My name is Xander Hazel and I am community leader, event planner, and nature enthusiast. I have a B.A. in Environmental Science from Earlham College in Richmond, IN, and M.S. in Entomology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL. Today, I am the Executive Director of the Champaign Center Partnership, a non-profit business association and placemaking organization serving Champaign’s downtown, midtown, and campustown districts. Previously, I was employed as the Acting Executive Director at the former Orpheum Children’s Science Museum in Champaign, IL.

Today, I enjoy spending time outdoors, riding my bike, throwing on the pottery wheel, plus gardening in the good seasons, often with the company of my backyard hens and beagle, Annie. Fun fact: I once collaborated with a friend to publish darkly funny prose about insects titled, “Did you know” – you can read it here!