Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Empowerment, & Social Justice Work

One of my strongest commitments is not only to diversity, equity, and inclusion, but also to empowerment and social justice — to creating environments not simply of tolerance, but of deep appreciation for what women and minorities bring to the table. To do this work meaningfully requires more than an ideological commitment — it requires a commitment to action and practice. And to do this work effectively requires shifting the power dynamics, priorities and goals within organizations, institutions, and movements.

My work on these issues began over thirty years ago as an undergraduate at Northwestern University, where I trained with the Northwest Center Against Sexual Assault to become a volunteer crisis counselor and medical advocate. From 1991-3, I provided support to survivors during monthly shifts on a 24/7 crisis hotline and at hospitals.

During my junior year at Northwestern, I completed a field study at the Illinois Human Rights Commission.

For three summers beginning in 1991, I worked at the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund (currently Legal Momentum) in New York for attorney Lynn Hecht Schafran on issues of gender equity, sexual harassment, and discrimination.

In 1993 while working at the American Bar Foundation, I started volunteering with the Women’s Law Project, Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago under attorney Bridget Arimond on a potential Title IX lawsuit against the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) for failure to provide equal support and resources for girls’ soccer teams. I interviewed girls’ soccer coaches, many of them from Mexico and Central America, compiling data on the inequity in girls sports. Ultimately CPS agreed to address the issue of equity, and a lawsuit was not necessary.

In 1994, When Bridget Arimond won a grant from the Chicago Bar Foundation and the Women's Bureau, U.S. Department of Labor for sexual harassment and pregnancy discrimination public education, she hired me to write (with her expert supervision) produce, and host a live television program focused on sexual harassment and pregnancy discrimination for 14 weeks on Hotline 21, a Chicago public access community cable channel. I created educational content each week that I presented, then interviewed guests and answered live questions from callers. Click to view some of the programs.

Between 1994-5 I worked as a Legislative Assistant at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in the Washington D.C. Legislative Office. My work centered on women’s rights and equity, including reproductive health and justice. While at the ACLU, I trained and then volunteered at the Washington Free Clinic (now the Whitman-Walker Clinic) as an HIV/AIDS counselor.

In 1996 I served as a volunteer in Guadalajara, Mexico with the Partnership for Service Learning as a health advocate. I trained women community health workers (promotoras) on issues of HIV/AIDS, contraception, and nutrition. And they trained me on the importance of community, solidarity, and life-long learning.

While working on my Ph.D. at Berkeley, I volunteered with the United Farmworkers of America in Watsonville, and at Global Exchange in San Francisco on issues of labor rights and immigration. I also helped build a labor union for graduate student workers.

As a faculty member, my commitment to issues of equity and inclusion continues. At Harvard, I served from 2010-14 on the Standing Committee on Ethnic Studies (now the Committee on Ethnicity, Migration, Rights). I provided testimony on immigrants’ labor market and labor movement incorporation for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor's Advisory Council on Refugees and Immigrants. At the University of New Mexico, I volunteered on a statewide campaign to kill the passage of an anti-worker “right-to-work” legislation.

At Notre Dame, in both the Keough School of Global Affairs and the Department of Sociology, I helped spearhead and served on Diversity and Inclusion Committees. From 2019 to 2022, I served as the Keough School's Diversity and Inclusion Officer. In 2018, I was elected to serve for three years on the University Committee on Women Faculty and Students (Office of the Provost). I extended my anti-racism work into the larger Michiana community by helping to organize against family separation policies at the U.S.-Mexico border, and by facilitating the cultural competency training for the St. Joseph County CASA Program (Court Appointed Special Advocates).