Meet Our Team

I am a proud multi-racial, Black and Indian identifying woman who grew up in the suburbs of New York. After studying Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, I worked in human resources, with a focus on giving individuals the tools they need to thrive and support those around them, resulting in organizational structures that create value by enabling people to succeed. With a desire to transform an organization that was close to my heart, I returned to work at my alma mater, the Dwight-Englewood School, serving as the Director of Student Activities. During my time there, I supported much of the work relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion. One of my greatest honors has been to serve as a facilitator for the annual Student Diversity Leadership Conference hosted by the National Association of Independent Schools for a decade, which focuses on identity work and empowering students to become change agents through engaging others in dialogue. As a graduate student at Soka University of America, from 2017-2019, I studied the experiences of Black individuals who attended independent schools, using culturally relevant pedagogy and social justice education frameworks, to explore how their experiences at these schools impacted their racial identity development. I am humbled to have the opportunity to help build out of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Soka centered on our university mission and creating a model for genuine belonging based on respecting the dignity of life. I have a toddler and one more child on the way, and everything I do in this space (including currently pursuing my Ph.D.) is with them in mind—with confidence that consistently centering on the next generation, we can create spaces and systems that honor the dignity of life.

I am a first-generation college student born and raised in New Jersey, USA from Dominican immigrants. I experienced the dichotomy of being born in a culture that differed from my family in a multitude of ways, including language, values, and heritage. I lived in Burlington, Vermont for six years to complete my undergraduate degree in Sociology with a minor in Statistics and my graduate degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs. I felt so honored to be surrounded by a community of mentors during my college experience who helped me navigate the nuances of campus life, in such a way that helped me thrive. This sparked in me the desire to support others through their own unique journey through the transformative experience college has the potential to be. Before starting at Soka, I worked at the University of Vermont and Cal State Fullerton in residential life coordinating programming and community building. I started my journey at Soka in December 2019 and am honored to work with an incredible team towards increasing our collective engagement towards inclusion. Last year, I started a doctoral program in Clinical Psychology at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology in Anaheim with the goal of providing communities mental health support through the challenges we continue to face. Personally, I enjoy meditating, reading, and being outdoors while chasing down my energetic preschooler.

Bio coming soon!

Class of 2025
I am a German and Japanese multiracial Canadian who grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia. I attended a French immersion high school where I could learn French and attended Japanese school as an extracurricular outside of school. I am still deciding on my concentration between Social and Behavioral Sciences and environmental studies. I am currently enjoying studying Mandarin as my language of choice. I am passionate about learning new cultures and languages to expand my knowledge and awareness of different world views and ideologies. I was elected as the class senate secretary in my first year at Soka University of America. Through this position, I learned many conflict management and interpersonal communication skills, which I hope to apply to my job at the DEI office. I love listening to stories, asking questions about people’s homes, sharing my own experience, and learning about our similarities and differences.

Class of 2025
I grew up in São Paulo, Brazil and I identify as half Japanese and half Brazilian. I am 18 years old, and in the process of better understanding the elements of my identity. For now, I can say I love singing, I am a dog person, I was raised by a single mother and grandmother, I studied for 13 years in Brazil Soka School. I have always been passionate about community engagement and inclusion. Through high school, I engaged myself in literary projects related to raising awareness for minority groups in Brazil and developed activities that fostered inclusion. Since Spring 2022, I am grateful to have the opportunity to work as a DEI Student Employee for the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Soka. In the office, I mainly work with supporting social media projects, organizing events, and assisting to develop projects such as the new monthly Ally Pack. Working for the office has been one of the most transformative experiences that has allowed me to become more aware of my privileges and identity, and I hope to keep growing to be able to better support Soka and the outside community.