This year, the Womxn’s Center for Success and Womxn’s Month Advisory Board wanted to highlight the womxn who work hard every day to give to the UC Irvine community. This series is fittingly titled The Womxn Who Make it Happen – to celebrate the hardworking womxn of the UC Irvine staff. Take a look at some of their stories below and keep an eye on your campus email throughout the month of March for their full stories in The Womxn Who Make it Happen series!
Tamara Inoue
UC Irvine Women’s Basketball Head Coach
Tamara Inoue is in her ninth year at the helm of the UC Irvine women’s basketball program. Inoue has led the Anteaters to back-to-back Big West titles, winning the conference tournament in 2023-24 and the first regular-season championship in program history in 2022-23. Last season, the ‘Eaters earned a No. 13 seed in their first NCAA appearance since 1995. UCI also received an automatic bid to the WNIT in 2022 and 2023. Inoue’s teams have posted 20+ wins in four of her eight completed seasons, including in each of the last three (2021-24).
“My twin sister Karine has been my rock, always there for me. I’ve been lucky enough to meet some amazing women in my career who’ve inspired me. Growing up, I only had male coaches, but one year in AYSO soccer on Kauai, my mom put together the first all-girls team for us. She wasn’t the head coach, but she nominated as the “assistant coach with ZERO experience”….at times, the head coach would have my mom run our warm-up and we all felt like we were in an aerobics class, warming us up with some crazy moves. We ended up winning the whole thing, so I guess that counts for something”
Jody Margolis, MS, RDN
UCI Student Wellness & Health Promotion -Nutrition Programs Manager
In my clinical role at Student Health patients are referred by a health care provider to see me for Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) for concerns like prediabetes/diabetes, hyperlipidemia, pcos, vitamin/mineral deficiencies, hypertension, weight management, gastrointestinal disorders, and eating disorders. I am also a member of our Eating Disorder Consultation Team. In my outreach/prevention role I create and provide a variety of nutrition and body image workshops, supervise and train Peer Health Educators in body image, as well as provide individual nutrition education sessions (non-clinical) on topics such as vegetarian/veganism, sports nutrition, healthy eating on a budget, and meal preparation/planning.
“I never want womxn to feel defined by a number on a scale or what society deems as beautiful or worthy. I want to help womxn and all students to use critical thinking skills when they see nutrition information on social media. I hope to continue to foster the importance of self-love and compassion and help womxn to develop a healthy relationship to food and their bodies that honor their culture and traditions”
Liz Beth Sanchez
University Registrar Student Services Specialist
My name is Liz Beth Sanchez (pronouns: She/Her), and I work in the Registrar’s Office as a Student Services Specialist / Frontline Supervisor. I have been with UC Irvine since March 2024 but previously worked in the Division of Continuing Education and the School of Humanities from 2011 to 2017. In my current role, I coordinate frontline services, supervise office student assistants, and support academic records updates, Education Abroad Program (EAP) credit transfers, and staff employee waivers. The Registrar’s Office serves as the custodian of student academic records, ensuring the accuracy, integrity, and accessibility of academic history for all students.
“The most inspiring woman in my life is my mother. As an immigrant, she faced countless obstacles—discrimination, language barriers, and isolation—yet she never wavered in her determination to build a better life for our family.
Her tenacity and resilience shaped my values and drive for success. She taught me the importance of community, humility, and always striving to be my best self. She also instilled in me a deep connection to our culture and heritage, reminding me that our success is built on the sacrifices of those who came before us”
Dara H. Sorkin, Ph.D.
Departments of Medicine and Public Health- Director, Community Engagement Unit, ICTS
My background training is as a health services researcher trained in sociology and psychology with extensive experience in developing and testing community-informed health promotion interventions for diverse populations, particularly economically and socially diverse adults, using social networks, innovative incentives and interventions, and the use of mobile technologies. I have been the Director of the Community Engagement Unit for UCI’s Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (ICTS) for the past 7 years. Conducting community-engaged research and including community-engaged approaches in my teaching has been central to my life’s work.
“For me, uplifting and supporting womxn means creating a culture of collaboration and mutual empowerment. I strive to create spaces that foster open communication, encourage diverse perspective, support inclusive teamwork, value work-life balance, provide opportunities for promotion, recognize people’s contributions, and celebrate achievements. I may not make this happen every day, but setting the goal high while giving myself grace is an important part of how I see my job”.
