Describe any previous branch positions and years you served.
I coordinated with AAUW Long Beach via my role as Chair of the President’s Commission for the Status of Women (PCSW) at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). In that capacity, I served as the point-person for maintaining a relationship between the university and the local branch around gender equity issues and actions, including coordinating co-participation in and attendance at PCSW and AAUW events. While this was not a formal branch-internal position, I served in this capacity for 1-2 years.
Describe any AAUW California positions and years you served.
I have served on the California State Public Policy Committee since 2017 and have been a California State Co-Director of the Public Policy Committee, serving with Amy Hom, since 2023. As Co-Director, we have launched a number of new initiatives, including a monthly newsletter entitled Public Policy News. In 2024, with the help of committee members, coalition partners, and our legislative advocate, we were able to see our first AAUW California co-authored bill signed into law.
Talk about any AAUW California conventions you attended in the last five years.
I have helped to organize and deliver many events and webinars for AAUW over the past few years, including Get Out the Vote webinars in election years and Lobby Day preparation webinars each spring. Every other month for the past two years, Amy Hom and I have run peer-group meetings for all Branch Public Policy Chairs in the state of California. In the fall of 2024, I worked with Amy Hom to deliver a webinar on Project 2025; in the spring of 2024, I delivered a webinar on public policy and social media for AAUW North Carolina; and I will likely be a speaker at an upcoming AAUW California webinar on Artificial Intelligence.
Talk about any pertinent community activities or connections and their corresponding dates.
My main volunteer activity is the Public Policy work that I do for AAUW California. I also create free DEIB resources and, as mentioned, engage in public speaking and scholarship around DEIB, culture, and gender equity.
Describe your employment/professional experience, including current employment.
Currently, I have two primary jobs. First, I am a professor in the Political Science, Anthropology, Linguistics, and Women’s Gender & Sexuality Studies Departments at California State University, Long Beach. Second, I am the co-owner of a small business–a diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) management consulting firm–where I also serve as a senior DEIB consultant. In these roles, I manage small- and large-scale projects, design and implement new curricula, provide professional development training, and engage in academic and applied mixed-methods research. I am a public scholar who engages in regular public speaking, at conferences and events as well as through the IntraCultural Podcast, and I publish regularly in popular forums and academic journals. I am also committed to mentoring others and have designed and implemented a number of internship programs
Describe any other special skills or experience.
In my roles as a researcher, professor, and small business owner, I have become quite proficient at management, including setting up project infrastructure. I also enjoy doing visual design, have worked with a variety of platforms and tools, and have experience with creative work that can bolster social media engagement.
Explain how you will incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion in your plans.
Public policy work around gender equity and social justice is inherently diversity, equity, and inclusion work. I approach all public policy work for AAUW California through this lens. I also apply these principles in approaching internal committee and branch-level work, where I strive to create a more inclusive culture.
Give your reasons for running for this office.
I am running to continue to advance the public policy priorities of AAUW California and provide members with tools to engage locally. State and local level public policy work around gender equity is always meaningful, but is even more relevant in the current political moment.