Founding Director

President Trump is continuing his plans to move U.S. immigration policy in a more restrictive direction that mainly targets Muslim majority countries and we FEATURE Valarie Kaur. Valarie is the founder of Groundswell at Auburn Seminary, a non-profit initiative with 100,000 members that equips people of faith in social change. She has led national campaigns responding to hate crimes, racial profiling, immigration detention, marriage equality, and solitary confinement. Valarie has been called “a standout figure in the world of interfaith organizing and activism” and “one of the most exceptional speakers and thinkers” of her generation. Media includes: MSNBC Political Contributor, frequent contributor to CNN, NPR, PBS, Washington Post, Huntington Post.

Research Director

With the Supreme Court announcing its decision to not hear a major transgender rights case involving a transgender boy's right to use the boys restroom in a Virginia high school, we FEATURE Emily A. Greytak. Emily is a national expert on LGBTQ youth and education issues. As the Research Director at GLSEN (glsen.org), the leading organization addressing LGBTQ issues in education, she leads all research efforts including the biennial National School Climate Survey, the only regular survey of LGBTQ students’ experiences. As author of the first national study of transgender youth’s school experiences, Dr. Greytak is one of the leading experts on transgender and gender nonconforming students. Media includes: The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Mother Jones, and Mashable.

Director of Hispanic Serving Institution Initiatives

March is Women's History Month and, fittingly, questions about what feminism is has become a topic of conversation following accusations that Emma Watson is a "bad feminist" for doing a nearly topless photoshoot with Vanity Fair. For questions about Women's History Month and what feminism means, we FEATURE Veronica Arreola. Veronica is the assistant director of the Center for Research on Women and Gender and the director of the Women in Science and Engineering program at the University of Illinois at Chicago where she also earned both her degrees. She is an active member of local and national feminist organizations and, in 2014, she launched #365FeministSelfie as a feminist response to negative media and stereotypes around selfies. Arreola believes selfies can be empowering for women who do not like to have their picture taken or see the beauty others see in them. Media includes: WFLD – Fox Chicago, WLS – ABC Chicago, Chicago Tribune, Ms. Magazine, Bitch Magazine, MSNBC, NY Times, USA Today.