Katie Cierniak
Director
Katie Cierniak has served as the Director of the INSPIRE Living-Learning Center since January 2021, after first joining the INSPIRE staff as the Assistant Director in 2019.
Cierniak was a first-generation college student, and she earned her bachelor’s degree in Elementary and Special Education through the Teaching All Learners (TAL) program at the IU School of Education. As an undergraduate student, she participated in the Global Gateway for Teachers program, completing a semester of student teaching at Naa Tsis’ Aan Community School on the Navajo Reservation. After graduating, she worked as a Special Education teacher in Wisconsin before returning to IU for graduate school. She earned her PhD in Education Policy with a focus on International and Comparative Education.