Education alumna and public policy assistant teaching professor Daniella Long has earned the 2025 Changemaking Education Award from the Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of South Florida.
The award celebrates educators who prepare students to become engaged, thoughtful leaders in their communities. Long, who earned her Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies, is currently assistant chair of the Department of Public Policy & Administration in the Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs.
“What people might not expect is how personal this work is for me,” Long says. “This recognition is not just about my professional accomplishments; it’s about the communities I represent and the students I serve.”
Her interdisciplinary background — spanning criminal justice, higher education administration and women’s studies — informs every aspect of her teaching. In addition to her Ph.D. from FIU, Long has a master’s and bachelor’s in criminal justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. She also holds a certificate in women’s studies from FIU.
From early on in her academic journey, Long has explored identities and backgrounds as strengths, encouraging her students to do the same. In the classroom, her assignments challenge them to explore beyond what is familiar. One hallmark project asks them to conduct ethnographies in communities they’ve never visited. While some students produce written analyses, others go further, creating short documentaries that spotlight untold stories.
Long also serves as faculty lead of the Volcker Alliance/Next Generation (NextGen) Service Corps Program at FIU, co-directs the Undergraduate Leadership Certificate and is a faculty fellow for the Maurice A. Ferré Institute for Civic Leadership, where she works to bridge academic learning with real-world community engagement and mentor the next generation of changemakers.
Looking ahead, she hopes to further integrate public service leadership in undergraduate education, encouraging students to collaborate across disciplines, engage with community partners and see changemaking as an integral part of their professional identities.