Dr. Cleopatra Charles is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA) at Rutgers University–Newark. She is a public budgeting scholar whose research focuses on financial management and fiscal policy issues that affect public organizations such as fiscal slack which incorporates debt management, revenue diversification, and revenue structure. More recently, her research has focused on nonprofit organizations and the relationship between governance decisions and financial preparedness in dealing with adverse circumstances. Her work has appeared in several top peer-reviewed journals, including Public Budgeting and Finance, Municipal Finance Journal, Public Finance and Management and Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management.  

Project Title: Amplify Democracy: A Student-Led Podcast and Digital Toolkit on Civic Engagement Through the Arts

Many young people feel disconnected from democratic processes, perceiving them as abstract or inaccessible. Traditional approaches to civics education often fail to resonate withe students from diverse cultural, socioeconomic, and academic backgrounds. Meanwhile, the arts are a powerful yet underutilized medium for civic engagement. This project, Amplify Democracy, seeks to address the disconnect by positioning students as the drivers of an innovative, arts-focused civic education initiative.