Alums Lucinda Garthwaite, Ed.D., and Christy Gliniak, Ph.D., Receive the 2025 Dianne Kipnes Social Innovation Award

Alums Lucinda Garthwaite, Ed.D., and Christy Gliniak, Ph.D., Receive the 2025 Dianne Kipnes Social Innovation Award

Lucinda Garthwaite, Ed.D. (Leadership for Change, ‘14) and Christy Gliniak, Ph.D. (Infant and Early Childhood Development, ‘22) receive the prestigious 2025 Dianne Kipnes Social Innovation Award to support their innovative projects.

The award will support Dr. Garthwaite’s project at the Institute for Liberatory Innovation and will offer online and in-person workshops that integrate with the efforts of organizational partners engaged in social justice work. “My colleagues and I at the Institute for Liberatory Innovation have developed an approach to driving systemic change for social justice that reframes equity as liberatory change, engaging liberatory personal and systems practices to support systems change characterized by more and more people thriving as who they understand themselves to be, and behaving in ways that make it possible for others to thrive.”

Dr. Garthwaite shared that her experience at Fielding, as a doctoral student and the Institute for Social Innovation Fellow, has grounded her in transdisciplinary exploration and encouraged her to pursue new ways of responding to old and emerging social challenges. She believes this project has a significant impact: “Our work rests on a theory of change that begins with individual and collective efforts to shift systems like organizations and schools. Those systems are ubiquitous and influential in individual and community life, so they are leverage points for larger social change.”

Dr. Gliniak’s project title is “The Preterm Sleep Bundle.” Together with an international team, she’ll use the award to help design a standardized and internationally scalable preterm sleep protocol and e-learning program designed to increase the adoption of evidence-based sleep strategies for medically fragile infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICU). The care bundle will offer a specific set of interventions to bridge the gap between current research and real-world practices in culturally diverse NICU settings. By optimizing sleep, the project aims to support early brain development and neurodevelopmental outcomes of preterm infants worldwide. The project will collaborate with researchers at Tübingen University, Bern University, Stanford University, Rotterdam Erasmus Medical Center, and the primary institution, the University Medical Center Utrecht in the Netherlands.

She says: “Evidence has shown that sleep architecture is altered by preterm birth and that safeguarding of sleep has the potential to improve white matter volumes during critical periods of brain development. Recently, there have been several advances in this area, including a new preterm sleep assessment, the capability for 24-hour sleep monitoring, and exploration of how we might customize care to meet the individual needs of babies and families in the NICU.” Using her 25+ years of clinical experience and passion for implementation science, she envisions the Preterm Sleep Bundle to positively influence neurodevelopmental outcomes for medically complex infants around the world. Dr. Gliniak further shared: “My training in the Infant and Early Childhood Development (IECD) Program at Fielding has inspired my work as a scholar-practitioner and helped me acquire the necessary credentials to participate in this important research collaborative.”

“Dr. Garthwaite and Dr. Gliniak exemplify the Fielding scholar-practitioner model at its best—where rigorous academic inquiry meets meaningful, community-centered action. Their projects not only reflect the spirit of social innovation that Dianne Kipnes envisioned, but they also represent the kind of courageous and collaborative leadership our world urgently needs. We are proud to support their transformative work through this award.”

— Charles McClintock, Ph.D., Director, Institute for Social Innovation and Dean Emeritus, Fielding Graduate University

The Dianne Kipnes Fund for Social Innovation was established in 2016 with an exceptional gift from the late Dianne Kipnes, Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology ’98). The endowment currently supports alumni projects that demonstrate innovation and collaboration for improving the lives of individuals, organizations, and/or communities.

LUCINDA GARHWAITE, Ed.D.

Lucinda Garthwaite, Ed.D.

Lucinda Garthwaite is the Founding Executive Director of the Institute for Liberatory Innovation, a nonprofit committed to co-creating systems where all people can thrive – where compassion leads to action, curiosity inspires connection, and restorative accountability ensures sustained progress.

Previously, as a progressive higher education leader and non-profit consultant, Lucinda developed strategies, systems, and resources to support increased impact in critical areas for social transformation, including alternatives to criminal justice, socially engaged arts, and sustainable food systems. For 18 years, Lucinda was a faculty member and senior leader at Goddard College.

Lucinda holds a Doctorate in Leadership for Change from Fielding Graduate University, an MA in Education from the University of New Hampshire, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College.  Lucinda is a Fellow of the Institute for Social Innovation at Fielding Graduate University and author of Bumbling Humans: Reflections on Liberatory Change (2023).

CHRISTY GLINIAK, Ph.D.

Christy Gliniak, Ph.D.

Dr. Christy Gliniak is a neonatal occupational therapist dedicated to advancing trauma-informed, neuroprotective, developmental care in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). She serves as an Associate Professor in the Infant and Early Childhood Development Program at Fielding Graduate University and is a visiting researcher at UMC Utrecht in the Netherlands. Christy is the Communications Manager and Conference Co-chair for the National Association of Neonatal Therapists and provides neonatal therapy (PRN) at MultiCare Deaconess Hospital’s Level III NICU. She holds certifications as a Neonatal Therapist, Patient Experience Professional, and in Neonatal Touch and Massage. Christy is a board member of the National Perinatal Association and an Executive Council Healthcare Partner for the Family-Centered Care Task Force. Her research focuses on neonatal sleep, infant mental health, and therapeutic interventions for medically complex babies worldwide. She also strives to advocate for Indigenous communities, families experiencing homelessness, or newborns affected by substance-use disorder.