Ms. Rodgers is a motivated professional passionate about grant writing, teaching/scholarship, program development, program evaluation, and service to her community. (Picture) Keyria Rodgers’ professional experience spans 17 years in government and 13 years in higher education/academia. To date, she is a Public Policy and Management Professor at the University of Illinois at Springfield. Additionally, Ms. Rodgers serves as the Macon County State’s Attorney’s Office's grant administrator and is the Macon County Teen Justice Diversion and Deflection Program director. She is a Board Member of the Illinois Juvenile Justice Initiative. She is serving her 4th term as 1 of 25 individuals appointed to the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission in December 2020 by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, where she and her colleagues from around the State of Illinois work to transform the state’s juvenile justice system. In a previous appointment, Ms. Rodgers served as professor, director (and co-developer) of Millikin University’s Criminal Justice Program from 2017 – 2023.

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Ms. Rodgers specializes in budgeting, auditing, program creation, fundraising, grant searching/writing, program planning, policy development, data analysis, conference planning, task force participation, and collaborating with public and private sector partners. As a grant writer, She has secured and managed more than $6.9 million in grant funding to date. 

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Her research interests include public administration, public policy, criminal justice issues, reentry, social justice, expungement, diversion, deflection, restorative justice, probation, and community-based program development worldwide. As a grant writer and public manager, she creates budgets for non-profits, government agencies, independent contractors, foundations, and community-based organizations.