Jill Fuson to Retire, Julie Meredith to Join Furman’s Riley Institute as Director of the Center for Critical Issues

Claudia Winkler
Director of Marketing and Communications
The Riley Institute at Furman University
864.294.3368; Claudia.winkler@furman.edu

Greenville, S.C. – The Riley Institute has recently appointed Julie Dunson Meredith as Director of the Center for Critical Issues, where she will be replacing Jill Fuson, who is retiring from the position after 15 years of service.

“Jill has helped to shape the contemporary form of the Riley Institute. We are grateful for passion and dedication and for the ways she has helped students and community members understand and engage with key issues of our time,” said institute executive director Don Gordon. “We will miss Jill, but we are so delighted to welcome Julie Meredith onto the team.”

In her new role, Meredith will oversee all Riley Institute policy and award events and student leadership activities, with the intention of increasing understanding of policy and politics connected to issues of critical importance to the state, nation, and world among Furman students and community members.

Meredith brings a wealth of experience and expertise in critical issues facing our community. She comes to the Riley Institute from Safe Harbor, where she worked for 15 years in a variety of capacities, most recently as director of programs. In that role, Meredith oversaw counseling and advocacy services, transitional housing, prevention/outreach initiatives, and volunteer management.

“During my years at Safe Harbor, I participated in collaborative partnerships and community outreach, advocating for victims of domestic abuse to have access to housing, legal services, immigration assistance, healthcare, and other basic rights,” says Meredith. “I have witnessed how issues of social injustice intersect in the lives of individuals and within whole communities. I look forward to bringing my passion for advancing social progress, equity, and justice to the Riley Institute.”

Through her volunteer engagements, which include Greenville Organized for Accountable Leadership and the Greenville Homeless Alliance, Meredith works to promote progress locally on a broad variety of issues ranging from affordable housing and sustainable growth to addressing homelessness.

“The breadth and depth of Julie’s experience on major challenges facing the Greenville community is remarkable. Both personally and professionally, Julie has been living out her passion for critical issues and a commitment to making our world better for decades, and I look forward to the intentionality she will bring to our programming as she assumes this new role at The Riley Institute,” says Gordon.