hub for high-impact practices including community engagement, collaborative research, global studies, competitive fellowships and honors. D’Ann is a co-founder of the award-winning Welcoming the Dear Neighbor? Project, a multi year interdisciplinary and community-engaged effort to research, map and educate on historical racism in housing and current day impacts. She holds a Master of Education from the University of Minnesota in Youth Development Leadership.