2022 Award Recipients
Distinguished Faculty Award
Cristina Herrera, Professor and Director of Chicano/Latino Studies, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Within their first year at PSU, Dr. Herrera has contributed significantly to establishing a more just and inclusive campus for our PSU community. Dr. Herrera has served as Director and Chair of Chicano/Latino Studies, Chair of the Race and Ethnic Studies Requirement committee, and is recognized for providing guidance, mentorship, and support to our students, faculty, and staff. Both in and outside the classroom, Dr. Herrera is also acknowledged for showing strong commitment in ensuring the success of fellow Chicanox/Latinx students, instructors, and staff through their exceptional leadership, mentorship, and advocacy efforts. Within the PSU community, Dr. Herrera is known to personally dedicate their time towards supporting first-generation undergraduate and graduate students as they navigate higher education.
Jeff Conn, Associate Clinical Professor of Speech & Hearing Sciences, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Dr. Conn is a leader in the field of speech-language pathology and audiology supporting the development of culturally responsive curriculum, developing gender inclusive practices, linguistic equity, community outreach and promoting positive climates for gender expansive and transgender students and clients. They play a vital role in promoting diversity in clinical training, teaching, faculty support, and student mentoring. They consistently advocate for inclusion across local, regional, and national levels. Dr. Conn serves as the undergraduate and post-bac student advisor. In their role as the SPHR advisor, Dr. Conn led an online speech-language pathology bachelor’s degree program and post baccalaureate certificate to increase access for students from underrepresented communities with multiple competing life demands that prevent them from attending in-person daytime courses. Dr. Conn also serves as the chair of the SPHR Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee, is the mentor for the SPHR LGBT2S+ student affinity group, and serves as Vice Chair for the LGBTQ+ caucus of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association.
Distinguished Staff Award
Evan Green, Executive Director of Justice, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, School of Business
Evan joined the School of Business in 2017, and has led efforts to improve the experience of traditionally underrepresented students, staff, and faculty, while supporting JEDI initiatives across PSU’s campus and our local community. In 2021, Evan became the inaugural Executive Director of JEDI in the SB, one of the first such positions in a business school across the country. Evan was appointed one of two facilitators to direct the “Inclusive Business” strategic initiative, which works closely with The SB’s Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Committee to implement the primary JEDI programs. One of the programs develops a JEDI training plan for faculty and staff; Evan and their team brought in colleagues from OAI to provide a multi-workshop series on inclusive pedagogy and course design. Additionally, Evan has taken lead on the ATMOS program the past two years which resulted in increased participation of students of color in the extensive programming offered by ATMOS. The ATMOS program supports diverse and underrepresented undergraduate business students of color and is a promise of academic, career and community support to help create an avenue for a brighter future.
Yamile Nataren Fuentes, Admissions Counselor, Multicultural Recruitment and Outreach Office
Ally, advocate, educator - these are characteristics to describe Yamile. As an admissions counselor, they continue to educate incoming students on solutions to tackle micro/macroagressions and discrimination. They encouraged their community to stand up to injustices and promote social justice within their students' daily lives. Yamile is a proud Latina and active member of the local community who continues to guide and encourage their fellow Latinx community to prosper and get through all that life throws at them. They always make sure their students' voices are heard and allow them to feel safe, seen, and unafraid to be their authentic selves. They continuously advocate for their students to remain motivated and driven by not allowing barriers to deter a person’s progression in life. Yamile showcases how to be compassionate, positive, driven and proud throughout their career, this is represented by their ability to obtain student’s trust and respect through creating a safe space environment. Yamile establishes a safe space by utilizing inclusive dialogue and remaining knowledgeable of the evolution within marginalized communities. They welcome challenges and obstacles, viewing it as an opportunity to learn and gain more knowledge to enable beneficial and productive change in our community. Yamile symbolizes the essence of PSU’s Diversity and Inclusion mission.
Distinguished Undergraduate Student Award
Lisa Dinh, Biology and Science, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Lisa began their undergraduate studies at PSU after being admitted into the TRIO Summer Bridge program during the summer of 2018. As a first-generation college student, Lisa has significantly contributed towards creating an equitable and inclusive environment within the PSU community. While attending PSU, Lisa has balanced pursuing rigorous coursework within a STEM degree and displaying equitable and inclusive centered leadership for their fellow peers through extensive community involvement. Lisa has served as mentor within the Ignite program for four consecutive years. Lisa currently serves as the co-president of PSU’s Pre-Pharmacy Student Association (PPSA), and as the Student Advisory Board Chair for Passion Impact Inc. Their leadership has guided low-income, first-generation, and other diverse PSU pre-health students, and contributed in increasing retention rates, and ensuring long term success within professional goals of their peers through training and mentorship.
Distinguished Graduate Student Award
Jennifer Martinez-Medina, Public Affairs and Policy, College of Urban & Public Affairs
Jennifer has continually shown their commitment to advance social justice throughout our campus and Latinx community. While at PSU, Jennifer has led research initiatives centering around our most impacted communities, while also bringing about change through community organizing and building. Through Jennifer’s extensive research, their dissertation focused on analyzing the importance of improving our understanding of Mexico and the lives of Mexican migrants in the U.S. Over the past several years, Jennifer has led research and provided policy guidance in projects such as the Oregon COVID-19 Farmworker Study, Southern Oregon Housing Needs Study, and the Leave No One Behind Mural Project. As principal investigator, Jennifer has also worked alongside 14 community-based partner organizations and researchers at Portland State University, the University of Oregon, Oregon State University, and California Institute for Rural Studies.
Distinguished Team Award
Vernier Science Center Student Advisory Board
The Vernier Science Center Student Advisory Board is an all BIPOC student group in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Let us acknowledge those who have served on this board over the past year:
- Dr. Suzanne Estes, Faculty lead
- Derrick McDonald - Architecture
- Natalie Faye Amay - Advertising
- Raven Harmon - Health Studies
- Wiwin Hartini - Electrical Engineering
- Sara theirrejon Chavez - Environmental Studies
- Chris Molinar - Architecture
- Trish Nicholson - Counseling
- Malcolm Peavy - Biology
- Naomi Rodriguez - Environmental Science
- Athena Sheptheird - Architecture
- Motutama Sipelii - Health Studies
- Ben Steward - Indigenous Nations and Native American Studies
- Abie Valenzuela - Environmental Science
The Vernier Science Center Student Advisory Board is a dedicated group of students who shared integral leadership roles to assist in envisioning the design of the $65 million construction project of the new undergraduate science center at PSU. They have devoted an abundance of their time and energy to serve in the board's mission to create an inclusive and equitable building for our diverse student population in STEM. The student advisory board has represented PSU in various planning meetings alongside organizations and groups such as Bora Architects, PSU Capital Projects & Construction, Campus Planning & Sustainability, Facilities, and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences leadership team. Their efforts are influenced by critical race and spatial theory to ensure the voices of communities of color are elevated in the design process and incorporated by their lived experiences. During the summer of 2021, the students created a subgroup within the advisory board to facilitate four discussions with BIPOC faculty, staff, alumni and community partners. The discussions were intended to capture and comprehend the relationships between space, race and equity in higher STEM education. The subgroup acknowledges the need to decenter anti-BIPOC systemic issues to curate a welcoming inclusive environment in STEM, that focuses on vocalizing our BIPOC communities.