Saluki Women's Weekend | SIU Foundation | SIU

Dr. Kristina Boone serves as dean of the College of Agricultural, Life, and Physical Sciences at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. A respected leader in agricultural education, interdisciplinary learning, and workforce development, she brings extensive experience in academic leadership, experiential education, research, and community engagement.

Before joining SIU, Dr. Boone served as director of The Ohio State University’s Agricultural Technical Institute and previously led the Department of Communications and Agricultural Education at Kansas State University. Throughout her career, she has championed collaboration, student success, innovative academic programs, and meaningful connections between higher education and industry.

Dr. Boone earned her bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University and her master’s and doctoral degrees from The Ohio State University.

Emily Sharkey is not your typical Illinois farm wife. After earning a degree in Zoology from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, training polo horses, and homeschooling the couple's four children, she recognized an opportunity to transform her husband Rob’s growing brand "SharkFarmer" into a thriving agricultural media company.

Over the past decade, Emily has become the driving force behind SharkFarmer Media as Executive Producer of two national SiriusXM Rural Radio Shows, Producer of SharkFarmer TV on RFD-TV, now in its 13th season, and Producer of A Shot of Ag on WTVP PBS. She is also a booking agent for Rob's national and international speaking engagements, manages strategic partnerships, and leads the day-to-day business operations behind one of agriculture's most recognized media brands.

Karen Schieler believes the best things happen when people connect around a shared purpose. As Manager of Corporate Giving at Compeer Financial, she leads philanthropic investments that strengthen agriculture and rural communities across Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin. A journalist by trade and storyteller at heart, Karen has spent her career building partnerships, sharing impactful stories and investing in the people who make rural America stronger. She also has a deep passion for connecting food from the people who grow it to the people and communities who need it most. She serves as Chair of the Compeer Giving Board of Trustees and is an active leader on several agricultural and education-focused boards. Karen is passionate about cultivating leaders, celebrating the resilience of rural communities and helping others turn good ideas into meaningful impact.

Haley Bode is an Agricultural Systems and Education student at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where she is also pursuing a minor in Horticulture and an endorsement in Early Childhood Education. A passionate advocate for agriculture and agricultural education, Haley has built her collegiate experience around leadership, education, and creating opportunities to connect others with the agriculture industry.

Haley currently serves as the Union County Farm Bureau Agriculture in the Classroom Coordinator, where she develops and delivers agriculture-based curriculum to nearly 60 classrooms each month and provides agricultural literacy resources to more than 70 teachers throughout the region. Her passion for agricultural education began through her involvement in Illinois FFA, where she served as the 2022–2023 Illinois FFA State Secretary. In that role, she represented more than 41,000 Illinois agriculture students, facilitated more than 200 workshops, completed over 100 school visits, and helped host the 95th Illinois FFA State Convention for more than 7,000 attendees. She continues to serve Illinois FFA as a lead facilitator and curriculum builder.

Her experiences have also allowed her to explore several areas of the agriculture industry. Haley has served as a Pioneer Seeds Commercial Sales Intern, gaining firsthand experience in the seed industry, sales, agronomy, and building relationships with farmers and agricultural professionals. She previously completed internships with Midwest Dairy, where she managed the Illinois State Fair Dairy Building and supported dairy education and communications, and Advanced Agrilytics, where she conducted agronomic field scouting for more than 50 growers across northern Illinois and worked alongside agronomists to develop crop management recommendations.

On campus, Haley has held leadership roles in Sigma Alpha and Collegiate Farm Bureau, including serving as Sigma Alpha Chapter President and Collegiate Farm Bureau Vice President. Through these organizations, she has planned service initiatives, agricultural literacy programs, and large-scale events, including Farm to Fork, which welcomed more than 400 attendees and raised over $5,000 for Agriculture in the Classroom throughout her three years of involvement. Her leadership and service have been recognized through honors including the Illinois Farm Bureau Legacy of Leadership Scholarship, Sigma Alpha Outstanding Leader, the American FFA Degree, and multiple academic honors.

Haley is passionate about empowering young women to find their voice, pursue leadership opportunities, and recognize the many possibilities available to them within agriculture. She hopes to become an agricultural educator and FFA advisor, using her experiences in the classroom, industry, and leadership to inspire the next generation of agricultural leaders.

Alex Russell is a distinguished leader in the agriculture industry, recognized for her strategic vision, technical expertise, and commitment to advancing American Agriculture. An Illinois native, she has built a dynamic career supporting growers and agriculture retailers around the nation with professional and community roots in Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, and now North Carolina.

Alex is a two‑time graduate of Southern Illinois University Carbondale, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees that laid the academic foundation for her work in agricultural innovation and stewardship. Her upbringing in the western way of life, including years of youth rodeo, instilled the discipline, grit, and authenticity that continue to define her leadership.

Over the past decade with Syngenta Crop Protection, Alex has held roles of increasing responsibility and now serves as the U.S. Soybean Seedcare Product Manager. In this capacity, she leads national strategy for one of the industry’s most impactful segments, partnering with growers, researchers, and channel collaborators to deliver solutions that bring plant potential to life.

In addition to her professional accomplishments, Alex is deeply committed to developing the next generation of agricultural leaders. She is often found as a speaker at Leadership events and is actively engaged with FFA at the local, state, and national levels, providing mentorship, advocacy, and service to agricultural youth programs who are the next generation of leaders.

As a retired Executive HR Advisor for SAP, Dawn Korte worked directly with senior leadership teams to facilitate organizational transformation through people, processes, and technology. With over 25 years of expertise in operations, finance, and human resources in numerous industries, she partnered in designing and implementing several enterprise-wide talent and performance management programs, leadership development systems, HR technology, learning and development curriculum, and culture initiatives. Dawn also served as faculty for 25 years at the university level, most notably as Assistant Adjunct Professor at Saint Louis University in the College of Public Health and Social Justice.

Dawn received a Ph.D. from Saint Louis University, an MBA from Lindenwood University, and a BS from Southern Illinois University. Dawn lives in Trenton, IL, with her husband, Dan Korte (SIU College of Engineering Graduate). Dawn serves on the SIU Foundation’s Board of Directors and is a founding Board Member and Chair of the SIU Foundation’s Women’s Leadership Council. She is also active in the Colleges of Business and Analytics and Human and Health Sciences. She is Pitbull’s biggest fan, a trained classical pianist, exercise junkie, and remains fearless in the kitchen and classroom.

Judge Christy Solverson served as Resident Circuit Judge and Presiding Judge of Jackson County from 2018 until her retirement in January 2026. Before being elected a Resident Circuit Judge, Judge Solverson served as an Associate Judge from 2005 until 2018.

Throughout her more than 20 years on the bench, Judge Solverson served in various state and local leadership roles.

At the state level, Judge Solverson was appointed by the Illinois Supreme Court as an inaugural member of the Supreme Court Judicial College Board of Trustees, where she served as chair and vice chair.  She also served on the Judicial Education Committee and served as faculty for the Judicial College. Judge Solverson was also appointed to the Illinois Supreme Court Judicial Performance and Evaluation Committee, ensuring judges throughout the state meet the professional and ethical standards that are crucial to our judicial system. Additionally, Judge Solverson served as a new judge mentor and new judge education cohort leader, helping guide newly elected and appointed judges.

Locally, under her leadership, Judge Solverson was instrumental in the implementation of multiple Jackson County community outreach programs, including the Jackson County Drug Court, Jackson County Mental Health Task Force, Carbondale High School Safety Panel, and establishing CASA in Jackson County.

Prior to taking the bench, Judge Solverson was a partner at Brandon, Schmidt, Goffinet, and Solverson.  She is a two-time SIU alumna (B.S. Radio and Television, 1986 and J.D. 1990).  She has served on the Dean’s Advisory Board for the SIU School of Law and has served as an SIU Women’s Leadership Council mentor. She resides in Carbondale with her husband, Matt, and is passionate about serving and mentoring young women.

Quianya L. Enge, is an educator, social entrepreneur, restorative justice practitioner, and nationally recognized community leader dedicated to advancing equity, healing, and opportunity for individuals and communities directly impacted by the carceral system. She is the Founder and Executive Director of Beyond the Walls The Movement, NFP, a Southern Illinois nonprofit providing safe housing, higher education support, workforce development, entrepreneurship, policy advocacy, and healing-centered programming for women and families rebuilding their lives.

Quianya also serves as the CEO of HEALing SoIL Boutique Farm, a community-based boutique farm where regenerative agriculture, herbal education, environmental sustainability, and economic empowerment come together to cultivate healthier communities. Through initiatives like the HERBan Garden, the farm creates opportunities for women to reconnect with the land, develop entrepreneurial skills, and embrace wellness through herbs, specialty crops, and community education.

A proud graduate of Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Quianya intends to confer her Doctor of Education in Higher Education Administration this Fall, where her research focuses on expanding access to higher education for formerly incarcerated individuals and strengthening community sustainability. Drawing from her lived experience, she has become a respected voice in restorative justice, systems change, and community development collaborating with organizations across Illinois to advance equitable public policy.

Quianya is also a proud member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, where she continues a legacy of scholarship, service, sisterhood, and finer womanhood. Whether advocating for justice, cultivating healing spaces, or mentoring future leaders, she believes lasting change happens when communities invest in people and every individual is given the opportunity to thrive.

Jacari Henderson carries and embodies the message of a public servant learning, mentoring, and serving others in her career in higher education. Born and raised in the Carbondale community, Jacari has been committed to making positive contributions. Jacari holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Southern Illinois University and a master's in public administration. She is currently working on her doctorate in the Higher Education Administration program at SIU. Jacari Henderson currently serves as the Director of the Saluki Cares Program and serves as one of the HEROES liaisons at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Jacari has served in a variety of capacities, such as Interim Director of Compliance, Compliance Coordinator, and Admissions Coordinator, and has been an employee at SIUC since 2016.

Jacari also serves as Co-President of Black Faculty & Staff, Chair of Sister Circle Empower Her, and Institutional Representative for the IL ACE Women’s Network. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated and is involved in various community service affiliations, serving as a Trustee at Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church, on the CCHS Education Foundation Board, and on the Carbondale Elementary School District 95 School Board. Jacari loves spending time with her family, reading, working out, and vacationing in her free time. Her love for her many nieces, nephews, and Godchildren keeps her busy.

Raised in Shiraz, Iran, known for its poetry and gardens, Anahit Amiri grew up near the Zagros Mountains. At 15, she moved alone to Paris for high school, beginning her journey toward independence at an early age. She earned a bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences from Aix-Marseille University in 2020 and a double master's degree in Cognitive Neuroscience and Ethology from Sorbonne University in Paris in 2023. That year, she joined SIU's Zoology Department to pursue a Ph.D. in wildlife conservation, fulfilling her lifelong dream of understanding animal behavior to protect threatened species.

During her doctoral studies, she developed a passion for community engagement and social justice, believing today's world needs empathetic leadership more than ever. She helped establish the Multicultural Empowered Women Student Association in 2025. In 2026, she was elected President of Graduate Assistants United and President of the Iranian Student Association, supporting the Iranian community during a period of global hardship.

Her passion lies in connecting cultures and disciplines. Inspired by her multicultural background and interdisciplinary education, she believes that diverse perspectives and women's leadership have the power to foster innovation, empathy, and sustainable solutions. Living in different societies as a woman and an immigrant has shaped her understanding of the systemic barriers women face worldwide and strengthened her commitment to identifying gender inequities, raising awareness, and taking meaningful action toward systemic change. She believes that, regardless of culture, religion, or borders, prioritizing women's rights and equity are shared responsibilities and fundamental to building a just and sustainable future.