About IPACE

The Institute for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement (IPACE) was created in 2012 by Dr. Terry Christensen, Professor Emeritus, Department of Political Science. IPACE facilitates nonpartisan education and engagement events such as candidate forums, ballot proposition forums, Congress to Campus, and a Winter Leadership Institute, alone or in partnership with other civic and community engagement initiatives such as SJSU Votes, Community and Government Relations, CommUniverCity, the African American Community Service Agency, and elected officials’ offices.

IPACE also regularly sponsors or co-sponsors Constitution Day events on campus. Events have included the 2026 Constitution Day where IPACE provided free pocket U.S. U.S. Constitutions and encouraged attendees to write postcards to their elected representatives. Similar events include the “Let US Vote: A Conversation about SJSU Student Activism and the 26th Amendment” in 2021. Speakers included Les Francis, one of the original organizers of the national campaign to lower the voting age, Dr. Jennifer Frost, author of Let US Vote: Youth Voting Rights and the 26th Amendment, and Dr. Glen Genzel, Professor and Chair SJSU Department of History. Recently, IPACE co-sponsored an AI and Election Security Day, with an AI and Elections Workshop, a tour of the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters’ Office, and an AI and Election Security Panel Discussion in October, 2026.

Questions about IPACE or an IPACE event? Email us: [email protected]

IPACE TEAM
Dr. Mary Currin-Percival IPACE Director mary.c ur [email protected] Dr. Mary Currin-Percival is Director of IPACE and founding Director of SJSU Votes, a nonpartisan voter registration, mobilization, education, and civic engagement initiative, housed under IPACE. Her civic engagement efforts have included multiple on and off-campus events such as candidate forums and campus talks by elected and other government officials, ballot measure forums, door-to-door canvassing events, Congress to Campus at SJSU, the annual SJSU Votes Festival, and voter workshops for groups and individual classes on campus and in the community. As the Civic and Voter Empowerment Coordinator (CVEC) for SJSU, she serves as liaison between the California Secretary of State’s Office and the university for implementing the provisions of the Student Civic and Voter Empowerment Act (AB 963). Dr. Currin-Percival also coordinates events for the civic holidays (National Voter Registration Day, National Voter Education Week, Vote Early Day, and Election Hero Day) and coordinates with national nonpartisan civic engagement organizations and efforts (e.g., ALL-IN Campus Democracy Challenge). She has been invited to speak about civic engagement and voter participation by several organizations including the League of Women Voters, the San José City Charter Review Commission, and the American Democracy Project.
Paviter (Pavi) Randhawa SJSU Votes Fellow, Fall 2026
Charlotte Erickson SJSU Votes Athletics Fellow, Fall 2026

IPACE TEAM

picture of Dr. Mary Currin-Percival

Dr. Mary Currin-Percival

IPACE Director

mary.c ur [email protected]

Dr. Mary Currin-Percival is Director of IPACE and founding Director of SJSU Votes, a nonpartisan voter registration, mobilization, education, and civic engagement initiative, housed under IPACE. Her civic engagement efforts have included multiple on and off-campus events such as candidate forums and campus talks by elected and other government officials, ballot measure forums, door-to-door canvassing events, Congress to Campus at SJSU, the annual SJSU Votes Festival, and voter workshops for groups and individual classes on campus and in the community.

As the Civic and Voter Empowerment Coordinator (CVEC) for SJSU, she serves as liaison between the California Secretary of State’s Office and the university for implementing the provisions of the Student Civic and Voter Empowerment Act (AB 963). Dr. Currin-Percival also coordinates events for the civic holidays (National Voter Registration Day, National Voter Education Week, Vote Early Day, and Election Hero Day) and coordinates with national nonpartisan civic engagement organizations and efforts (e.g., ALL-IN Campus Democracy Challenge). She has been invited to speak about civic engagement and voter participation by several organizations including the League of Women Voters, the San José City Charter Review Commission, and the American Democracy Project.

Paviter (Pavi) Randhawa

SJSU Votes Fellow, Fall 2026

Charlotte Erickson
SJSU Votes Athletics Fellow, Fall 2026

Previous Interns - IPACE and SJSU Votes have been fortunate to work with several interns. Here are some of them.
Diya Agrawal Spring 2025 IPACE Intern Diya Agrawal was the spring 2025 intern for the Institute for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement at San Jose State University, where she is also a fourth-year political science student. With a strong interest in local government and voter mobilization, she has donated time to SJSU Votes and is currently interning at the office of Assemblymember Ash Kalra. She hopes to further these efforts by pursuing a PhD and career in research. Diya is also a passionate disability advocate and serves as the founding president of Spartan Disability Alliance; a student advocacy group at San Jose State University.
Isabella Cuevas Fall 2024 IPACE Intern
Alicia White Fall 2024 SJSU Votes Intern
Samantha Rodriguez Fall 2024 SJSU Votes Data and Democracy Intern
Irene Adeline Milanez Fall 2024 IPACE Intern
Bryan McCray Spring 2024 IPACE Intern
Heather Cabral Fall 2023 IPACE Intern

Previous Interns - IPACE and SJSU Votes have been fortunate to work with several interns. Here are some of them.

Diya Agrawal

Spring 2025 IPACE Intern

Diya Agrawal was the spring 2025 intern for the Institute for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement at San Jose State University, where she is also a fourth-year political science student. With a strong interest in local government and voter mobilization, she has donated time to SJSU Votes and is currently interning at the office of Assemblymember Ash Kalra. She hopes to further these efforts by pursuing a PhD and career in research. Diya is also a passionate disability advocate and serves as the founding president of Spartan Disability Alliance; a student advocacy group at San Jose State University.

Isabella Cuevas

Fall 2024 IPACE Intern

Alicia White

Fall 2024 SJSU Votes Intern

Samantha Rodriguez

Fall 2024 SJSU Votes Data and Democracy Intern

Irene Adeline Milanez

Fall 2024 IPACE Intern

Bryan McCray

Spring 2024 IPACE Intern

Heather Cabral

Fall 2023 IPACE Intern