The Institute for Social Transformation’s Building Belonging program is designed to foster student success, increase engagement, and build a greater sense of belonging for under-represented undergraduate students through faculty mentored service-learning and research projects. Click here to learn more about the Building Belonging program.
Watch the 2023 student presentations and read these testimonials from Building Belonging Fellows.
PROJECT: Venom Lab: Critical Archival & Digital Storytelling Mentorship
FACULTY MENTOR: Lily Balloffet, Latin American and Latino Studies

Marissa
Guzman
Feminist Studies / Latin American and Latino Studies

Miguel Narez Vazquez
DesignationLatin American and Latino Studies / Sociology

Fernanda Ruiz-Riedel
DesignationLatin American and Latino Studies / Politics

Sofia Trigueros Ufford
DesignationAgroecology / Latin American and Latino Studies
PROJECT: Language Comprehension and Cognitive Control
FACULTY MENTOR: Megan Boudewyn, Psychology

Lea Toledo
Cognitive SciencePROJECT: Examining Policies and Practices for Multilingual Learners in Community Colleges: The Case of Adult ESL
FACULTY MENTOR: George Bunch, Education

Xittlali Trejo
Education and PsychologyPROJECT: Building capacity for research on servingness: A student-centered research agenda
FACULTY MENTOR: Rebecca Covarrubias, Psychology

Xitlaly
Reyes
Psychology
Janai Dagdagan
Psychology
Andrew O’Brien
PsychologyPROJECT: Laboratory Life and Social Death: The Problem of Diversity in Science and Society
FACULTY MENTOR: James Doucet-Battle, Sociology

Dimitri
Cardona
Sociology
Bhavya
Kallam
Biotechnology &Communications
PROJECT: Disaster rebuilding costs and climate adaptation and mitigation: are we building back better?
FACULTY MENTOR: Galina Hale, Economics

Simran
Gaheer
Economics
Uvini
Ratnayake
Economics and Mathematics Combined Major, Minor in Technology and Information ManagementPROJECT: Mapping Community Life: Using StoryMaps to Explore Histories of Resilience in the Central Andes
FACULTY MENTOR: Carla Hernández Garavito, Anthropology

Jennifer
Xilonzochilt
Anthropology & Sociology
Lily
Barajas
Anthropology & LiteraturePROJECT: Bilingual ERP Replication Project
FACULTY MENTOR: Liv Hoversten, Psychology

Lupita Mercado
Cognitive SciencePROJECT: Development of Social Preferences Based on Political Partisanship
FACULTY MENTOR: Hyesung Grace Hwang, Psychology

Genevieve
Greco
PsychologyPROJECT: Nutritional status and environmental enteric dysfunction in children
FACULTY MENTOR: Audrie Lin, Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology and Global and Community Health

Evelin
Vazquez
Global and Community HealthPROJECT: Attaining Affirmative Action Goals in Public Procurement
FACULTY MENTOR: Justin Marion, Economics

Elina Singh
Economics and MathematicsPROJECT: Defining Culturally Competent Perinatal Care for Indigenous Farmworkers
FACULTY MENTOR: Christie McCullen, Sociology

Jennifer Rojas Heraz
Sociology
Jennifer Xilonzochilt
Sociology and AnthropologyPROJECT: Watsonville is in the Heart: Mapping a Recuperative History of Filipino Farmworkers
FACULTY MENTOR: Steve McKay, Sociology

Julie Fintamag
HistoryPROJECT: Rape Counseling and Crisis Services for Latinas at HSIs and emerging HSIs
FACULTY MENTOR: Jaimie Morse, Sociology

Airam
Coronado
Sociology and Political Science
Dana Alvarez Hernandez
Psychology and AnthropologyPROJECT: Economic benefits of birdwatching tourism in Colombia
FACULTY MENTOR: Natalia Ocampo-Peñuela, Environmental Studies

Olivia Fragiacomo
Environmental StudiesPROJECT: The origins of the Oyo Empire war horses (Ede-Ile, Nigeria) – an isotope approach
FACULTY MENTOR: Vicky Oelze, Anthropology

Elyse Venerable
AnthropologyPROJECT: Trans Migrant Life Histories in Iquitos, Peru
FACULTY MENTOR: Justin Perez, Latin American and Latino Studies

Daniel Bautista
Global and Community HealthPROJECT: K-12 Ethnic Studies Pedagogy
FACULTY MENTOR: Josephine Pham, Education

Carlie Floyd
Education, Democracy, and Justice with a minor in Black Studies
Autumn Montez
Intensive Psychology major with a minor in Latin American and Latino StudiesPROJECT: Leadership in the Equitable and Ethical Design of STEM
FACULTY MENTOR: Jenny Reardon, Sociology

Micha Sargento Kim
Sociology/History of Art and Visual CulturePROJECT: Right Livelihood: Connecting Activism and Academia
FACULTY MENTOR: Dave Shaw, Anthropology

Fatima Hernandez Alatorre
Community StudiesPROJECT: The impact of exchange rate changes on global banks
FACULTY MENTOR: Weishi (Grace) Steadmon, Economics

Ravneet Kaur
EconomicsPROJECT: Labor of Decentralization: Promises and Extraction in the Web3 Field
FACULTY MENTOR: Zoe Zhao, Sociology
