Professional Development Academies in Education

Professional Development Programs in Information Studies

UCLA’s School of Education & Information Studies is home to two departments. Each is a leader in their field, helping to pioneer what's next in the Education and Information worlds.

UCLA Ed&IS faculty are at the forefront of their fields, addressing issues of equality, access and social justice in the fields of education and information. Their scholarship has an international reputation for excellence and commitment to addressing the most critical issues facing our society.

An ecosystem of K-12 teaching schools where UCLA partners to develop, study, share, and advance innovative best practices.

The work at UCLA Ed&IS is guided by the principles of individual responsibility and social justice, an ethic of caring, and commitment to the communities we serve. Learn more about our mission and values, our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in our faculty and students, our history and more.

Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion are defining features of UCLA Ed&IS and we embrace them as a source of strength.

Commencement information for the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies

Student directory

Higher Education & Organizational Change (HEOC)

Ph.D. Student Directory Submission Request

Master's Student Directory Submission Request

Ana Karen Gomez is a Ph.D. student within the Higher Education and Organizational Change department at UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies. For the past three years, Ana has taught classes on Race, Gender, Power, and Privilege and Graduate School Application Mentoring at California State University, Northridge within the Child and Adolescent Development Department. Ana has also worked as a research analyst within the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI). Currently, Ana is the First Year Scholars Program (FYSP) Coordinator and Academic Advisor within UCLA’s College Academic Counseling unit. Ana is a passionate advocate of creating educational access for underrepresented communities of color through mentorship, pedagogical innovation, and organizational transformation. Her research sheds light on the experiences of underrepresented students of color in higher education, including Latina/o students in STEM fields, community college transfer students, and first-generation first-year students at R1 institutions.

Titles and Positions
Coordinator, Advisor, Instructor

Teaching and Research Interests
Experiences of students of color in higher education; Latina/o students in STEM fields; Community college transfer students, and first-generation first-year students at R1 institutions

Education
M.A. Higher Education and Organizational Change, UCLA 
B.A. Psychology, Minor in English and Education, UCLA

Gomez, A.K. (2017). Our perceived weakness is our strength: Exploring the cultural wealth of Latinx STEM achievers. University of California Press. The Ronald E. McNair Symposium Journal, 2, 70-79.

Ana Karen Gomez

LinkedIn | Twitter | scamille@g.ucla.edu | (916) 397-9193

Titles and Positions
Graduate Student Researcher

Teaching and Research Interests
Assessment & evaluation of student life, co-curricular and academic programs; Academic Advancement Program

Education
MA, Higher Education - Institutional Research
BA, Communication - Interpersonal & Organizational

Research Center
Academic Advancement Program

Camille Smith (she/her/hers)

Teaching and Research Interests
STEM, early experiences, psychosocial development, underrepresented students, Southeast Asian students

Education
B.S., Biology
M.P.H., Health Promotion & Behavioral Sciences
M.A., Higher Education & Organizational Change

UCLA Graduate Council Diversity Fellowship

Graduate Summer Research Mentorship Program

Gordon and Olga Smith Fellowship (Dean’s Scholar)

Annie M. Wofford, Linda J. Sax, Kari L. George, Daisy Ramirez & Chantra Nhien (2021) Advancing Equity in Graduate Pathways: Examining the Factors that Sustain and Develop Computing Graduate Aspirations, The Journal of Higher Education, DOI: 10.1080/00221546.2021.1930840

Research Center
Momentum: Accelerating Equity in Computing and Technology

Chantra Nhien (he/him/his)

Demeturie Toso-Lafaele Gogue is a Pacific Islander (Samoan and Chamorro) doctoral student in the Higher Education and Organizational Change division at the University of California, Los Angeles. His research interests are two-fold: (a) examining the racialized collegiate experiences of students of color, specifically Pacific Islander students, and (b) investigating institutional investment in and sustainability of diversity initiatives on college campuses. Prior to beginning his doctoral studies, Demeturie served as a program coordinator within multicultural student affairs. He has also taught courses on leadership development and mentoring strategies for first-generation college student success.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Higher Education

Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions

M.A., Education | University of California, Los Angeles, 2020

M.Ed., Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration | The University of Vermont, 2017

B.A., Sociology | University of California, Berkeley, 2015

B.A., Gender and Women's Studies | University of California, Berkeley, 2015

2021 - Graduate Summer Research Mentorship 

2017 - Kenneth P. Saurman Academic Excellence Award 

2014 - Institute of Recruitment for Teachers Associate 

Gogue, D. T.-L., Kanagala, V., Maramba, D. C., & Poon, O. A. (in press). Inclusions and exclusions: Racial categorizations and panethnicities in higher education. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education.

Nguyen, M. H., Espinoza, K. J., Gogue, D. T.-L., & Dinh, D. (2021). AANAPISIs in context and practice: Strategies for serving Asian Pacific Islander Desi American students. About Campus, 26(1), 5-9.

Teranishi, R. T., Le, A., Gutierrez, R. E., Venturanza, R. J., Hafoka, I., Gogue, D. T.-L., & Uluave, L. (2019). Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders in higher education: A call to action. Washington, DC: APIA Scholars.

Demeturie Toso-Lafaele Gogue (he/him/his)

LinkedIn | dtorr@g.ucla.edu | (951) 847-2011

Specialization
Diversity and Equity in Higher Education, College Access, College and Career Readiness, Latino and First-Generation College Students

Education
UC Riverside - BA in Education and Sociology

Commencement Speaker, 2021, UC Riverside School of Education

Academic Distinction Award (4x), UC Riverside School of Education

Chancellor's Honors List (4x),  UC Riverside

Diana Torres

Diondraya Taylor (She/her/hers)

Twitter | LinkedIn | eamartin1112@g.ucla.edu

Elizabeth is a Ph.D. student in the Higher Education and Organizational Change program at UCLA. Her research interests include higher education accountability, higher education data, higher education policy, applied research, and program evaluation. She is currently a research analyst at the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, and before coming to UCLA, she worked at U.S. News & World Report and the Brookings Institution. Elizabeth also earned an M.S. in Public Policy and Management and a B.S. in Decision Science, both from Carnegie Mellon University. Outside of work, Elizabeth is involved in a variety of professional activities. Through the Carnegie Mellon Admission Council, she interviews students about their potential fit at Carnegie Mellon, and through the D.C. based organization College Bound, Elizabeth has served as a mentor for over 4 years. After graduation, Elizabeth wants to work in institutional research or in higher education policy.

Titles and Positions
Research Analyst, Higher Education and Research Institute at UCLA
Analyst, UCLA's Graduate Division Institutional Research Office

Teaching and Research Interests
Higher education accountability, higher education data, higher education policy, applied research, and program evaluation

Education
M.A. Higher Education and Organizational Change, UCLA
M.S. Public Policy and Management (with highest distinction), Carnegie Mellon University
B.S. Decision Science, Carnegie Mellon University

Research Center
Higher Education Research Institute

Elizabeth Anne Martin (she/her/hers)

Curriculum Vitae

LinkedIn | Twitter | fergarcia@g.ucla.edu | (951) 990-8161

I am a Chicano, first-generation college graduate, and proud community college transfer student. I am entering my third year in the Higher Education and Organizational Change Ph.D. program at the School of Education and Information Studies here at UCLA. Drawing from my personal experiences navigating community college as a Latino, my hope is to increase transfer opportunities to other minoritized students at community colleges.

Teaching and Research Interests
Community College Access; Experiences of Students of Color; Research Practice Partnerships; Education Policy

University of California, Los Angeles 2020 M.A.  Higher Education and Organizational Change

San Diego State University M.A. 2017 Education with a specialization in Student Affairs	

University of California, Santa Barbara B.A. 2013 Psychology & Communication

Santa Barbara City College A.A. 2011 Social and Behavioral Sciences

2020 Graduate Summer Research Mentorship Program 

Marissa C. Vasquez, Ángel de Jesus Gonzalez, Yolanda Cataño & Fernando Garcia (2021) Exploring the Role of Women as Validating Agents for Latino Men in Their Transfer Success, Community College Journal of Research and Practice, DOI: 10.1080/10668926.2021.1873874

Estrada, C., Garcia, F., Paredes, A., (forthcoming). Hitting the Ground Running: Exploring the Success and Heterogeneity of Latino Men at Baccalaureate Granting Institutions. In Del Real Viramontes &Vasquez (Eds),  Latina/o/x Community College Transfer Experience.

Felix, R. E., Garcia, F., (in preparation). Aspirations of Attainment: A Critical Examination of State Policy Goals and Racial Disparities in College Completion.

Fernando Garcia (he/him/his/el)

Gadise Regassa is a fifth-year doctoral student in the Higher Education and Organizational Change program and is working on her dissertation research around academic burnout, anti-black racism, and the pandemic. During her first four years at UCLA, Gadise worked as a Graduate Ambassador for the Graduate Division Diversity, Inclusion, and Admissions Office, co-founded an academic support group for Black women graduate students, and was a graduate researcher for an EDI and Spencer-funded youth participatory action research project called UCLA BEST. In addition to being a student, Gadise works on the side as an Educational Consultant and just finished a project with Youtube. Before starting her doctoral program, Gadise worked as a Program Administrator for the NYU Center for Multicultural Education and Programs, received her Master's from The Ohio State University in Higher Education and Student Affairs, and graduated with honors from UCSB with a degree in Black Studies and Sociology.

Teaching and Research Interests
Critical qualitative methods, race/racism, college burnout

Education
M.A., Higher Education and Student Affairs, The Ohio State University
B.A., Black Studies and Sociology, UCSB

Research Center
UCLA Center for Education Innovation and Learning in the Sciences
UCLA CHOICES

Gadise Regassa (she/her/hers)

Office Address
11000B Weyburn Ave, Apt 348

Instagram | ashtonp627@gmail.com | (336) 870-4693

Ashton Pemberton is currently a Ph.D. student studying race in Higher Education at UCLA. His work focuses on the devastating impacts of anti-Black racism and toxic masculinity. Ashton hopes to use media and social entrepreneurship in his fight against social injustice of all forms.

 He is a Gates Millennium Scholar who holds degrees from both Duke and Harvard University in Sociology and Education. He focuses on disrupting anti-black racism and has given workshops for Harvard Law School, Columbia University's Teacher's College, Harvard's Graduate School of Education, and the Cambridge Success Initiative on creating more liberating spaces for black students. 

Ashton has also made appearances on television networks such as Fox Soul & TV shows such as, “Burn it Down with Kim Brown” to discuss racial injustices within systems such as law enforcement and white supremacy in modern-day politics.

M.Ed. in Education Policy and Management, Harvard Graduate School of Education

M.A. Higher Education and Organizational Change

Gregory Ashton Pemberton

Hello cyber surfers, my name is Johnnie Yaj (pronounced as "yah!") and I grew up in Madison, Wisconsin. I enjoy rollerblading, spoken word poetry, Super Smash Bros, vegan food, and yoga. I also love to travel and explore new cities, people, and cultures. If you would like to strike up a conversation about any of these topics, I am all yours!

Teaching and Research Interests
Diversity/Homogeneity, rural students, Hmong Americans, Asian Americans, assessment

BA World Arts and Cultures, UCLA Class of 2018

MA Higher and Postsecondary Education, Teachers College, Columbia University Class of 2020

2020 The J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship

2017 J.W. and Nellie N. MacDowell Scholarship

Yaj, Johnnie. (2019).  The Invisible Labor of UCLA Southeast Asian Student Organizations: Investigating the Work that Goes Behind Enacting Diversity. Aleph, UCLA Undergraduate Research Journal for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Vol. 16.

Research Center
Higher Education Research Institute (HERI)

Johnnie Yaj (he/him/his)

Titles and Positions
Teaching Associate, Education and LGBTQ Studies

Teaching and Research Interests
Trans student issues; queer theory; queer studies in education; qualitative research methods

Education
Master of Arts, Higher Education & Organizational Change, UCLA (2018)
Bachelor of Arts, Anthropology, Pomona College (2014)

Harris, J., Karunaratne, N., & Gutzwa, J. A. (2021). Effective modalities for healing from campus sexual assault: Centering the experiences of Women of Color undergraduate student survivors. Harvard Educational Review, 91(2). 248-272.

Gutzwa, J. A. (in press). “It’s not worth me being who I am”: Exploring how trans* collegians navigate classroom experiences through a funds of identity lens. Journal of Women & Gender in Higher Education.

Research Center
Momentum: Accelerating Equity in Computing & Technology
Coordination and Evaluation Center (CEC) – Diversity Program Consortium

Justin A. Gutzwa (they/them/theirs)

LinkedIn | Twitter | klaguilar@g.ucla.edu

Karla has developed and implemented various primary prevention strategies and survivor support efforts across several institutions, organizations and communities. She's served as a prevention educator, community case manager, sexual assault/domestic violence victim advocate and various leadership positions in student affairs. Her advocacy is grounded in intersectionality and trauma-informed frameworks, ancestral knowledge and community wisdom. Identity and community are critical components of her activism, indigeneity, resilience and joy. She is an incoming first-generation Ph.D. student in the Higher Education & Organizational Change (HEOC) program at the UCLA School of Education & Information Studies.

Titles and Positions
Graduate Student Researcher, UCLA CARE Office

Teaching and Research Interests
Campus sexual and relationship violence, holistic healing, intersectionality theory, decolonizing methodologies and practice in education

Master of Social Work, Community Organization, Planning and Administration (COPA), University of Southern California 

B.A. Ethnic Studies, University of California, Riverside 

B.A. Anthropology, University of California, Riverside

Palacios, N., & Aguilar, K. (2017). An Empowerment-Based Model of Sexual Violence Intervention and Prevention on Campus. In J. C. Harris & C. Linder (Eds.), Intersections of identity and sexual violence on campus: Centering minoritized students' experience. essay, Stylus Publishing.

Karla Aguilar Marquez (she/her/ella)

Kiana is a Ph.D. student in Higher Education & Organizational Change at The University of California, Los Angeles. Her research interests include institutional inequality and underrepresented student experience with a focus on access and equity in higher education. In addition to being a graduate student at UCLA, Kiana holds a Master’s degree in Higher & Postsecondary Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a bachelor’s degree in Social Welfare from the University of California, Berkeley. With her research, she hopes to identify policies, procedures, and practices that can make institutions more inclusive for historically marginalized populations.

Titles and Positions
Teaching Assistant 
Apartment Resident Assistant

M.A. Higher Education & Organizational Change

Kappa Delta Pi Inter. Honor Society in Education

Research Center 
Capacity Building Center

Kiana Foxx

M.A. Higher Education and Organizational Change | UCLA

M.S.Ed. Urban Education | University of Pennsylvania 

B.A. Political Science and B.A. American Studies | UC Berkeley

Lehman, K. J., Wofford, A. M., Sendowski, M., Newhouse, K. N. S., & Sax, L. J. (2020). Better late than never: Exploring students’ pathways to computing in later stages of college. In Proceedings of the 51st ACM SIGCSE Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, 1075-1081. https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366814

Sax, L. J., Newhouse, K. N., Goode, J., Skorodinsky, M., Nakajima, T. M., & Sendowski, M. (2020). Does AP CS Principles Broaden Participation in Computing? An Analysis of APCSA and APCSP Participants. In Proceedings of the 51st ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, 542-548. https://doi.org/10.1145/3328778.3366826

Michelle Sendowski

Nadeeka Karunaratne is a Ph.D. candidate in the Higher Education & Organizational Change program at UCLA and an Adjunct Instructor in California Lutheran University's Department of Counselor Education. She conducts research on issues of campus sexual and relationship violence, specifically exploring the experiences of women of color survivors. Nadeeka serves as the Co-editor for the Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs for the 2021-22 term. She has served on several research projects at UCLA through Momentum: Accelerating Equity in Computing and Technology and the Luskin Center for History and Policy. She previously worked as a Program Coordinator in the Race and Equity Center at the University of Southern California, as the Student Development Coordinator in UC Irvine's Cross-Cultural Center, and as the Violence Prevention Coordinator in UC Irvine’s Campus Assault Resources & Education office. She has a master’s degree in Student Affairs Administration from Michigan State University. She is a trauma-informed yoga instructor and leads healing yoga programs on college campuses and in the community.

Titles and Positions
Adjunct Instructor, Department of Counselor Education, California Lutheran University
Co-Editor, Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs (2021-2022)

Teaching and Research Interests
Campus sexual and relationship violence, healing, intersectionality theory, student development theory, wellness for student affairs professionals.

Education
M.A. Higher Education & Organizational Change, University of California, Los Angeles
M.A. Student Affairs Administration, Michigan State University
B.S. Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley

Philip Neil Clark Memorial Fellowship, Higher Education & Organizational Change, University of California, Los Angeles

Honorable Mention, Predoctoral Fellowship, Ford Foundation

Harris, J.C., Cobian, K., & Karunaratne, N. (2020). Re-imagining the study of campus sexual assault. In L.W. Perna (Ed.), Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research (Vol. 35). Springer Publishing.
https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007%2F978-3-030-11743-6_12-1

Boss, G.J., Karunaratne, N., Huang, C., Beavers, A., Pegram-Floyd, V., & Tullos, K.C. (2019). “It’s a double-edged sword”: A collaborative autoethnography of Women of Color higher education and student affairs administrators who teach in the college classroom. NASPA Journal of Women and Gender in Higher Education, 12(2), 166-185.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1940

Karunaratne N., Koppel L., & yang, c.i. (2016). Navigating a social justice motivation and praxis as student affairs professionals. Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs, 3(1), 1-19. 
https://ecommons.luc.edu/jcshesa/vol3/iss2/2/

Research Center
Momentum: Accelerating Equity in Computing and Technology (2020-2021)

Nadeeka Karunaratne (she/her/hers)

Bio
Ngoc Tran is a Ph.D. student in the Higher Education and Organizational Change division at the University of California, Los Angeles. Through her research, she aims to identify practices in teaching, research training, and mentorship that can advance the academic achievement and career outcomes of first-generation students of color pursuing terminal degrees. Moreover, she is interested in examining what first-generation students of color and their communities of origin can earn, gain, and lose as students pursue higher education through a socioeconomic, ethical, and cultural lens. Previously, Ngoc served as the Assistant Director of Equity and Inclusion Initiatives at Stanford University. In this role, she directed two summer research programs while leading school-wide academic support initiatives and graduate admissions outreach efforts to increase the access to educational opportunities, sense of belonging, and retention of minoritized students in the School of Engineering.

Titles and Positions
Graduate Student Researcher, Higher Education Research Institute (HERI)

M.Ed., Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration, University of Vermont

B.S., Social Work, The Ohio State University

Ngoc Tran (she/her/hers)

Tim Herd is a Ph.D. student in the Higher Education & Organizational Change program at the University of California, Los Angeles. His research interest includes postsecondary education governance with a focus on student success, social movements, and equitable outcomes within higher education.  Additionally, Tim holds a Master of Science in Education (M.S.Ed.) in Higher Education from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Elementary Education from Michigan State University. His research aims to contribute new knowledge of governance models, organizational culture, and higher education policy in important and race-conscious ways.

Teaching and Research Interests
Postsecondary Education Governance; Organizational Transformation; Student Activism & Political Engagement; Equity and Inclusion

Education
Master of Science in Education (M.S.Ed.) in Higher Education | University of Pennsylvania (2020)
Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Elementary Education | Michigan State University (2021)

Warren, C. A. & Herd, T. (Accepted). Contemporary perspectives on teacher empathy with diverse learners. In J. Liew & T. Spinrad (Eds.) Routledge Encyclopedia on Education.

Carter-Andrews, D. J., Herd, T. J., & Gutwein, M., (In Preparation). School discipline on students of color.

Tim Herd (he/him/his)

Xiong Her (He/Him/His)

Ph.D.

LinkedIn | duvargas@g.ucla.edu | @resilient_duve | (408) 767-8813

Specialization
Recruitment and retention of First-Gen, Immigrant, Latinx students in higher education

B.S. Human Development and Family Studies

David Vargas Ezquivel (he/they)

Diana Torres (she/her)

Specialization
My research interests generally revolve around college access of underrepresented students, bridging the gap between Ethnic Studies and Higher Education in research, and the relationships between local communities and campuses. Currently, I am specifically interested in looking at the EDI requirement that students are required to take and how it is perceived by students. How social justice is taught in this requirement and if it is effectively preparing students for a diverse democracy.

Education
B.S. Clinical Psychology and Ethnic Studies

Psychology Honors Program, UCSD, Winter 2019 – Spring 2020

Asian Pacific Islander American Heritage Celebration (APIAHC) Essay Contest Winner, UCSD, Spring 2020

Voice of Witness Sharing History Initiative Grant Recipient, UCSD SPACES, Summer 2020

Institute of Arts and Humanities Undergraduate Scholarship, UCSD, Summer 2018

Gabriel Le Espiritu (he/him/his)

LinkedIn | karlyvanholten@gmail.com | (619) 723-0261

Specialization
Imposter syndrome in the hood (low income, underserved public high schools) and how it affects college-going culture for Black students, their admission, access and retention in four-year universities

UCLA 21' B.A. Education and Social Transformation

Karly Van Holten (she/her/hers)

Instagram | paigeandersen@ucla.edu | (916) 337-5142


Specialization
LGBTQIA+ homeless youth access to higher education, homeless student experiences on college campuses, higher education institution outreach to homeless youth, queer theory, resilience theory

BA in General Literature, University of California, Santa Cruz

BA in Education, Democracy, and Justice, University of California, Santa Cruz

Member, Phi Betta Kapa National Honors Society

Dean's List, every academic quarter of UG at UCSC

Recipient, Robert Dodge Student Service Award UG

Paige Andersen (she/her/hers)

LinkedIn | zbravo@g.ucla.edu | (661) 606-5540

Specialization
Mothers scholars of color in higher education; Decolonizing Academic Shared Governance; Acknowledging student labor through Faithful Witnessing; Uplifting mother scholars of color through the transformative paradigm.