Meet the panelists of the "Supporting Students of Color in academia" event

For those who keep up with The Student for Life via Instagram, as well as the blog, there is an event that I will be hosting/moderating on the main topic of "Supporting Students of Color in Academia."

Date: Thursday, June 25, 2020

Time: 7 pm EST/6 pm CST

So what can you expect from the virtual panel discussion?

You can expect to hear from 5 panelists of various races/ethnicities, educational and professional backgrounds. The panel consists of Camille Morgan BCBA, Ashtyn Frye MSW, Shannon Thomison, Mara Lopez-Godoy, and Dr. Melissa Abeyta. The panelists will be speaking on topics ranging from why representation matters to ways to make changes throughout academia.

Who are the panelists?

Ashtyn Frye, MSW

Ashtyn currently resides in Detroit, Michigan, and is a home-based clinician that is an LLMSW holder. She graduated from Western Michigan University, where she obtained her bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice. After graduation, Ashtyn knew she wanted to help people, but did not know in what capacity. After living in Detroit for a year after graduation, she decided to move to Washington D. C. to figure out what she "wanted to be when she grew up." At the time, she job hopped until she landed a job working as a case manager at a Halfway Back program.

Ashtyn worked with adult males and females who were placed probation or parole. Her job was to help them become compliant with the rules and regulations of probation/parole, and assist them in successfully integrating back into the community. During her tenure at her place of employment, she realized there was a high need for social workers. In addition, she did not realize most of her clients had a mental health diagnosis. In order for her to be a better advocate for them, she needed to be educated on the population she was working with.

Ashtyn works with predominantly African American clients who were constantly misdiagnosed and/or afraid to be seen by a therapist or doctor. The majority of her clientele didn't want to be labeled as "crazy." It was at that moment she knew she needed to be an advocate for individuals/clients who looked like her. She wanted to provide services to displaced, low-income families, and criminal justice clients. Therefore, Ashtyn decided to attend Howard University, where she received her Master of Social Work degree in 2017.

Ashtyn's goal in life is to advocate on behalf of the minorities and combat the stigma surrounded around mental illness. Ashtyn specializes in treating clients with PTSD, self-esteem building, depression, anxiety and anger management.

Cammie Morgan, BCBA (she/her)

Camille "Cammie" Morgan resides in Honolulu, Hawaii by way of metropolitan Detroit, Michigan with her fiance. She is a Black, lesbian, cisgender woman, and says this because each of her identities show up in her work every single day, and it is important for her to show others that may identify with any of her identities that they, too, can do great things as they live out loud in various ways. She earned her bachelor's degree from Western Michigan University where she studied Psychology and Gender & Women's studies. After graduating, Cammie began her journey into the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). She earned her master's degree from Nova Southeastern University where she studied Counseling and ABA. After graduating, she continued her studies and is now a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) working with scholars with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and advocating for racial and social justice. Cammie currently works as a school-based behavior analyst contracted in through the Hawaii Department of Education and is a remote supervisor for ABA students through ReadySetABA.

Cammie has a few special interests in the field of ABA, including race, diversity, culture, and inclusion training, severe problem behaviors (i.e., aggression and self-injurious behaviors), and Organizational Behavior Management (OBM). Cammie is a 14-year ovarian cancer survivor, so her work also includes spreading awareness about the "silent killer." In her free time, she binge-watches teenie-bopper shows on Netflix (Riverdale and The Originals are her faves), hike scary-looking trails on Oahu, online shop as a mode of therapy.

The mission to support students of color is important to Cammie because she knows first-hand how beneficial it is is. Her field, in particular, is predominantly White and without the support of her fellow Black behavior analysts, she simply would not be able to do the work that she believes that she was born to do. Her overall goal in life is to be a constant presence in younger ABA practitioners' lives as a model and mentor while disseminating the science of across various issues, including the ones that we face as minorities in the ABA field.

Mara Lopez-Godoy (@AcademicMujeres / PhD Student)

Mara Lopez-Godoy is currently attending Arizona State Univerisity and in her second year in the Doctor of Education program. Her research is centered around increasing representation and career decision-making self-efficacy in first-generation and underrepresented student populations. In addition to being a full-time doctoral student, she is also  Faculty Associate teaching Career Development and Motivation and a Research Coordinator working on a grant geared towards teacher professional development. She graduated with her BA in Psychology from San Diego State University and went on to earn her MA in Organizational Leadership from Point Loma Nazarene University. She has been working in higher education for over a decade now and with roles in research, grant administration as well as student support and advocacy. As a Latina and mother of two young children, it is important for her to help create more inclusive environments for students and mothers of color as well as work to spread awareness of the value of representation and what all it affects. She has created a platform on Instagram called @AcademicMujeres to shine a light on the efforts and achievements of Mujeres in academia and is working to develop more ways to increase representation through research and advocacy. Mara is a firm believer that when we all come together, we are unstoppable. 

Dr. Melissa Abeyta (@AcademicSoul)

Dr. Melissa Abeyta is a self-proclaimed Latina Mami Scholar. She advocates for formerly incarcerated and system impacted students and is the founder/creator of Academic Soul/

Dr. Melissa Abeyta is a higher education researcher. Her research focus revolves around using an anti-deficit lens that explores the experiences of formerly incarcerated students in higher education aimed to identify how administrators, faculty, and practitioners can academically and socially prepare these students in postsecondary education. Her research and assessment projects have included institutional needs assessments for disproportionately impacted students in community colleges. Dr. Abeyta was awarded the Ron Jacobs Outstanding Research Award for her dissertation, A Phenomenological Study of Formerly Incarcerated Latino Men in California Community Colleges. Her research has been recognized as a model of transformation and change. Dr. Abeyta is committed to serving traditionally underrepresented students in higher education through research and policy. She also serves as the inaugural chair for the NASPA Formerly Incarcerated Students & System Impacted Families Knowledge Community.  In addition to her research contributions, Dr. Abeyta is the founder and content creator for Instagram's @AcademicSoul, a creative outlet that was inspired by her cultura and the Women of Color in academia. She launched Academic Soul to microblog how she managed life as a working mom and commuting doctoral student. Since then she has launched products representative of cultura + academia.

Goals & Takeaways: Supporting students of color is critical for me because I know the numbers from this student population completing degrees is vital not only for them, individually but for their families and communities.  I would hope the attendees of the webinar would feel empowered and to know that they are not alone in a call for justice and equity.  A topic/subtopic would be "Community"- connect with a campus social network (ie: Greek organization, a social club, etc) that they can be in community with. If one does not exist, discussion about creating that community, deciding the community rules, etc.

Shannon Thomison (PhD Student)

Shannon Thomison is a dedicated and team-oriented professional with over 10yrs of combined experience in the fields of Career Management and Organizational Development. She hails from Detroit Mi and received both her bachelor’s degree in Public Relations and a master’s degree in Human Resources and Organizational Development from Eastern Michigan University. Currently, Shannon is a PhD student in the Industrial and Organizational Psychology program at Adler University-Chicago. Her extensive professional and educational background have led her to work in the following industries: 

US Government Automobile Industry Sports and Entertainment  Career Development Higher Education Non Profit Religious Organizations Healthcare Entrepreneurship Business Currently, she is the managing principle consultant two private practices. One being The Annette Group, a consulting practice in the metro Detroit Area that consults and collaborates with individuals & small to midsize organizations to assist with implementing career development, performance, & self-management practices. This panel discussion is important to her because of her own passion in life. Her focus and research studies are aimed at helping the African American community shape and mode their career development opportunities utilizing reflective practices. Her passion also lies in researching how reflective practices & Career Development Initiatives impact the mindset of women of color to grow and succeed in Corporate America. Contact info: Email: annettegroupconsulting@gmail.com Website: ajourneyinbecoming.com

---

Please join us!

Candace (@TheStudentForLife)