Two SOE scholars have been accepted into the University Council for Education Administration (UCEA) Jackson Scholars Program for the 2021-2023 cohort. The program provides formal networking, mentoring, and professional development for graduate students of color who intend to pursue a career in educational leadership.
Brandi Avila Ed.D ‘23 and Claire Ramirez Ed.D. ‘23 both attend SOE’s online Ed.D. program in educational leadership for social justice and were nominated by the program’s assistant director, Michaela Cooper.
“I am ecstatic to expand my community and receive guidance from a mentor throughout the remainder of my doctoral journey,” says Avila, who currently works as the Umoja Community Program Director and African American Male Education Network and Development Student Charter Advisor at Fullerton College. She also serves as the secretary for the North Orange County Community College District Black Faculty and Staff Association. Avila notes that Black women in doctoral programs often face a lack of resources and support, and adds that “this opportunity will boost my emotional well-being and my long-term professional outlook throughout the doctoral journey and beyond.”
Ramirez is a licensed clinical social worker providing mental health support to students for Orange County’s Department of Education. “This opportunity, particularly in this time of our country’s history, has reinforced for me the need to be courageous, to take risks by initiating the hard conversations, and to stand alongside communities whose stories often go unheard or are dismissed,” she says. She is also serving as a board member of the OCDE School Site Council, Student Re-Engagement Committee, ACCESS Leadership Team, and COVID-19 School Safety Committee.
Both women say they look forward to creating pathways for minority students with the guidance and support offered by the program. “My hope is that others rediscover the power within themselves to dream big, to show up as they are, and to be unapologetically courageous,” says Ramirez.
By Nyla Manuel, a graduate student in the creative-writing program at LMU Bellarmine College of Liberal Arts.
