UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — With a total commitment of $34,000, Penn State College of the Liberal Arts alumna Cassandra Matos has supported a program that played a fundamental role in shaping her experience as a student and future professional. Her gift to World in Conversation (WinC) will help the program to engage the Penn State community in honest conversations on difficult topics through facilitated dialogues across the University and beyond.  

In early 2002, spouses Laurie Mulvey, clinical professor of sociology, and Sam Richards, teaching professor of sociology, embarked on what they thought would be a small side project.

With a spirit of collaboration and a shared goal of addressing pressing social issues, the couple selected a group of students from Richards’ SOC 119 course, Race and Ethnic Relations in America, to become the center’s first facilitators. The team began hosting dialogues across the campus in dorms, fraternities, sororities and various other student groups.   

Matos, a 2008 political science and 2011 Penn State Dickinson Law graduate, was an early participant in the newly established WinC and embraced the vision of Mulvey and Richards who believed the voices of people from all viewpoints and backgrounds should be heard and valued. They also saw that through facilitated dialogue, people could actually value divergent perspectives and expand their own understanding of complex social challenges.

“Working at WinC was one of the most transformative experiences of my life. I do not believe I would be the person I am today without having done the work,” said Matos, who currently serves as vice president, head of corporate, regulatory and commercial legal, and deputy corporate secretary with a global health care company. “Learning from Sam, Laurie and my colleagues at WinC forever changed the way I view and engage with the world.” 

World in Conversation has grown today to become a model for how facilitated dialogue can transform relationships and communities. During its 20th anniversary year in 2022, the center celebrated its progress from facilitating 135 discussions its first year to more than 2,000 dialogues across nine Penn State colleges and 11 international partner locations.   

With the ushering in of a new era for the program and a recent loss of previous funding sources, however, Mulvey saw an inherent need to maintain the program. Together, she and Richards made the decision to make an estate commitment of $25,000 to establish the “Fund for a World in Conversation.” They also challenged alumni of the program to contribute an additional $25,000 by Oct. 31, 2023, to activate the endowment and pledged an additional $25,000 gift to match those funds.  

Last fall, with the deadline approaching and $9,000 still needed to reach the goal, Matos answered the call by gifting WinC with the entire outstanding amount to secure the endowment.   

“Cassandra’s commitment wasn’t just a financial contribution; it was a symbol of the deep connections and lasting influence of WinC,” Mulvey said. “It’s amazing that such a young alum was willing and able to support us in this way. Cassandra’s efforts to help ensure future generations of students will have the same opportunity to learn how to develop the skills to lead people in this transformative work really touched us.”  

Unbeknownst to Mulvey, Matos’ gift was about to significantly increase. Several months later, while discussing the importance of WinC with Clarence Lang, Susan Welch Dean of the College of the Liberal Arts, Matos revealed her spring plans to commit an additional $25,000 to WinC to further support the program.    

“When I learned that WinC was looking to raise funds to help the program continue in the way it had previously, I wanted to do anything I could to help preserve an organization that created such an impactful experience for me,” Matos said. “I had to do whatever I could, because I believe that WinC can touch so many other people in the same way it changed me. The program is so important, and if I could be even a small part of helping to further the work, I felt that I had to do that.” 

Matos added that when she thinks of today’s students participating in WinC, she hopes they learn to see themselves in other people, to approach a conversation with the goal of listening to understand instead of waiting to respond, to practice radical empathy — and to give grace to other people and try to hear them even when it’s hard.  

“To believe that each person’s voice matters and should be heard in a conversation, including their own, but also including those they may disagree with. To notice the people in the room who are quiet but have something to say and to create space for them. That diversity of thought and civil discourse makes us better as a society and makes us more likely to achieve the sort of collaboration that is required for real solutions to problems,” Matos said. “I genuinely believe the work they do can change the world.” 

Matos hopes that her gift can inspire others to support WinC so that it can continue to be a thought leader on a unique and practiced approach to civil discourse. 

Gifts to World in Conversation advance the University’s historic land-grant mission to serve and lead. Through philanthropy, alumni and friends are helping students to join the Penn State family and prepare for lifelong success; driving research, outreach and economic development that grow our shared strength and readiness for the future; and increasing the University’s impact for families, patients and communities across the commonwealth and around the world. Learn more by visiting raise.psu.edu.