2016 Equity Summit at Skyline College

Dr. Angela Davis | Keynote

Through her activism and scholarship over many decades, Angela Davis has been deeply involved in movements for social justice around the world. Her work as an educator – both at the university level and in the larger public sphere – has always emphasized the importance of building communities of struggle for economic, racial, and gender justice.

Professor Davis’ teaching career has taken her to San Francisco State University, Mills College, and UC Berkeley. She also has taught at UCLA, Vassar, Syracuse University the Claremont Colleges, and Stanford University. Mostly recently she spent fifteen years at the University of California Santa Cruz where she is now Distinguished Professor Emerita of History of Consciousness – an interdisciplinary Ph.D. program – and of Feminist Studies.

Angela Davis is a founding member of Critical Resistance, a national organization dedicated to the dismantling of the prison industrial complex. Internationally, she is affiliated with Sisters Inside, an abolitionist organization based in Queensland, Australia that works in solidarity with women in prison.

Like many educators, Professor Davis is especially concerned with the general tendency to devote more resources and attention to the prison system than to educational institutions. Having helped to popularize the notion of a “prison industrial complex,” she now urges her audiences to think seriously about the future possibility of a world without prisons and to help forge a 21st-century abolitionist movement.

Dr. Melina Abdullah | Equity Talk: "Disrupting the Academy, Building Campuses as Revolutionary Intellectual Spaces"

Professor and Chair of Pan African Studies at California State University, Los Angeles

Dr. Melina Abdullah is Professor and Chair of Pan-African Studies at California State University, Los Angeles. Dr. Abdullah earned her Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in Political Science and her B.A. from Howard University in African-American Studies. Professor Abdullah is a womanist scholar-activist – understanding the role that she plays at the university is intrinsically linked to broader struggles for the liberation of oppressed people. Professor Abdullah is a leader in the fight for Ethnic Studies in the K-12 and university systems and was among the original group of organizers that convened to form Black Lives Matter and continues to serve as a Los Angeles chapter lead and contributes to the national leadership. She is a single “soccer mama” of three children and resides in Mid-City Los Angeles.

Dr. Julio Cammarota | Equity Talk: "Critical Pedagogies: Teaching within Praxis"

Associate Professor at Iowa State University

Dr. Julio Cammarota earned his Ph.D from the University of California, Berkeley in Social and Cultural Studies in Education. Professor Cammarota is an associate professor of multicultural education and his work has helped make progress with social justice in education and youth development. Dr. Cammarota has built a reputation of engaging Latino youth in research about race, racism, and ethnic identity. His research interests include the relationship between culture and academic achievement, participatory action research, institutional factors that affect academic achievement, and liberatory pedagogy.

Dr. Sepehr Vakil | Equity Talk: "Political Imagination(s) of STEM Education: Moving Beyond 'Equity,' 'Inclusion,' and 'Diversity' Towards Just Futures and Pathways"

Assistant Professor of STEM Education; Associate Director of Equity & Inclusion in the Center for STEM Education; The University of Texas at Austin

Dr. Sepehr Vakil is an Assistant Professor of STEM Education, and Associate Director of Equity & Inclusion in the Center for STEM Education. His research interests center primarily on the cultural and political dimensions of STEM education. Dr. Vakil's teaching and research are informed by sociocultural, cultural-historical, and critical theories of learning, practice, and pedagogy. Using ethnographic approaches, he investigates the complex relationship between socio-political forces (e.g., neoliberalism, racism) and the nature of STEM learning environments (e.g., curricular priorities within STEM academies in urban schools, racialization processes within classrooms). Working in partnerships with communities and educators, he draws on design-based and participatory research methodologies to explore new transformative possibilities for STEM teaching and learning.

Dr. Flora Lu | Plenary Topic #1: "The Value of Race and Equity in Education"

Professor of Environmental Studies; Provost of College Nine and College Ten at the University of California, Santa Cruz

Flora Lu is an Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at UCSC and Provost of Colleges Nine and Ten. She earned her A.B. in Human Biology from Stanford University and her Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her scholarly interests include: ecological anthropology, environmental justice, conservation politics, indigenous livelihoods, and political ecology. For the past two decades, she has conducted research in the Ecuadorian Amazon examining the relationship between extractivism, indigenous communities, and rainforests. As College Provost, she builds co-curricular programs at UCSC around food justice, inclusive sustainability, and environmental equity in policy making, forging campus/community partnerships in the Bay Area and Central Coast.

Dr. Marco Cervantes | Plenary Topic #1: "The Value of Race and Equity in Education"

Associate Professor of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio

Dr. Marco Cervantes earned his Ph.D from the University of Texas at San Antonio. His research is centered on the impact of transculturation and communal spaces on educational through a framework of critical race theory, diaspora studies, decolonial studies and hip-hop studies with an emphasis on Black and Chicana/o cultural commonalities. Dr. Cervantes is also a hip-hop artist and is a member of the Afro Chicano hip-hop collective, Third Root.

Dr. Sarah Rodriguez | Plenary Topic #1: "The Value of Race and Equity in Education"

Assistant Professor at Iowa State University

Dr. Sarah Rodriguez is an Assistant Professor of Community College Leadership/Higher Education at Iowa State University. Dr. Rodriguez earned her PhD in Higher Education Leadership from The University of Texas at Austin, an MS from The University of Tennessee, and a BA in English and Spanish from Texas A&M University-Commerce. Her research addresses issues of equity, access, and retention for Latina/o students in the higher education pipeline, with a focus on community colleges and the intersections of gender and race/ethnicity. Dr. Rodriguez has worked with the project Engaging Latino Students for Transfer and College Completion, a national initiative at the Center for Community College Student Engagement, focused on helping institutions strengthen Latina/o student engagement, transfer, and college completion.

Dr. Matthew Whitaker | Equity Talk: "Make It Do What It Do: Cultural Competency and Pedagogical Excellence"

Founder and CEO of Diamond Strategies, LLC.

Dr. Matthew C. Whitaker is the Founder and CEO of the Diamond Strategies, LLC(DSC), and the Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, winner of the 2014 Arizona Diversity Leadership Alliance Inclusive Workplace Award, at Arizona State University. An educator, author, community engagement specialist, and motivational speaker, Dr. Whitaker is the 2016 Arizona Diversity Alliance Diversity/Inclusion Leader Award winner. He can be followed on Twitter at@Dr_Whitaker and DSC can be followed on Twitter at @dstategiesllc.

Dr. Shelly Brown-Jeffy | Equity Talk: "Integrating Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and Becoming a Culturally Aware Educator"

Associate Professor and Head of Sociology Department at The University of North Carolina Greensboro

Dr. Shelly L. Brown-Jeffy is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. Her research journey began with a broad question: Where does inequality originate and how does it influence quality of life for individuals and groups? Her interest in racial/ethnic inequality and socioeconomic disadvantage is evident in her teaching and research. The goal of her research is to examine and understand differences in educational outcomes among racial/ethnic/socioeconomic groups. In teaching, she helps others understand that our social world structures our social reality.

Sean Arce | Equity Talk: "Ethnic Studies Movement – Imperatives, Implications, and Possibilities"

Educational Consultant at Xicano Institute for Teaching and Organizing

Sean Arce, co-founder and former director of the nationally renowned and now banned K-12 Mexican American Studies Department in Tucson, Arizona, received the first Myles Horton Award for Teaching People’s History from the Zinn Education Project (ZEP) in 2012. His work has been highlighted on PBS, Democracy Now and National Public Radio. Arce is currently teaching high school Xicanx Studies classes in Azusa Unified School District which fulfill the University of California course requirements. Arce also is an educational consultant with the Xicanx Institute for Teaching and Organizing, working with urban educators in developing and implementing Ethnic Studies curriculum and pedagogy. Arce is currently working towards his doctorate in Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies from the University of Arizona.

Dr. Richard J. Ayers | Plenary Topic #2: "Equitable Pedagogical Practices"

Assistant Professor of Teacher Education at the University of San Francisco

Rick Ayers, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Education at the University of San Francisco in the Urban Education and Social Justice cohort. He taught in the Communication Arts and Sciences small school at Berkeley High School, where he pioneered innovative and effective strategies for academic and social success for a diverse range of students. His books include: A Teacher’s Guide to Studs Terkel’s Working, An Empty Seat in Class: Teaching and Learning after the Death of a Student, Great Books for High School Kids: A Teacher’s Guide to Books That Can Change Teens’ Lives (co-author with Amy Crawford), Teaching the Taboo: Courage and Imagination in the Classroom (co-author with William Ayers).

Dr. Dorinda Carter Andrews | Plenary Topic #2: "Equitable Pedagogical Practices"

Associate Professor of Teacher Education and Assistant Dean of Equity Outreach Initiatives at Michigan State University

Dr. Dorinda J. Carter Andrews is Assistant Dean of Equity Outreach Initiatives and an associate professor of teacher education at Michigan State University where she teaches courses on racial identity development, urban education, critical multiculturalism, and critical race theory. She is a Core Faculty member in the African American and African Studies program, Co-Director of the Graduate Urban Education Certificate Program, and a Faculty Leader in the Urban Educators Cohort Program. Dr. Carter’s research is broadly focused on race and educational equity. She studies issues of educational equity across P-12 school contexts and on college campuses, urban teacher preparation and identity development, and critical race praxis with P-12 educators. She has given two TEDx talks, one entitled “The Consciousness Gap in Education: An Equity Imperative” and another entitled “Teach Kids to Be Eagles: Overcoming Educational Storms.”

Dr. Jimiliz Valiente-Neighbours | Plenary Topic #2: "Equitable Pedagogical Practices"

Professor of Sociology at Point Loma Nazarene University

Dr. Jimiliz Valiente-Neigbours earned her Ph.D. and Master's Degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz in the Department of Sociology. She immigrated from the Philippines to Long Beach, CA during her childhood, and this experience has largely shaped her teaching, research, and involvement in the community. Dr. Valiente-Neighbours has worked with incarcerated women and refugees in Santa Cruz and refugees in San Diego, facilitated conversations on race, racism, and anti-racist practices, as well as poverty and sustainability in her church communities and academic spaces. Dr. Valiente-Neighbours was also recipient of the Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship and the UC President's Dissertation Year Fellowship because of her work in bringing stories of marginalized communities to academia. Her teaching and research interests include: Race and Ethnicity, Social Problems, Inequality and Privilege, Immigration, Citizenship, Transnationalism, Globalization, Body and Embodiment, and Environmental Sociology.