Program
About Lisa Aguilar
Lisa N. Aguilar is an Indigenous woman, relative, and researcher. She is an enrolled member of MHA Nation, Lakota, Dakota, and Chicanx. She happily resides on the land of her mother’s ancestors, the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, as an Assistant Professor of School Psychology on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. Her work focuses on decolonizing education and indigenizing school psychology. Dr. Aguilar’s contributions to JEDI include: 1) mentoring BIPOC graduate students, practitioners, and researchers, 2) leading anticolonial collaborative learning experiences that center Indigenous ways of doing and thinking, and 3) working alongside Indigenous youth and families to conduct future-oriented and desire-centered Indigenous research.
About Ryan Goei
Ryan Goei holds a split appointment at the University of Minnesota Duluth, serving both as faculty in the Communication Department and Director of University Honors. As faculty, Dr. Goei teaches four courses, uniquely blending different approaches to help students understand systems and translate knowledge of systemic racism into improved communication and relationships across differences. As Director of University Honors, he works toward greater educational equity, a diversified curriculum, and long-lasting partnerships with community organizations that provide intensive learning experiences to improve the well-being and capacities of both students and Duluth community members.
About Helen M. Kinsella
Helen M. Kinsella is a professor of international law and politics whose teaching and research focus on the concept of power—its multiple formulations, its strategic, ethical, and material implications, who wields it and when, and its diverse effects on individuals and society. She approaches teaching, research, and service as interconnected endeavors, each informed by her commitment to address and mitigate power’s inequitable and often violent manifestations. Dr. Kinsella believes that possibility begins with imagination and, through her teaching, research, and service, strives to illuminate where things have, can, and should be different.
About Josephine Lee
Josephine Lee is a professor of English and Asian American Studies at the University of Minnesota and the editor-in-chief of The Oxford Encyclopedia of Asian American Literature and Culture. Her other books include Race in American Musical Theater; Oriental, Black, and White: The Formation of Racial Habits in American Theater; The Japan of Pure Invention: Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Mikado; and Performing Asian America: Race and Ethnicity on the Contemporary Stage. She has received a Leadership Award from the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Asian American Studies.
About Christina Ortiz
Cristina Ortiz is a dedicated professor at the University of Minnesota Morris, whose work centers interdisciplinarity, engaged research, and inclusion. Her research highlights community engagement and centers on belonging, identity, labor, and migration, with a focus on Latinx and immigrant communities in the rural Midwest. Committed to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, Ortiz leads bilingual (Spanish-English) projects that enhance local understanding and collaboration. She explores how industrial agriculture shapes social relationships. She has actively involved undergraduate student researchers and community partners, reflecting her deep commitment to empowering local communities and fostering meaningful connections.
About Asiyah Noujdi
Asiyah Noujdi is currently pursuing an English and French major on the Morris campus. Asiyah is also minoring in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies and expects to graduate in Spring 2026.
About Aliya Freberg
Aliya Freberg is pursuing a BSN in the School of Nursing at the University of Minnesota on the Twin Cities campus. Aliya is on track to graduate in Spring 2026.
About Natalia Hong
Natalia Hong is pursuing a bachelor's degree in Developmental Psychology in the Institute of Child Development at the College of Liberal Arts on the Twin Cities campus. Natalia is also minoring in Family Therapy and expects to graduate in Spring 2025.
About Ellen Lundeen
Ellen Lundeen is pursuing a major in Developmental Psychology in the College of Liberal Arts on the Twin Cities campus. Ellen is also minoring in Family Therapy and expects to graduate in Spring 2025.
About Jade Moreno
Jade Moreno is pursuing a Finance degree at the Carlson School of Management on the Twin Cities campus. Jade is also co-majoring in Public and Nonprofit Management and expects to graduate in Spring 2025.
About Athira Nair
Athira Nair is pursuing an honors double major in Psychology and Sociology of Law, Criminology, and Justice in the College of Liberal Arts on the Twin Cities campus. Athira is also minoring in Japanese and expects to graduate in Spring 2025.
About Adhvaith Sridhar
Adhvaith Sridhar is pursuing a Biochemistry degree in the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics at the College of Biological Sciences on the Twin Cities campus. Adhvaith expects to graduate in Spring 2025. Adhvaith’s work centers on improving access to mentorship and computer science instruction for students whose schools do not currently have technology programs and training for teachers interested in integrating these skills into their classrooms.
About Andy Tao
Andy Tao is majoring in Political Science in the College of Liberal Arts, double minoring in Business Law (Carlson School of Management) and Sociology of Law, Criminology, and Justice (CLA). He expects to graduate in May of 2026.
About Anlin Thachil
Anlin Thachil is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a Bachelor of Science in Political Science at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. In addition to her dual degree program, Annie engages in research and community outreach initiatives to deepen her understanding of social structures and political systems. She is set to graduate in Spring 2025 and aims to apply her knowledge to impactful policy-making and advocacy work.
About Sara Troseth
Sara Troseth is a direct descendant of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. She is pursuing a Bachelor’s in Computer Science at Swenson College of Science and Engineering at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Sara is also minoring in both American Indian Studies and Computer Engineering, and expects to graduate in Spring 2025.
About Akeem Anderson
Akeem Anderson is currently specializing in legal history, jazz, eugenics, disability, and anti-Blackness studies within the American Studies PhD program in the College of Liberal Arts and the JD program in the Law School on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. Akeem completed their undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College, majoring in Africana Studies, modified with Spanish Literature and Women & Gender Studies.
About Vanessa Anyanso
Vanessa Anyanso is currently specializing in Counseling Psychology within the Psychology department at the College of Liberal Arts on the Twin Cities campus. Vanessa completed her undergraduate studies at Columbia University, majoring in Psychology.
About Abaki Beck
Abaki Beck is currently researching the intersection of incarceration, criminalization, and health within the Health Services Research, Policy, and Administration PhD program in the School of Public Health on the Twin Cities campus. Abaki completed her undergraduate studies at Macalester College, majoring in American Studies, and her master's degree in public health at Washington University in St Louis.
About Andrea Castillo
Andrea Castillo is currently specializing in Educational Psychology emphasis in special education and autism supports and services in multilingual and ethnically diverse families within the Department of Educational Psychology at the College of Education and Human Development on the Twin Cities campus. Andrea completed her undergraduate studies at the College of Education and Human Development, majoring in Youth Studies.
About Dominique Earland
Dominique Earland is currently specializing in infectious disease and health equity research within the Epidemiology and Community Health PhD program and MD/PhD program at the U of M School of Public Health and Medical School on the Twin Cities campus. Dominique completed their undergraduate studies at Southern Methodist University, majoring and minoring in Biological Science, Human Rights, and Biomedical Anthropology.
About Ayah Phuly
Ayah Phuly is currently specializing in infant attachment, teacher-student relationships, and prenatal/perinatal care within the College of Education and Human Development on the Twin Cities campus. Ayah completed their undergraduate studies at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, majoring and minoring in psychology and developmental psychology.
About Demiliza Saramosing
Demiliza Saramosing specializes in Oceanic Ethnic Studies, Indigenous and Women of Color feminisms, and Critical Youth Studies in the American Studies Department at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Demiliza completed their undergraduate studies at the University of Oregon, double majoring in Ethnic Studies and Journalism. She completed their Master's Degree at UCLA's Asian American Studies Department.
Dr. Angeline Dukes is the daughter of Haitian and Trinidadian immigrants and a first-generation college graduate. She graduated summa cum laude from the HBCU Fisk University before earning her PhD from the University of California, Irvine. In 2022, she became the first Black woman faculty member in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota. She now splits her time between teaching neuroscience courses, leading her own DEI initiatives, and serving as a director of three NIH-funded programs that actively support historically marginalized researchers across career stages. Dr. Dukes also serves as the Founding President of Black In Neuro, an international non-profit organization dedicated to supporting Black scholars in neuroscience-related fields around the world.
Cherríe Moraga is an internationally recognized poet, essayist, and playwright whose professional life began in 1981 with her co-editorship of the groundbreaking feminist anthology This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color. She is the author of several collections of her own writings, including A Xicana Codex of Changing Consciousness, Loving in The War Years, and Waiting in the Wings: Portrait of a Queer Motherhood. In the fall of 2017, she began her tenure as a Professor in the Department of English at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where with her artistic partner, Celia Herrera Rodriguez, she has instituted Las Maestras Center: Xicana[x] Indigenous Thought, Art, and Social Praxis. Her most recent memoir, Native Country of the Heart, was published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. In 2023, Haymarket Books published new, updated anniversary editions of Waiting in the Wings and Loving in the War Years. Learn more.