Meet the 2021 JEDI Champions

All people deserve to experience and contribute to physics regardless of identity or economic status. I love this beautiful science, and will work to remove the culture of exclusivity, racism, and inequity in physics so that others can share that love. The nEXO experiment’s mentorship program gives students an easy avenue for making role models, and encourages those mentors to empower students that may not share their same background or race. I want to promote a welcoming, happy community of diverse identities and perspectives so that we can work together to solve difficult problems we face in society and science.

The impact of music and the arts on health, society, and culture are numerous and well documented.  During a time of social isolation, equipping educators, students, and individuals with accessible technology for real-time remote music and art provides a means for empowering cultural change and promoting social justice.  By hosting a series of free online workshops and seminars, we formed a community of educators working towards expanding diversity, equity, and inclusion using remote technology and creative practices.  As in-person teaching resumes, we can continue working towards our goals through co-located concerts and exhibitions between classrooms worldwide.

I am motivated to create bridges and collaborations between Stanford and Latin American governments, institutions, academics, and local communities, so that we can together find ways to effectively protect natural ecosystems across Latin America. I am passionate about collaborating with members of underrepresented groups so that we can think differently about the problems and the solutions to combat biodiversity loss. I am most proud of the series of webinars that I have coordinated with my colleagues, which we offered in Spanish/English with simultaneous translation. Most recently, we convened a group of actors that would typically not interact, because of the increased effort on translation, interpretation, and recruitment. Being able to reduce language barriers to increase participation in meaningful ways has allowed me to create deep relationships with the Colombian government and with the Costa Rican coffee institute, albeit the pandemic.

I am a passionate advocate for JEDI and prioritize learning to advocate for and empower my peers in this space. I work to achieve this goal by co-leading diversity and inclusion meetings in the Mordecai lab and compiling resources for JEDI professional development, including guides for best mentorship practices and decolonizing ecology and public health research. My commitment to JEDI requires continuous listening and learning to evolve my practices based on the feedback of individuals with historically excluded identities. I look forward to learning from the Stanford community and striving to increase JEDI for postdocs and students.

Neurology & Neurological Sciences
Instead of our differences bringing us together, it tears us apart. We hide and live in fear instead of embracing and celebrating ourselves. Meetings to discuss race, equity, inclusion and justice, emails expressing shock and horror about the evil people do on account of race and religion, mean nothing if we follow through with no tangible action. If I can make one person feel respected, accepted and empowered and perhaps pass the feeling along, then I have achieved my goal. Even the smallest acts can make a significant difference.

Throughout my training in the biomedical sciences I’ve tried to “pay forward” the countless mentoring and support I’ve received. I arrived at Stanford in 2018 and shortly thereafter became involved in DEI initiatives lead by the Stanford University Postdoctoral Association (SURPAS). In the past I served as co-chair for the SURPAS JEDI committee, SURPAS advocacy coordinator, and postdoctoral representative for the School of Medicine’s Diversity Cabinet. I’m most proud of my contributions to the Diversity Perspectives Seminar Series and OPA’s postdoctoral recruitment initiative (PRISM).

Management Science and Engineering
I am myself an Asian female, and I changed my academic major from the engineering field to the management field, so I have full empathy when seeing younger researchers, especially international students and female students feel lost, frustrated and weak when pursuing their academic dreams. I just feel obligated to offer help, to help people like me, just like how I received help from other people in my growth.
I am proud that I still have the courage and strength, to fight for something I believe is right and fair. My research work focuses on understanding entrepreneurship in developing countries and crowd-based entrepreneurship tools. I like my research as I can see how it does help the world to become more diverse and more equal.
I am passionate about entrepreneurship education and entrepreneurship itself. For me, creating itself is a process stressing equality and diversity.

"Ioana has been a long-standing advocate for justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion among Stanford postdocs. She founded and chaired the JEDI committee within SURPAS roughly 4 years ago (originally called the Postdoc Diversity Advisory Committee) and spearheaded the creation of the Someone Like Me mentoring program and more recently the Better Ally series, in addition to overseeing the Diversity Perspectives Seminar Series, and interfacing with other student groups to coordinate JEDI efforts across campus. This work has impacted scores of postdocs (120 are currently on the committee’s Slack channel) as well as graduate students and staff who have attended events organized by the committee. Even as she passes leadership of the committee onto the next generation, she continues to help guide the new leadership to ensure its future success. In addition, she serves on the Neurobiology DEI committee. Her work has inspired and empowered many other postdocs like me to take actions to improve the Stanford postdoc community, and I cannot imagine anyone more deserving of an inaugural Stanford Postdoc JEDI Champion award." --- Words from a Nomination Statement for Ioana

Cardiovascular Medicine
I believe that communication and cultural learning are some of the keys to reduce health disparities and increase the quality of health care and research. It is only by truly understanding and learning from each other that we can really blossom and grow. By increasing the access of culturally diverse populations to the science centers, we welcome new perspectives, ways to communicate, and ideas into our realms and this results in richer outcomes for everybody. Personally, I am proud of being Latin American and am passionate about increasing our representation in clinical trials and access to the health care system. With a population of 25% Latinxs in the Bay Area, little has been done to truly include, celebrate, and support these folks. My goal is to keep this conversation going and ally this passion with Stanford's support so that, little by little, we can change this reality. Thank you Stanford Center for Clinical Research for really embracing this cause!

I think it would be wonderful if young generations across the globe get equivalent support and exposure to modern tools and resources to prepare themselves to take care of the world's next big challenges. Hence, I want to act as a facilitator for marginalized groups who need a little extra support to change their life trajectory as well as impact their community in a positive way. I have been involved with many JEDI-related activities, such as being involved in the Stanford Neurobiology department's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee, as well as being part of the Bangladesh Neuroscience Society, which promotes neuroscience among the young generation in Bangladesh. I am particularly proud of forming an non-profit organization name Education, Science & Innovation Alliance (ESIA) that aims to help young generations from disadvantageous backgrounds to become next generation leader in their community.

Earth System Science
In my time at Stanford, I am most proud of my work with the SURPAS JEDI committee, oSTEM and LGBTQ+ postdocs group, and working with amazing postdocs and graduate students to launch the Someone Like Me mentoring program. As a gay scientist, I often felt like I did not fit in or belong in many academic and scientific settings. After finding and building a community here among SURPAS and other postdoc affinity groups, it has been my goal to help create and maintain inclusive spaces for others to feel welcome within my lab, department, School of Earth, and across campus.