Service

Combining research and service

In 2017-18, I was an Andrew W. Mellon Public Humanities Fellow in the Engaging the Humanities project. This multiyear project supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation aims to broaden the impact of academic research and enhance the value of the humanities and humanistic social sciences in the public sphere.

I worked with DreamBikes, the non-profit arm of Trek Bicycles, which strategically places used bicycle stores in low-to-moderate income neighborhoods to provide hands-on, paid job training to teens living in those neighborhoods. DreamBikes has been operating since 2008, and presently has six locations in four states in the U.S.

I employed my research skills and experience to (1) build a data infrastructure and system to keep track of past, current, and future alumni; (2) evaluate their current program's effectiveness; and (3) create new youth development programming.

Departmental & University Service

Chair, Culture & Climate Committee, Sociology Graduate Student Association, UW-Madison, 2017-19

Higher Education Leadership Project Assistant, Office of Professional Development, Graduate School, UW-Madison, 2016-17

Founder & Coordinator, Cuban Film & Discussion Series, sponsored by the Latin American, Caribbean & Iberian Studies Program, UW-Madison, 2013-14

Graduate student representative, Social Committee, Dept. of Community & Environmental Sociology, UW-Madison, 2011-12

Publicity Committee/DefendWisconsin, Teaching Assistants’ Association, UW-Madison, 2011

Member, Teaching Assistants’ Association, UW-Madison, 2010-2013

Founding Member of Steering Committee, McGill Sociological Review, Department of Sociology, McGill University, 2008-10

Sociology Department Representative, Post-Graduate Students' Society, McGill University, 2007-08

Co-President, Sociology Students’ Association, Western University, 2004-07

Service to the Profession

Reviewer, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. Carr et al., The Art and Science of Social Research (prospectus and chapter), 2012

Community Service

Consultant/Expert, Immigrant Justice Clinic, UW-Madison Law School, 2018-present

        • I draw on my knowledge of Cuba's social, economic, and political system to consult lawyers and law students at the UW-Madison Law School's Immigrant Justice Clinic on active Cuban asylum cases adjudicated in immigration court in Chicago, IL. I provide information on Cuba country conditions based on my primary research and knowledge of research by others, which allow them to verify the accuracy of the claims of their clients. I also write expert declarations describing and assessing country conditions in Cuba submitted at asylum trials in immigration court in Chicago, IL.

Volunteer Interviewer, Immigrant Justice Clinic, UW-Madison Law School, 2013-15

        • Conducted one-on-one intake Interviews (primarily in Spanish) with ICE detainees (undocumented individuals) awaiting deportation in the Dodge County Jail in Juneau, Wisconsin, to determine their eligibility for free legal representation in removal proceedings.

Grant writer & Café Co-Coordinator, Slow Food UW-Madison, 2010-11

        • Secured the Fulbright Canada-RBC Eco-Leadership Award to help fund the opening of the Slow Food Lunch Café and publish a cookbook.