SOMeCA's 5th Annual Alumni Program | UC Santa Cruz

Connecting Student Leaders

Past

& Present SOMeCA’s 5th Annual Alumni Dinner + Workshops Saturday, May 4 University of California, Santa Cruz

program

Welcome to SOMeCA’s 5th Annual Alumni Weekend Dear Friends, Welcome! May 4th promises wonderful opportunities for all of us. For students, there will be an array of dynamic, successful, and warm alumni gathered to meet you. For alumni, there will be amazing moments of reunion, mentorship, and new networks. For all of us that work at UCSC, there will be an uplifting day of community and generosity.

Workshops are a new feature this year. In response to requests for more face-to-face time, alumni and student planning groups met to develop topics and formats. The results are a diverse gathering of alumni and the creation of unique spaces for dialogue.

Thank you for your interest. We look forward to seeing you on May 4th.

Sincerely, Sayo Fujioka SOMeCA

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Connecting Student Leaders Past & Present

Schedule of Programs Time

Activity

Location

workshops with alumni 12:30 - 2 pm

Self-Care & Setting Life Goals Workshop

Humanities Rm. 250

2:30 - 4 pm

Transformation & Innovation Workshop #1

Sign in @ Humanities 250

2:30 - 4 pm

Transformation & Innovation Workshop #2

Sign in @ Humanities 250

2:30 - 4 pm

Transformation & Innovation Workshop #3

Sign in @ Humanities 250

dinner with alumni 6:00 pm

Dinner & Performance

Cowell Dining Hall

RSVP by April 29th at soar.ucsc.edu

SOMeCA Alumni Day 2013

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SOMeCA: Student Organizing Advising & Resources (SOAR) Student Media/Cultural Arts & Diversity (CAD) present

Black & White attire is requested.

RSVP by April 29th visit soar.ucsc.edu

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Saturday May 4th Cowell Dining Hall 6:00 pm Dinner

Connecting Student Leaders Past & Present

Meet this year’s dinner panelists..

Niketa Calame

is from Los Angeles, CA. She received her BA from UC Santa Cruz in ‘02 as a Theater Arts major and her Masters of Fine Arts from The Actors Studio Drama School @ New School University in ‘05. While at UCSC, Niketa was involved with AATAT, A/BSA, BSU, CUIP (Soar Intern), Haluan Hip Hop Dance troupe, Rainbow Theater, SUA, and the Womens’ Theater. Niketa is most noted as the voice of Young Nala in Disney’s Animated Film The Lion King. She recently returned from Call to Congress in Washington DC with the American Diabetes Association where she lobbyed along with other advocates across the US for more funding for Prevention and Research Programs with the NIH and CDC. Her latest theater credits include: The Color Purple in the role of SQUEAK which won 6 Ovation awards, a Drama Critic Award and LA weekly nomination. Niketa teaches drama, dance and musical theater privately to elementary school children through her program IN MOTION.

Jeremy Karafin

received his bachelor of arts in American Studies and Theater Arts. As a student he worked on multiple Rainbow Theatre productions, was one of the original founders of and produced and directed the first three years of the Kinetic Poetics Project, led the Measure 13 student media referendum campaign and helped draft and implement plans for SCTV development and expansion. In New York, he founded Poetic Theater Productions and as Co-Artistic Director produced 2 festivals and 45 productions, readings and events featuring new work by poet playwrights from across the country. Jeremy supports the work of more than 40 theater and other performance companies annually through his work as the Assistant Manager at the eco-friendly Wild Project theater in the East Village.

Kalwis Lo is a southern California native who graduated from UCSC in

2011. During his time as an undergraduate, he was involved with Asian Pacific Islander Student Alliance (APISA), Engaging Education (e2), Rainbow Theater, and served two terms as the chair of the Student Union Assembly. Currently, he serves as the Legislative Director for the United States Student Association--the nation’s oldest and largest student-ran, student-led organization representing over 4 million students across country. USSA advocates for access and affordability in higher education along with advancing several social justice issues. Kalwis’ day-to-day responsibility includes working with USSA’s national staff to ensure that students are represented at the White House, US Department of Education, and Congress when decisions are being made around higher education. Education is a right!

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Self-Care & Setting Life Goals Workshop 12:30 - 2pm | Humanities Rm. 250

How healthy are you? How do you balance your life amidst deadlines, crises, celebrations, and beginnings? What is your relationship to time, and how do you divide it? How do you help yourself and allow others to help you, as you help our communities? We will process these questions, share, and learn tools to take care of ourselves through this popular education workshop. Please reflect on these questions in preparation for our session. alumni workshop facilitators:

Eden Silva Jequinto

graduated 2004 from Oakes College with a BA in American Studies. Eden is a proud alumnus of the Filipino Student Association, Rainbow Theatre, KZSC, Third World and Native American Student Collective Press, Colors in Action (organizing against the prison industrial complex), Student Union Assembly, Educational Opportunity Program, and the Ethnic Student Organization Council. Eden remains a core member of EastSide Arts Alliance in Oakland, CA as the founder of ESAA’s Guerilla Youth Theatre Project and Leadership program. Eden will graduate from UCLA with a Master’s in Urban Planning this June prior to starting law school. Grounded in her own transformative practices, she is committed to ensuring that our communities unite, heal, transform, and (re)build on a personal, interpersonal, and systemic level. She honors her family, mentors, and students who teach and reflect back to her a shared vision for a world worthy of our future generations.

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Connecting Student Leaders Past & Present

Self-Care & Setting Life Goals Workshop continued..

Melissa Moreno’s passion is teaching and research-

ing in the areas of Ethnic Studies, Multicultural Education, and Chicano/Latino Studies. She currently leads Ethnic Studies at Woodland Community College and teach Chicana/o Studies, History of Race and Ethnicity, Mexican American History, and Native American Studies. She is a former community educator and faculty in Chicana/o Studies, Education, and Liberal Studies. She earned a bachelor in Sociology and Women’s Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and then earned a masters and a doctorate from the University of Utah in the Department of Education, Culture and Society. Melissa’s publications have addressed issues surrounding citizenship identity, racial formation, alternative knowledge, cultural studies, and practices of young adult community-based leadership.

Christina Grijalva was part of the leadership

of MEChA her sophomore and junior years at UC Santa Cruz. She graduated with a B.A. in American Studies in 1995 and received her Master’s degree in Ethnic Studies at UC Berkeley. She has taught in Women’s Studies at SF State and in the English Department at University of San Francisco. She has worked as an advocate for HIV positive Latinas and taught a meditation curriculum at La Clinica de la Raza in Oakland. She is currently the lead coordinator and researcher of a community health project in East Oakland on the late diagnosis of HIV/ AIDS in the Latino community. She enjoys triathlons, trail running, and playing outdoors with her husband and her (very big & very small) dogs.

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Transformation & Innovation Workshops 2:30 - 4pm | Sign-in at Humanities Rm. 250

“Personal transformation can and does have global effects. As we go, so goes the world, for the world is us. The revolution that will save the world is ultimately a personal one.�

- Marianne Williamson

How does active participation and engagement in student organizations transform you? How does it shape your future personal and professional experiences? How does the work you are doing now influence the ways you handle leadership, conflict, and professional development? During this workshop, alumni who work in the sciences, policy, higher education, the arts, social justice movements, non-profits and media reflect on how their work in student organizations transformed their lives. They will discuss and share how the knowledge they gained was integral to their ability to be innovative and creative in their current professional and volunteer work. * There will be three break-out groups for this workshop.

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Connecting Student Leaders Past & Present

Transformation & Innovation Workshop A 2:30 - 4pm | Sign-in at Humanities Rm. 250

Leisette Rodriguez graduated from UCSC in 1996 and was

affiliated with Cowell College where she studied sociology, political science and education. As a student-activist at UCSC and a community organizer in the surrounding communities, she was a proud member of SANAI, MEChA, TWANAS, ESOC, MCF, LOCAs (lesbians of color alliance), Student support for the UFW, Santa Cruz Indian Council and was a sitting member on the Chancellor’s Exploratory Commission for an Ethnic Studies GE requirement and program. Leisette holds a degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence from the City University of New York School of Law. She currently represents teachers of Los Angeles as an union Area Representative.

Justin Resuello is Vice President with JPMorgan Chase - Business Banking - GNPH (Government, Not-For-Profit and Healthcare).

Resuello earned a Master of Public Administration from The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management Economics from University of California at Santa Cruz, where he was recipient of the AT&T Academic Awards Program Scholarship and the Oakes College Dr. J. Herman Blake Award. While at UCSC, he organized with Engaging Education and Filipino Student Association.

Dr. Paz Maya Olivérez is currently the Associate Director

of the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) and Student Success Coordinator at CSU Dominguez Hills. In 2008, Dr. Olivérez founded Futuros Educational Services, a non-profit organization designed to promote college access for undocumented immigrant students through the provision of college and financial aid workshops for students and professional development for school- and college-based professionals.

During her time at U.C.S.C., Dr. Olivérez served as Organizing Director for the S.U.A. and participated in M.E.Ch.A., Union de la Raza, and the Multicultural Festival Planning Committee. She also served on the Executive Board of the United States Student Association.

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Transformation & Innovation Workshop B 2:30 - 4pm | Sign-in at Humanities Rm. 250

Dr. Belinda Lum graduated from Cowell College in 1996

with her B.A in Sociology. During her time at UCSC, she was an active member of TWANAS, CSA, and MCF. She is currently a Senior Fellow at the Center for Community Engagement (CCE) at California State University, Long Beach and a Consultant to the INNOVA Group, Inc. Her current work with both the CCE and INNOVA utilizes traditional social science research design, participatory action research methodologies, as well as systems change, place-based methodologies to help create social change in communities. She was recently elected to serve as a council member for the American Sociological Association’s Section on Labor and Labor Movements.

Gustavo Adolfo Guerra Vásquez was born in Guatemala

and migrated without authorization to Los Angeles at eight years old where he came of age attending public schools. At UCSC, he participated in organizations such as the Third World & Native American Coalition, “Mes de Mayo Coalition,” “Ritmo Sabroso” Dance Troupe and was instrumental in the creation of “Unión para Nuestra América (U.N.A.)” & “Mezcla de Culturas.” As a founding member of Poetry Coalitions, he has toured the college-circuit and his work has been referenced by literary critics. Upon completion of a Master’s Degree in Comparative Ethnic Studies from U.C. Berkeley, he returned to Los Angeles where he works to build equitable, more inclusive communities through his social-justice work with youth.

Larissa Bates currently works for Playworks as an Ameri-

Corps member developing and directing five programs focused on engaging urban elementary school youth in safe and inclusive physical activity. During her time in Santa Cruz, she was active in TWANAS and Student Media Council. During her year as Editor of TWANAS she was also the Agenda Planner and Meeting leader for SMC. She feels that her experience in these organizations prepared her for the work she does now. She coaches sports teams, mentors student leaders, and facilitates an after-school program.

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Connecting Student Leaders Past & Present

alumni workshop facilitators continued..

Erin Schmalfeld is a writer and producer of digital content

in the field of New Media. She graduated Cum Laude from UCSC in 2010 with honors in the Literature major and Creative Writing concentration. She took on campus leadership responsibility as the Editor-in-Chief of The Fish Rap Live! In addition to serving as a Writing Assistant, a Junior Fellow at Stevenson College, and as the Creative Writing Coordinator for the Chancellor’s Undergraduate Internship Program. She currently works at Maker Studios, a leading YouTube production studio and management company. Erin produces comedy programming, leads a mean writers’ room, and manages content strategy for websites and social media properties. When she isn’t working Erin enjoys long conversations with her two cats and baking more desserts than is medically advisable.

Itchung Cheung completed his undergraduate degree in

marine biology and M.S. in Ocean Sciences at UC Santa Cruz.

He is now a Senior Instructor in Biology and Academic Program Manager for the Hatfield Marine Science Center at Oregon State University. His teaching interests are in the area of environmental education, the intersection of science, technology and society and experiential learning. Itchung has had a long history of commitment to increasing diversity in the sciences; he directed an NIH Baccalaureate Bridge to the Biomedical Sciences program (ACCESS) at the University of California Santa Cruz and traveled up and down the Salinas valley as an Academic Coordinator for the California MESA Schools program. He was involved in Chinese Student Association (CSA), Asian Pacific Islander Student Association (APISA) and the Multicultural Festival (MCF).

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Transformation & Innovation Workshop C 2:30 - 4pm | Sign-in at Humanities Rm. 250

Edgar Ontiveros was born in Guadalajara, Mexico and

was raised in Tijuana. As an immigrant, he has developed a passion for grassroots organizing, alternative media, and community education. Edgar graduated last spring with a degree in Anthropology and LALS. As a student, Edgar was involved in a variety of organizations including Grupo Folklorico Los Mejicas and Rape Prevention Education. Through Student Media, Edgar published several print articles in TWANAS and produced multimedia work under the Border Stompers Collective. Edgar is interested in working with Latino youth in the field of education and has participated in the Corre La Voz after school program and is currently a tutor/mentor for Boys Moving Forward at Mintie White elementary school. Having come back from a bike ride in which he pedaled from Santa Cruz, CA to Guadalajara, Mexico, Edgar is currently a research assistant for the Center for Education al Research in the Interest of Underserved Students at UCSC.

Tiffany Dena Loftin was born and

raised in California and in 2011 graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is a TRIO alumni, black student union activist, grassroots organizer, and speaker for safe communities and equal opportunity. At UCSC, she help mobilize communities of color to defend access and affordability for higher education. A powerful speaker and a charismatic organizer, Tiffany believes that education is right and not a privilege. She currently serves as the President of the United States Student Association and works now to train student leaders to amplifies the student voice on issues that affect young people and through grassroots campaigns mobilizes the masses to win concrete victories.

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Connecting Student Leaders Past & Present

alumni workshop facilitators continued..

Ken Songco is an alumnus of Oakes College and gradu-

ated in 2001 with a B.A. in Psychology. He was a member of the Filipino Student Association and the Pilipino Cultural Celebration. As the first CUIP SOAR Retention Intern, he helped create the Kuya/Ate Mentorship Program. Ken was also one of the founding members of the Ethnic Student Organizing Council that paved the way for the creation of student-run retention programs for students of color on campus. Ken was one of the founding members of Rainbow Theatre’s fourth component, Poet’s Corner. Ken has over 11 years of work experience advising low-income, first generation college students, managing federally-funded programs, and leading teams in the nonprofit sector.

He now works at Mission College, a CA Community College in Santa Clara. As the Director of Federal Student Services Grants, he oversees the college’s Title III Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution programs.

Robynn Takayama is a proud Oakes student who was

involved with the Asian and Pacific Islander Student Alliance, is a multimedia producer whose work has been presented through video, web, and gallery installation in San Francisco, Berkeley, Los Angeles, and Chicago. A graduate of the KPFA First Voice Apprenticeship, she has contributed to national and local public radio programs and the Peabody-awarded documentary on Asian American history, Crossing East. She produces Apex Express, a weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community on KPFA, Thursdays at 7 p.m., with a collective of activists, DJs, and media makers. She has worked as a program manager at the San Francisco Arts Commission for over 12 years where her responsibilities include grant making and leveraging the arts to stimulate economic development.

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Thank You We would like to thank all of the volunteers, performers, workshop facilitators, attendees, staff, and alumni.

Special thanks to Planning Committee contributors Alumni: Christina Grijalva Eden Jequinto Belinda Lum Melissa Moreno Leisette Rodriguez Students: Gabby Areas Aron Garst Scott Leiserson Marlene Martinez Mike Mott Tash Nguyen Adriana Renteria Maribeth Rohman Edith Cardenas Salinas Curnie Wyatt

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Connecting Student Leaders Past & Present