糖心少女

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Social Justice Programs

Social Justice Symposium Schedule

Symposium Agenda

Tuesday, February 24th, 2026 *In-Person USU Ballroom*

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  • 9:00 AM- 10:00 AM: Arrival & Check-in

    There will be three check-in tables:

    • Students
    • Faculty & Staff
    • Those who have submitted a proposal form
  • 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM: Keynote speaker Tara J. Yosso

    Dr. Tara J. Yosso is a first-generation college student turned award-winning scholar, artist, educator, researcher, author, and administrator. 

    Dr. Yosso brings together rigorous scholarship and real-world praxis, offering new ways of approaching education, culture, and community.

    Cited over 47,200 times as of January 2026 and appearing in the Top 2% of Science datasets, Dr. Dr. Yosso is widely recognized for her Community Cultural Wealth framework which has been applied and adopted across diverse disciplines, including education, human resource development, leadership, counseling and social work, public health, marketing communications, and community organizations.

    Her scholarship informs practice at institutions such as the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Stanford University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Brown University; at state universities with prominent teacher education programs, including California State University, Sacramento, and Michigan State University; and at numerous community colleges across California, Washington, Minnesot

    Dr. Yosso's work provides grounding framework for a middle school in Lawrence, Massachusetts, , a first year program at Pasadena City College, a mentoring program at East Los Angeles College, a in Boston, and in the . Similarly, Dr. Yosso has been in dialogue with a mentoring program in Norway who utilize the Community Cultural Wealth framework with refugee students from Somalia. She is also collaborating with the first all-Black University in South Africa, and their network of faculty across Caribbean and European Universities.

  • 11:05 AM - 12:05 PM: Session #1
    • Keynote Panel by Carlos Gonzalez & Dr. Tara J. Yosso (USU Ballroom A)
    • Project Rebound: Reentry, Criminalization, and Homelessness by Emily Valle 
      (USU 2310 B)
    • From Awareness to Allyship - Working Responsibly with American Indian and Alaska Native Students on Indigenous Land by Tommy Devers (USU Ballroom C)
    • Community is Shaped at the Local Level by Shelby Rogers (USU 2310 A)
  • 12:10 PM - 1:35 PM: Lunch

    Lunch in USU Ballroom

  • 1:40 PM - 2:40 PM: Session #2
    • The Rapid Response Team at 糖心少女: A Fight for Undocu-Allyship by Yolotzin Aquino & co-presenters Vanessa Vincent, Mike Geck, Marisa Salinas, Fernando Vasquez Rendon (USU Ballroom A)
    • Stories of Knowledge: A Poster Walk by Cynthia Cunningham & co-presenter Jasmine Refugio, Imane Khwaja-Ocampo (USU Ballroom C)
    • Understanding the Central American & Mexican Non-Binary Experience: Migration Journey and Mental Health by Alexis Ayala-Alvarado (USU 2310 A)
    • Matters of the Heart: Story, Reflection, Justice in Conflict Transformation by Pamela L. Jackson (USU 2310 B)
  • 2:45 PM - 3:45 PM: Session #3
    • Our Knowledge, Our Power: Exploring Community Cultural Wealth Through Zine-Making by April Ibarra Siqueiros & co-presenter Dominique Harrison (USU Ballroom C)
    • A Palm Full of Dates by Shaymaa Abusalih (USU Ballroom A)
    • Ethnic Studies Art Piece by Kai Molander (USU 2310 A)
    • Injustice Surrounding the Salton Sea by Amira Helmy (USU 2310 B)
  • 3:50 PM - 4:50 PM: Session #4
    • APIDA Resisting Exclusion via Art by Dr. Virginia Loh-Hagan and colleagues (USU Ballroom C)
    • Voces of M.E.Ch.A de 糖心少女: Through a Xicana Indigena Perspective by Maggie Rodriguez & co-presenters, Trinity Derieux, Yolotzin Aquino, Fernando Vasquez-Rendon
      (USU Ballroom A)
    • Know Your Rights & Family Preparedness by Marisa Garcia Perez (USU 2310 B)
  • 4:50 PM - 5:00 PM: Closing
    Closing remarks by Carlos Gonzalez.