Workshop Facilitators
Workshop Block 1: Improve holistic practices that center physical, emotional, spiritual, and social wellness
| Discover the Power of Support: Unveiling Effective Responses to Trauma Disclosure |
Self Compassion is my Super Power: Using Sound and Softness to Come Back Home to Oneself
Spiritual Cyphers: Feeling the VIBE
Dr. Alyson Zalta is a clinical psychologist, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychological Science, and the Director of the Trauma and Resilience Lab. Her work focuses on trying to alleviate the mental health burden of trauma by enhancing our understanding of risk and resilience factors that contribute to the development of traumatic stress and exploring novel interventions for individuals affected by trauma. She received an early career award from the American Psychological Association trauma division, and she has received funding from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation to support her work.
Cynthia Alonzo Perez, LCSW is a first generation Xicana therapist, podcast host, creative artist, author, and owner of Rooted in Reflection. Cynthia has written 3 books for “Re-parenting Your inner child” using journaling and self compassion. Cynthia teaches CEU courses for CA therapists and social workers through a restorative social justice lens. Rooted in Reflection believes in the power of our own stories and sponsors and hosts the podcast “Confetti All Around” to highlight creative healing through life experiences. Rooted in Reflection has become a trusted host for curating whimsical “Soft Spaces” rooted in collective healing. rootedinreflection.org IG:Rooted_in_Reflection
Johnson (https://dance.arts.uci.edu/ariyan-johnson) is a multidisciplinary artist with a rich background in dancing, choreographing, acting, producing, and directing. As part of the pioneering collective of hip-hop, she globalized the dance genre in the late ‘80s and ‘90s through music videos, televised music award shows, tours, and her work as the lead in the first Hip Hop female coming-of-age story in the SUNDANCE Jury Prize winning film Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. reaching audiences worldwide. Through a dance lens, her award-winning directing in the documentary Spiritual Cyphers: Hip Hop and the Church explored African American women’s contributions as well as her article in the book Dance in US Popular Culture. During her professional dancing career, Johnson has worked with the likes of Queen Latifah, L.L. Cool J, Salt-N-Pepa, Ms. Melodie, SWV, Mary J. Blige, and many more, and was a featured member of Abdel Salaam’s Forces of Nature Dance Theatre. She joined the UCI faculty in 2020 and teaches hip-hop, jazz, and healing to her students (https://www.arts.uci.edu/in-the-news/ariyan-johnson-brings-innovation-passion-uci-dance)
Workshop Block 2: Integrate skills and practices that empower personal growth
Building Communitea 101
Thriving Together: Mental Health and Wellness in the Workplace
Planning for the Future: Your Financial Journey
Bianka Gravillis (she / her)
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Bianka Gravillis has always had a passion for gathering people. In 2022 Bianka founded Teaparty4blackgirls, a nonprofit dedicated to taking care of Black Womxn. Over the past 2 years, Bianka has hosted over 13 events with sponsors such as Ami Cole, Mother Denim, and Topicals. The various intimate events and mixers have been centered around Black women getting to know one another, finding new ways of supporting one another and keeping brands accountable for taking care of women of color. Bianka has plans for 2024 such as more intimate events, clubs for people to come together through their common interest and grand summits to celebrate and educate women of color!
Monique Castro, LMFT
Monique Castro is a citizen of the Diné (Navajo) Nation and Xicana, born, raised, and currently lives on Tongva lands (Los Angeles, CA). She is a mother, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (Lic# 104427), private practice owner, certified professional coach, consultant, facilitator, and advocate with over 16 years of professional experience in health, wellness, community organizing, and education. Her clinical work is approached with centering an Indigenous worldview and core values. Monique earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA) and a Master of Science in Counseling Psychology from Mount Saint Mary’s University (MSMU).
Paula Garcia-Arsenault
Paula Garcia-Arsenault is the Vice President, Community Manager with Chase Bank. By focusing on growing Chase business opportunities within underserved communities and across diverse segments, the team creates integrated, actionable financial health roadmaps to help communities. The Community Manager is the liaison to build relationships and ensure financial education and product solutions are available to the community. Prior to returning to Chase Bank Paula was the Vice President of Family and Homebuyer Services with Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, where she ran the Home Ownership Program, the Home Repair Program and the Neighbor Revitalization Program.
NextUp | Non-profit Advancing Executive Women in Business
Womxn in the Industry & Entrepreneurship by NEXTUP
Andrea Pereira, Rocket Science Branding, Founder & Senior Branded Merchadise Ideator
As the Founder of Rocket Science Branding, with passion, Andrea strives to engage clients to create thoughtful collateral, develop strategic positioning, and design unique swag to excite consumers and grow brands. Andrea has successfully worked with many types of organizations, from start-ups to multinational firms, across different industries, including technology, food and beverage, and service. Andrea obtained her Bachelor’s degree and MBA degree from Pepperdine University.
Heather DeLucan
Golden West Packaging Group, Key Account Manager, A Sales Executive with 20+ years of driving new business for organizations such as The Southland Corporation (7-Eleven), Nabisco, Denny’s Restaurants, and Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream by forming and maintaining authentic relationships through seeing beyond one’s status.
Jenna Arkin
Chief Innovation Officer, ECOS®
Jenna Arkin is the forceful innovator behind ECOS®’s safer and greener cleaning products. With a degree in Integrative Biology from the University of California, Berkeley, and a graduate degree in Fashion Design from the Fashion Institute of Design and Technology, Jenna brings a unique combination of scientific expertise and creative passion to her work.
Mandy Loh, P&G, Senior Account Executive
Mandy is an experienced Senior Account Executive with a demonstrated track record of building strong partnerships, over-delivering on ROI, and sustainably growing multi-million dollar businesses in the consumer goods industry. Mandy currently is the Senior Account Executive of the Baby & Feminine Care (West Region) California segment. Mandy obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Portland State University in 2015.
Breaking Barriers Panel
Dr. Catherine Z. Sameh, Ph.D.
Catherine Z. Sameh is Associate Professor and Chair of Gender & Sexuality Studies at UCI. She is the author of Axis of Hope: Iranian Women’s Rights Activism across Borders (University of Washington Press, 2019). She was the Associate Director of the Barnard Center for Research on Women from 2010-2014 and co-founded the feminist bookstore, In Other Words, in Portland, Oregon.
Dr. Angela Chuan-Ru Chen is currently the Director of the DREAM Center at UCI. Having been undocumented herself for 16 years, her experiences as an undocumented student throughout her undergraduate career has been an influence for her passion to support the undocumented student community. Angela most recently worked as the Director of the Undocumented Student Program at UCLA, serving over 500 undocumented students, launching new programming, and building resources across campus departments to better serve undocumented students. Additionally, Angela’s institutional advocacy includes leading University of California system-wide efforts to increase awareness about policies that impact undocumented students and guiding universities across the nation to develop support programs for undocumented youth. Moreover, Angela also completed academic training in UCLA’s Graduate School of Education.
Dr. Yatta Kiazolu, Ph.D.
Yatta Kiazolu is an Assistant Professor of Global and International Studies at UC Irvine with specializations across 20th century U.S. and African American history, Women’s and Gender studies, and Contemporary Africa and African Diaspora studies. Her current book manuscript tentatively titled, “All the Women are Meeting: Black Feminist Solidarities in the Struggle for African Decolonization, 1945-1985” examines the range of political visions and solidarities with African independence among Black women’s organizations in the U.S. She is committed to community engagement and social justice advocacy, having testified before U.S. Congress advocating for immigration relief programs including Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) and DACA, and contributing editorials uplifting Black immigrant experiences in national platforms and blogs. Kiazolu is a proud HBCU graduate earning a bachelor’s in history from Delaware State University. She earned her PhD in history from UCLA.
Joanna Hernandez grew up as a first-generation Latina & former foster youth student. Over her past 10 years of work experience in higher education, she has specifically focused on advocating for first-generation & low-income students’ needs, is a practiced counselor, and is a seasoned program developer. Joanna is currently an Educational Leadership doctoral student at Cal State Long Beach and completed her master’s in Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan and her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Latin American & Iberian Studies from UC Santa Barbara. She currently serves as the Director of the Student Success Initiatives Office, providing leadership to programs that support foster youth, student parents, undocumented students, transfer success programs, community partnerships, as well as first-generation and low-income students.