Our Values

Community

We are community-builders here; we listen to other Westmoreland County and Northern Neck nonprofits, learn from them, and help where we can.

Justice

We advocate fiercely for everyone to benefit from transformative opportunities: to be healthy, to be happy, to reach their potential.

Sustainability

At the JDP Institute, we're interested in reducing waste, reusing materials, and recycling. Westmoreland County is the perfect place to do this work, because of its abundant natural resources, ecological resilience, and conservation-minded community members.

A note on our namesake, John Dos Passos:

My grandfather, known locally as “Mr. Jack,” was a writer, artist, traveler, father, husband, and gardener. I never met him, but his legacy is all around me in Westmoreland County, Virginia. I got married under the crepe myrtle in the garden he planted. My father used to launch his motorboat from the ramp in Bonum’s Creek that my grandfather donated. To revisit the connections made through his literary legacy, my family met cousins in Madeira, Portugal, who still bear the Dos Passos name. At his writing desk on the second floor of his 1806 farmhouse, looking out over the Potomac through the trunks of tall pines, he wrestled with democracy, history, culture, and human weakness. And when he was ready for a break, he went for a swim. This Institute bears his name as a gesture of appreciation for his work, both as a private person and a public figure. To find out more, please visit johndospassos.com.

Through adult Literacy and ESOL classes, sustainable arts workshops, classes, retreats, and outreach services, we celebrate the assets present in Westmoreland County, while connecting to the wider world. Whether you are from the next house over, Richmond, Fredericksburg, or Japan, we will welcome you with enthusiasm and curiosity.

The Institute webpage, materials, and programs are in English and Spanish because we want to serve all the residents of Westmoreland County, including the over 1,000 community members who speak a language other than English. We also seek to build community across linguistic lines, by offering conversation partner meetings, where residents whose target language is English can practice speaking with residents whose target language is Spanish.

About Our Board

Lara dos Passos Coggin

Dr. Lara dos Passos Coggin is a teacher, researcher, and writer who splits her time between Richmond and Kinsale, Virginia. She has lived in Maryland, Connecticut, New Mexico, Arizona, Brazil, and France, but her favorite place so far is between two marshes in Westmoreland County. Lara has over 20 years of experience in education and community outreach, including a successful graduation program in Richmond Public Schools, called Credits, College, and Careers. Her passions are gardening, hiking, and exploring new places. More information is available on her LinkedIn.

John Dos Passos Coggin

John Dos Passos Coggin is a writer and environmental communications expert with deep family roots in the Northern Neck of Virginia. He wrote a biography of Florida U.S. senator and governor Lawton Chiles, Walkin' Lawton. His poetry has appeared in Pangyrus, Cathexis Northwest Press, and The Blue Mountain Review. His nonfiction has appeared in The Hill, The American Scholar, and The Baltimore Sun. He also co-manages the John Dos Passos literary estate.

Cullen Dolson

Cullen is in his ninth year as an educator. He currently works in the public school system with newcomer high school students. When he is not working, he spends time with his dogs and his beautiful wife in the woods. He believes deeply in the power of local community to create and maintain sustainable systems and looks forward to watching the program at the Institute grow.

Sarah Skeen

Sarah Skeen was born in central Virginia and grew up on a sheep farm in the mountains of western Virginia. At the age of nineteen she set off on a solitary adventure to Europe, where she fell in love with Italy at the very end of her travels, determining then and there to make it her home.
After completing undergraduate studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, Sarah moved to Perugia, Italy, where she lived and worked for the next ten years as a teacher, manager of an English Language School, bartender, and translator and interpreter for the Courthouse of Perugia.
Sarah holds degrees in Linguistics and Creative Writing from Virginia Commonwealth University and the Teaching of Italian as a Foreign Language from the Universita` per Stranieri di Perugia, as well as a Master’s Degree for Teaching Italian Language and Culture to Foreigners from the Universita` per Stranieri di Perugia and a Master’s of Teaching from the University of Richmond. She has taught Italian Language
and Culture at Virginia Commonwealth University and in the University of Richmond’s Modern Languages and Cultures Department and School of Professional and Continuing Studies.
Currently, Sarah lives with her children, dogs, and cat by the James River, and teaches English Language Arts to Newcomers and Multilingual students at Richmond High School for the Arts.