A Unit of the Association for Counselor Education & Supervision
Meet the ACES Research Center Operations Team
The ACES Research Center is guided by a robust leadership team, with Dr. Maribeth Jorgensen serving as the Inaugural Research Center Director, Dr. Kelly Duncan as the Executive Director of ACES, and Alexis Crump and Madelyn Dorn serving as our two inaugural doctoral student fellows. The operations team is here to support smooth and customer-oriented service, including, but not limited to the following:
- Onboarding and training consultants and affiliates
- Assessing project needs and aligning those with experts on our team
- Organizing and hosting workshops and other research programming
- Providing consultation, when needed, to respond to high-demand periods
- Overseeing social media and marketing of the Center services
- Facilitating cross-association collaborations and expansion of services and partnerships
- Aligning operations with strategic priorities of ACES and the profession
- Gathering data to assess impact of services and needed changes
- Developing reports and updating metrics to demonstrate impact of the Center services
ACES Research Center Operations Team
Dr. Maribeth Jorgensen
PhD, NCC, LPC (SD/TX), LMHC (WA), LIMHP (NE)
Director, ACES Research Center
Dr. Jorgensen is a nationally recognized leader in research infrastructure development and professional advocacy with over 15 years of experience as a counselor educator supporting evidence-informed change in counselor training and practice. Her leadership experience spans research and faculty development, academic administration, research center leadership, policy guidance, counselor training, and national professional service.
Dr. Jorgensen has most recently served as a Professor of Counselor Education, Interim Associate Dean for Academic Administration and Enrollment, Assistant Dean for Research and Faculty Development, and Director of the Center for Research Excellence and Innovation (CREI), leading the growth and transformation of a college-based center into a university-wide resource supporting research and grant development across multiple colleges. She has also served as Director of counseling training clinics at Sam Houston State University, Central Washington University, and the University of South Dakota and as Co-Chair of SHSU’s JED Campus Task Force, a multi-year, data-informed mental health initiative through which she partnered with executive leadership to advance institutional policy. In recognition of her ongoing impact, she was selected as a fellow for a national-level Academy for Innovative Higher Education Leadership, where her fellowship work focused on designing scalable research infrastructures for institutional and organizational impact, further expanding her specialized knowledge in this area.
Dr. Kelly Duncan
PhD, NCC, LPC (SD)
Executive Director, ACES
Dr. Kelly Duncan serves as the Executive Director of the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision. She has been involved in the profession of Counseling for over 30 years and has worked as a counselor educator since 2003.
Dr. Duncan had the privilege of serving as a Counselor Educator at three universities, coordinated a university counselor training clinic, and was a dean of a School of Education prior to joining the ACES staff. She is an author on over 30 publications.
Since coming to ACES, Duncan has worked to highlight the work of the association more visibly and to facilitate collaborations between ACES and other counseling affiliate groups. She spearheaded the increase in research grant funding for members along with expanding ACES’s continuing education offerings resulting in its new learning management system. Promoting professional counselor identity and advocating for counselor educators and supervisors continues to be a key focus in her role as executive director.
Alexis Crump
Research Fellow
Doctoral Student, Counselor Education and Supervision, North Carolina A&T State University
Alexis Crump is a doctoral student in Counselor Education and Supervision at North Carolina A&T State University and a graduate of Fayetteville State University and North Carolina Central University. A Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor in North Carolina, she is dedicated to expanding access to culturally responsive, relationship-centered care for children, adolescents, and families.
Beyond the counseling office, through her I AM Healing initiative, she develops accessible mental wellness resources that encourage healing, reflection, and resilience. Her scholarship explores the experiences that shape counselor development and professional identity, strengthening mentorship, advancing equity, and preparing future counselors to lead with authenticity, compassion, and purpose.
Madelyn Dorn
Research Fellow
Doctoral Student, Counselor Education and Supervision, University of Georgia
`Madelyn Dorn, LMSW, is a doctoral candidate in Counselor Education and Supervision at the University of Georgia. Her research agenda focuses on treatment for sexual violence and exploitation, developmental and complex trauma, and counselor researcher identity development.
Madelyn is committed to research that improves outcomes for vulnerable populations and strives to create equitable systems of care. She has expertise in program evaluation, and training in qualitative and quantitative methodologies, applied statistics, and data analytics. Her scholarship is driven by a desire to translate research into meaningful clinical practice and strengthen research within the counseling profession. Madelyn is eager to prepare future counselors as a Counselor Educator, anticipating completion of her doctoral training in 2027.