Dr. Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver
Founder & Executive Director
kopenhav@fiu.edu

Dr. Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver is executive director of the Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication and dean emeritus and professor at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Named the Outstanding Woman in Journalism and Mass Communication Education for 2009 by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, she was recognized as a woman who has represented fellow women in the academy through excellence and high standards in journalism education. A nationally known expert and researcher on the First Amendment, the scholastic and collegiate press, and the role and status of women in communication, she is the author of more than 125 scholarly articles, monographs, and books.

Kopenhaver is past president of AEJMC, College Media Advisers, the Student Press Law Center, and the Community College Journalism Association. She holds the Wells Memorial Key from the Society of Professional Journalists, its highest honor, and was only the second woman in the history of the organization to win that award at that time, the CMA Distinguished Service Award; the AEJMC Newspaper Division Distinguished Service Award, the AEJMC Outstanding Leadership Award, the FIU Alumni Association Outstanding Faculty Torch Award and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Rowan University. She was inducted into the National Hall of Fame of both College Media Advisers and the Community College Journalism Association.

Kopenhaver was honored in 2011 with the FIU Distinguished University Service Medallion as an “exemplary role model” of the industry and the community and for demonstrating “a vision, initiative and drive that have been instrumental for almost four decades in the development of the university and the school.” In 2020 she was awarded the Lifetime Service Award from Rowan University and in 2022 was designated a Pioneer by the Associated Collegiate Press as its highest honor to journalism educators. In 2023 she was honored by the City of Miramar, Florida, in recognition of her commitment and dedication to the empowerment of women through education and professional development.

Kopenhaver joined FIU in 1973 and rose through the ranks to become dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication in 2003, a post she held for nearly nine years. Over the course of her tenure, Kopenhaver was instrumental in creating programs and opportunities for students, particularly women. In what has historically been an industry largely dominated by men, Kopenhaver was frequently one of the few women to hold leadership positions and be part of the decision-making process within the communications fields. That was the impetus for her founding the Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication at Florida International University in 2013

Carla Zensen, MS.

Senior Program Coordinator
czensen@fiu.edu

With more than 20 years of experience in educational marketing administration across international and domestic institutions, Carla began her career at Miami Dade College before joining FIU in 2005. She returned to FIU in 2019 to take on her current role at the Kopenhaver Center, where she now supervises staff and oversees the center’s operations, finances, and programming, including its Women on the Mic podcast, the center’s flagship annual National Conference, and the Leadership Boot Camp program.

Raised in Ecuador and bilingual in English and Spanish, Carla brings an internationally grounded perspective to her work building the center into a growing national hub for women’s leadership training and research. She is an active member of Latinas in Tech Miami. Outside of work, Carla enjoys spending time with her two sons, family, and her dogs, Maple and Cannoli.

Tatiana Andrienko-Genin, PhD

Research Associate
tandriie@fiu.edu

Dr. Tatiana Andrienko-Genin is a distinguished Adjunct Lecturer at Florida International University and Chair of the LEAD Research Consortium at the Kopenhaver Center, where she brings more than three decades of academic leadership to advancing women in communication. She holds a Doctor of Sciences, PhD in Intercultural Communication, a PhD in English Linguistics, and a Master of Arts in Education. She is a globally recognized expert in intercultural business communication and international leadership.

At FIU, Dr. Andrienko-Genin fosters global awareness among students through high-impact initiatives such as her Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) projects, connecting FIU students with peers around the world. Her prolific scholarly record includes eight books and more than 100 peer-reviewed publications.

In addition to her role at FIU, Dr. Andrienko-Genin serves as a Professor at Westcliff University, provides strategic consultancy to C-level executives, and sits on several international editorial boards, including the East European Journal of Psycholinguistics. Her career reflects a lasting commitment to empowering students and cultivating inclusive, globally connected learning environments.

Zipporah Hayes
Administrative Assistant 
zhayes@fiu.edu

Xitlalic Montelongo
Digital Media Intern

Xitlalic Montelongo is a senior studying digital journalism. As a sports lover, she hopes to work for a newsroom as a sports journalist once she graduates.