for
Active Listening
Active Change
CogWell @ Penn is a student group committed to building a campus-wide network offering skill building in peer support for the array of stresses students face- from everyday academic and social challenges to more severe crisis situations.
A PROFESSIONALLY LED COGWELL TRAINING is offered each semester to empower students to recognize when someone is struggling and develop the skills needed to effectively and compassionately offer support .
Training participants can volunteer to become CogWell Student Leaders and facilitators of Active Listening Trainings to groups on campus.
Upon request, CogWell trained Student Leaders are available to facilitate a one hour PEER-TO-PEER ACTIVE LISTENING TRAINING for any campus group.
WHO WE ARE
Allie Schlager is junior studying psychology. Cogwell, specifically our active listening training sessions, has revolutionized the way I listen to and interact with my friends and family. Because of Cogwell I have a developed a better understanding of what it means to truly support someone!
Allie Schlager
Co-President
2021
Allison Gelfarb
Co-President
2021
Allison Gelfarb is a junior from Westchester, New York, studying nursing and healthcare management. She joined Cogwell to encourage a warm, welcoming environment for Penn students, and spread mental health awareness. Allison’s favorite part of Cogwell has been leading active listening sessions with greek life. Outside of CogWell, she teaches health classes to West Philly students as part of the Penn Health initiative, and is secretary for her sorority, Sigma Delta Tau. In her free time, Allison loves walking down the Shuykill River Path with friends, snow skiing, and spending time with her 4 siblings.
Samantha Linn
Treasurer
2022
Samantha is a sophomore in Wharton hoping to concentrate in marketing and finance. She is from Chicago, IL, and enjoys playing soccer and running in her free time. Samantha joined Cogwell because she wants to work to raise awareness to reduce the stigma around mental health and make people more aware of the ways that they can help one another.
Carolina Salazar
Secretary
2021
Carolina Salazar-Paranhos is a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania who is interested in Marketing, Communications, Psychology, and Statistics. She loves art, photography, video editing, reading, traveling, music, and learning languages. At Penn, she is the Marketing Director for the SPEC Art Collective, a member of the Creative Committee for MUSE, and the Creative Director for Class Board 2021. She also often volunteers at Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission. She first participated in a Cogwell active listening training session in the spring of her freshman year, becoming a member of the club in the fall of her sophomore year.
Claire Marucci
Vice President
2022
Claire Marucci is a sophomore from Dallas, Texas. She is in the College of Arts and Sciences studying cognitive neuroscience. Claire enjoys being a member of CogWell because she believes active listening is a life-long skill that can strengthen your relationships with people in your life. In addition to being a member of CogWell, she is also a part of MUSE, SPEC Concerts, and The WALK Magazine.
Carolina Salazar
Secretary
2021
Carolina Salazar-Paranhos is a junior at the University of Pennsylvania who is interested in Marketing, Communications, Psychology, and Statistics. She loves art, photography, video editing, reading, traveling, music, and learning languages. At Penn, she is the Marketing Director for the SPEC Art Collective, a member of the Creative Committee for MUSE, and the Creative Director for Class Board 2021. She also often volunteers at Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission. She first participated in a Cogwell active listening training session in the spring of her freshman year, becoming a member of the club in the fall of her sophomore year.
Matt is a junior in the college, majoring in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics with a minor in Spanish. He loves public speaking, meeting people, and learning language which he will hopefully get to continue to do by studying abroad in Spain next year. Matt’s other involvements on campus include the Kite & Key Society, Club Baseball, and the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. He is super passionate about mental health issues, especially as they relate to Penn, and he is super excited to have joined Cogwell this spring in the hopes of helping our organization reach out to the Greek community on campus.
Matt Tomaselli
Student Leader
2021
Caitlin is a sophomore in the College currently hoping to major in Criminology. She is from New York City and enjoys running in her free time. Caitlin joined Cogwell to become a better listener and to decrease stigma surrounding issues of mental health.
Caitlin O'Flanagan
Student Leader
2022
Maddie is a sophomore in Wharton planning on concentrating in Finance and Business Analytics and minoring in Spanish in the College. She is from Westchester, NY, enjoys running in her free time, and is passionate about promoting equality though girl’s education. She joined Cogwell to promote active listening and wellness as well as to help her peers develop skills to help each other deal with the stress and anxiety prevalent on Penn’s campus.
Maddie Zuber
Student Leader
2022
Simay Inci Ipek is from Istanbul, Turkey. She is a sophomore in college double majoring in Neuroscience and Psychology. Simay is both a student leader and the outreach chair of CogWell, so she's in charge of reaching out to different student groups at Penn and organizing active listening workshops.
Simay Ipek
Outreach Chair
2022
JOIn US
We’ll educate and equip you with the skills you'll need to help support and empower your friends and peers on campus.
Allie Schlager is senior studying psychology. Cogwell, specifically our active listening training sessions, has revolutionized the way I listen to and interact with my friends and family. Because of Cogwell I have a developed a better understanding of what it means to truly support someone!
Allie Schlager
Student Leader
2021
Allison Gelfarb
Student Leader
2021
Allison Gelfarb is a senior from Westchester, New York, studying nursing and healthcare management. She joined Cogwell to encourage a warm, welcoming environment for Penn students, and spread mental health awareness. Allison’s favorite part of Cogwell has been leading active listening sessions with greek life. Outside of CogWell, she teaches health classes to West Philly students as part of the Penn Health initiative, and is secretary for her sorority, Sigma Delta Tau. In her free time, Allison loves walking down the Shuykill River Path with friends, snow skiing, and spending time with her 4 siblings.
Samantha Linn
Treasurer
2022
Samantha is a junior in Wharton hoping to concentrate in marketing and finance. She is from Chicago, IL, and enjoys playing soccer and running in her free time. Samantha joined Cogwell because she wants to work to raise awareness to reduce the stigma around mental health and make people more aware of the ways that they can help one another.
Carolina Salazar
Secretary
2021
Carolina Salazar-Paranhos is a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania who is interested in Marketing, Communications, Psychology, and Statistics. She loves art, photography, video editing, reading, traveling, music, and learning languages. At Penn, she is the Marketing Director for the SPEC Art Collective, a member of the Creative Committee for MUSE, and the Creative Director for Class Board 2021. She also often volunteers at Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission. She first participated in a Cogwell active listening training session in the spring of her freshman year, becoming a member of the club in the fall of her sophomore year.
Claire Marucci
Communications Chair
2022
Claire Marucci is a junior from Dallas, Texas. She is in the College of Arts and Sciences studying cognitive neuroscience. Claire enjoys being a member of CogWell because she believes active listening is a life-long skill that can strengthen your relationships with people in your life. In addition to being a member of CogWell, she is also a part of SPEC Concerts and The WALK Magazine.
Carolina Salazar
Student Leader
2021
Carolina Salazar-Paranhos is a senior at the University of Pennsylvania who is interested in Marketing, Communications, Psychology, and Statistics. She loves art, photography, video editing, reading, traveling, music, and learning languages. At Penn, she is the Marketing Director for the SPEC Art Collective, a member of the Creative Committee for MUSE, and the Creative Director for Class Board 2021. She also often volunteers at Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission. She first participated in a Cogwell active listening training session in the spring of her freshman year, becoming a member of the club in the fall of her sophomore year.
Matt is a senior in the college, majoring in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics with a minor in Spanish. He loves public speaking, meeting people, and learning language which he will hopefully get to continue to do by studying abroad in Spain next year. Matt’s other involvements on campus include the Kite & Key Society, Club Baseball, and the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. He is super passionate about mental health issues, especially as they relate to Penn, and he is super excited to have joined Cogwell this spring in the hopes of helping our organization reach out to the Greek community on campus.
Matt Tomaselli
Student Leader
2021
Caitlin is a junior in the College currently hoping to major in Criminology. She is from New York City and enjoys running in her free time. Caitlin joined Cogwell to become a better listener and to decrease stigma surrounding issues of mental health.
Caitlin O'Flanagan
Student Leader
2022
Maddie is a junior in Wharton planning on concentrating in Finance and Business Analytics and minoring in Spanish in the College. She is from Westchester, NY, enjoys running in her free time, and is passionate about promoting equality though girl’s education. She joined Cogwell to promote active listening and wellness as well as to help her peers develop skills to help each other deal with the stress and anxiety prevalent on Penn’s campus.
Maddie Zuber
Co-President
2022
Simay Inci Ipek is from Istanbul, Turkey. She is a junior in college double majoring in Neuroscience and Psychology. Simay is both a student leader and the outreach chair of CogWell, so she's in charge of reaching out to different student groups at Penn and organizing active listening workshops.
Simay Ipek
Outreach Chair
2022
Sara is a senior from Naples, Florida studying nursing and minoring in healthcare management. She joined CogWell after participating in an active listening training session her sophomore year. She believes that mental health awareness is important for Penn’s campus and she thinks that combining active listening with nursing will positively impact our health care system. Sara is involved with the Student Nurses at Penn and Alpha Phi Sorority.
Sara Klausner
Secretary
2021
Daphne is a senior majoring in Health and Societies with a concentration in Disease and Culture. She loves watching and analyzing movies and having deep conversations with people. She joined CogWell to foster a culture of open conversation about mental health on campus, create a stronger peer-support network, and help students find healthy ways to deal with the stressful life at Penn. She thinks that this starts with creating better active listeners who are willing to lead their peers into deeper and more meaningful conversations simply by giving them our full attention and asking the right questions. As a member, she gets to work toward this goal by connecting student groups on campus to CogWell so they can receive active listening training.
Daphne Wiredu
Student Leader
2021
Emily Lawson is a junior from Woodbridge, Connecticut studying Psychology and Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE). She joined Cogwell hoping to foster a more open and honest community on campus, to develop stronger active listening skills, and to spread mental health awareness. Outside of CogWell, she works for Penn’s Red and Blue Call Center, is a member of The WALK, The Jewish Heritage Project, and OAX society, and enjoys yoga and running. She first joined Cogwell in spring of her junior year and is excited to make the most of her time here!
Emily Lawson
Co-President
2022
Kelsey is a Junior from Los Angeles, CA majoring in International Relations and minoring in Survey Research and Data Analytics. She loves reading, running, and hiking with her dog. She is also an avid podcaster and cook. She is passionate about public health and wellness, and hopes that through her involvement in Cogwell she can bring consciousness to matters of wellness at Penn by facilitating conversations among her peers about active listening and mental health.
Kelsey Warren
Student Leader
2022
JOIn US
We’ll educate and equip you with the skills you'll need to help support and empower your friends and peers on campus.