Empowering
Youth.
Elevating
Communities.
Susan Hirt Hagen CORE is a translational research center dedicated to strengthening communities through formal and informal youth mentoring programs, interactive trainings, empirical research on protective factors, and program evaluation services.
Welcome!
We’re Glad You Found Susan Hirt Hagen CORE.
We are committed to providing schools and organizations high quality resources to improve outcomes for youth and the communities they call home. Whether you need a tailored mentoring experience for your school, a training for your organization, or research services for your program, we’re here to help.
Community
Outreach.
The Community Outreach team designs and implements evidence-based mentoring programs for students. In addition, our team develops and delivers high level trainings on topics such as trauma informed approaches, resilience, peer mistreatment, adolescent development, and mentoring best practices.
Research &
Evaluation.
As a research center of Penn State Behrend, we have access to world class faculty and resources that allows us to perform both basic and applied research within the community. Our R&E team specializes in all aspects of program evaluation - we are here to help guide your team in making data-driven informed decisions to effectively meet your goals.
Featured Student
Meet Pucong
Meet Pucong, an international student from China studying Applied Clinical Psychology at Penn State Behrend! With a passion for trauma research and a heart for helping children and teens, Pucong is dedicated to advancing clinical research and psychotherapy practices. As a Graduate Research Assistant at Susan Hirt Hagen CORE, he plays a key role in supporting research and evaluating vital community projects.
CORE Leadership
James J. Hodge, Ph.D.
Director
Charisse Nixon, Ph.D.
Associate Director
Kristin Hesch, M.S.
Associate Director of Community Outreach
Megan E. LaMotte, Ph.D.
Associate Director of Research & Evaluation
Let’s Start the Conversation!
If you are interested in learning more about how CORE can help you, we invite you to reach out to us. One of our team members will be happy to connect with you.