California Community College Civic and Community Engagement Student Summit

Patty Robinson has worked at College of the Canyons (Calif.) since 1999 and has served in various roles, including Sociology Professor, Dean of the Social Sciences and Business Division, and Interim Dean, Center for Civic Engagement. She currently spearheads the College’s new campus-wide emphasis on civic and community engagement as Faculty Director, Civic and Community Engagement Initiatives. Receiving her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California, Davis, she pursued her interests in women’s history and medical sociology and eventually focused on the rise of 19th and 20th Century women’s organizations.

Before transitioning into administration, she engaged her sociology students in a multitude of projects examining aspects of social aging, including facilitating a community-based oral history project entitled, Telling Their Stories. As a dean, she organized and facilitated the statewide Annual California Regional Academic Deans’ Retreat, drawing participants from community colleges throughout the state. Returning to her “sociological roots,” Patty remains committed to fostering a civic-mindset throughout the campus and community through her work with Community-Based Learning and civic engagement.

Verdis LeVar Robinson is the first National Director of TDC after serving as a tenured Assistant Professor of History and African-American Studies having taught writing-intensive, web-enhanced, service-learning courses at Monroe Community College (MCC) in Rochester, New York, for ten years. In addition to serving as MCC’s TDC Campus Coordinator since the beginning of the organization, he has served on TDC National Steering Committee and on the Advisory Council for its Economic Inequality Initiative.

Professionally, Verdis is a fellow of the Aspen Institute’s Faculty Seminar on Citizenship and the American and Global Polity, and the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Faculty Seminar on Rethinking Black Freedom Studies: The Jim Crow North and West.  He is also a Public Scholar with New York Humanities. Additionally, Verdis is the founder of the Rochester Neighborhood Oral History Project that created a walking tour of the community most impacted by the 1964 Race Riots, which has engaged over 400 members of the Rochester community in walking, discussing, and learning about the legacy of Jim Crow Rochester.  He holds a B.M. in Voice Performance from Boston University, a B.S. and M.A. in History from SUNY College at Brockport, and an M.A. in African-American Studies from SUNY University at Buffalo.

Dr. Jaye Houston has served as Coordinator of Community Service at the University of La Verne for the past six years. Her area of interests are social responsibility and civic engagement pedagogy.  Dr. Houston volunteers for Time for Change Foundation: Re-entry Services for Women, serves on the advisory board of Women on the Move, the board of People for Peace and Prosperity.

Cynthia Kaufman is the Director of the Vasconcellos Institute for Democracy in Action De Anza College where she runs a community organizer training program and teaches Philosophy. She is the author of two books on social change Getting Past Capitalism: History, Vision, Hope (Lexington Books 2012) and Ideas for Action: Relevant Theory for Radical Change (2^nd Edition PM Press 2016). She is working on a third book called Accountability Democracy: Challenging Power in an Increasingly Connected and Unstable World.

She has been active in a wide variety of social justice movements including Central American solidarity, union organizing, police accountability, and most recently tenants’ right and climate change. She blogs at: [email protected].

Marilú Guevara received a B.A. from the University of California Irvine and a M.A. from California State University Long Beach, both degrees in Political Science. Marilú was born and raised in Compton, California, where she still resides. Prior to working at the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles (LWVLA), Marilú worked in preparing students for higher education in Compton high schools and as a Financial Aid Director. She is approved by the Department of Education to administer Title IV funding. Marilú has worked with Mayoral and Senate level campaigns and Get Out the Vote grassroots efforts. In 2016, she became the Executive Director for the LWVLA and is responsible for promoting the organizational vision of the League, donor development, strategic planning, civic engagement programs, communications, community leadership and public relations. Marilú is a former College Bound mentor, currently serves on the Action Civics L.A. Partners Board and is a member of the Los Angeles County Community & Voter Outreach Committee.

She has been active in a wide variety of social justice movements including Central American solidarity, union organizing, police accountability, and most recently tenants’ right and climate change. She blogs at: [email protected].

Avriel Epps is a PhD student and Presidential Scholar at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. As a scholar, she has garnered numerous awards and honors including an invitation from the U.S. Department of Education to present her work for Congress in Washington D.C. and recognition as part of the top 10% of undergraduate social scientists in the world. Her previous work on hip hop lyrical themes and online users’ agency in promoting themes that affirm black identities compliments her foray into music taking, where she took on the stage name King avriel. Her most recent musical project ‘thesis’ was released to critical acclaim, hailed as “prodigious”​ by the Huffington Post and “​… a cerebrally significant gift” by The Guardian. The album was streamed 1.8 million times, the digital booklet released to accompany the album was downloaded over 100,000 times, and the project was featured in The New York Times, Vogue Magazine, Vice Magazine, Lucky Magazine, Billboard, LA Weekly and more. The project caught the attention of Jay Z’s Life+Times and Solange Knowles’ Saint Heron. Shortly after, she was invited to contribute a song for the Grand Theft Auto soundtrack alongside notable artists such as Little Dragon, Action Bronson, Earl Sweatshirt, Phantogram, and more. Today, her research focuses on the intersection of algorithmic bias, digital media literacy, and racial identity development.

Marilú Guevara received a B.A. from the University of California Irvine and a M.A. from California State University Long Beach, both degrees in Political Science. Marilú was born and raised in Compton, California, where she still resides. Prior to working at the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles (LWVLA), Marilú worked in preparing students for higher education in Compton high schools and as a Financial Aid Director. She is approved by the Department of Education to administer Title IV funding. Marilú has worked with Mayoral and Senate level campaigns and Get Out the Vote grassroots efforts. In 2016, she became the Executive Director for the LWVLA and is responsible for promoting the organizational vision of the League, donor development, strategic planning, civic engagement programs, communications, community leadership and public relations. Marilú is a former College Bound mentor, currently serves on the Action Civics L.A. Partners Board and is a member of the Los Angeles County Community & Voter Outreach Committee.