Meet Vince Palladino, Brandie Spencer and Tara Milliken

Vince Palladino, Brandie Spencer and Tara Milliken were all selected as conference assistants for the 2011 Mortar Board National Conference. Read more about these smart, capable Mortar Board leaders.

Vince Palladino recently graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s in political science. While an undergraduate, he served as editor of the Undergraduate Law Journal and interned in the office of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein.

As president of the Agathai chapter during the 2010-2011 academic year, he focused on building a spirit of teamwork within the chapter. “Good leaders can’t do everything,” he said, “so they have to take a group that is usually unformed and wield it into a team that is tightly focused on accomplishing a specific goal. Teams are orderly and disciplined; groups are not.” 

Under his leadership, the chapter successfully completed a number of projects and events that promoted scholarship, leadership and service on the UCLA campus. Among the chapter’s accomplishments this year was receiving distinguished recognition from California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

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Brandie Spencer, a 2011 graduate of the University of the Pacific, wants to help new chapter leaders understand that “actively participating in Mortar Board — and helping grow their chapter’s visibility on and off campus — will help them develop professionally and academically and help create social change.”

As the founder and executive director of Empowering Young Voices, Inc. (EYV), Brandie knows a thing or two about social change. EYV, based in Stockton, Calif., is a nonprofit organization that teaches life skills and leadership training to young people through peer mentors. EYV has worked with several schools, colleges and community organizations in the Stockton area.

During his tenure as president of the Knolens chapter, Brandie used his organizational skills, creativity and ingenuity to increase member participation in chapter events and maximize the chapter’s visibility on campus. His efforts paid off—this past year, the chapter received the highest number of self-nominations it has had in a decade.

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Like her Mortar Board chapter, Tara Milliken has been a visible and vibrant presence on the campus of The Ohio State University. Graduating in 2011 with bachelor’s degrees in English and agricultural and extension education, Tara served as a university ambassador; as president of Micki Zartman Scarlet and Gray Ag Day, a one-day event to educate over 600 elementary students on the importance of agriculture; and was an officer in Sigma Alpha Professional Agricultural Sorority. Among her many honors was being named a Top Twenty Senior in Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

In addition to those activities, she served as president of the Mabel G. Freeman chapter of Mortar Board. In that capacity, she led the chapter through major structural changes. Though they had a large and active executive board, Tara recognized that the chapter was not doing enough to engage its remaining members. Based on her experiences, Tara’s advises incoming chapter leaders that a chapter “cannot succeed without a broader vision for the future, and it is crucial that the executive team recognizes the importance of adapting to best meet the needs of its membership.”