Presenter Bios
Presenter Bios
5th Annual First-Generation Symposium
Reimagining Our Success: The Reshaping of First-Gen Futures
Wednesday, February 2 - Thursday, February 3, 2022
All sessions hosted virtually
Presenter Bios
Stephen Acheampong
Stephen Acheampong is a first-year medical student at Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine and current HCOP Ambassador. Stephen was born and raised in the Bronx, New York, by Ghanaian parents. He graduated with a Bachelor’s in Biology from Syracuse University, and a Master’s in Biomedical Science from Drexel University College of Medicine. He loves everything basketball and would play 24/7 if he could. He is passionate about community service and loves volunteering in any way possible.
Whitnee D. Boyd, Ed.D.
Dr. Whitnee Boyd is a native Arkansan. She received her Doctorate of Education in the Higher Education Leadership from TCU. Her passion for higher education stemmed from her time as a student leader at the University of Arkansas where she received her B.S. in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing. She went on to earn a M.A. in Higher Education from Louisiana State University. She started her career in higher education working with first-generation college students in TRiO. She has also worked with first-generation college students through Upward Bound, Student Support Services, work with student-athletes, and community-based college access programs. Her research centers the experiences of first-generation college students and their ability to thrive from a strengths-based lens. She is the chair for the Center for First-generation Student Success Advocacy Group. Whitnee enjoys and values family, faith and friendship. She has an entrepreneurial spirit and is a creative at heart. She has space to create through operating her own consultancy firm, Doc B. Empowers. Her vision for her company is: “Empowering others to explore their future by first discovering themselves.” She hopes that with each encounter each of us can empower others along the way.
Michael Brown, Ed.D.
Dr. Brown serves as the Assistant Dean for Access Programs and Director for EOF within the School of Engineering Office of Student Access and Inclusion at Rutgers University. He holds both bachelor and dual master’s degree from Rutgers School of Engineering. He also holds a doctorate from Rutgers Graduate School of Education with a research focus on informal learning environments for engineering students. Currently, he is involved in multiple grants to further STEM education in K-12 settings as well as transitional support for enrolled engineering students. In addition, he has developed cohesive outreach initiatives involving New Jersey’s high schools and community colleges to make students more aware of academic requirements and personal preparation to be equipped for a rigorous engineering program.
Mariana Cardenas
Mariana Cardenas is a Rowan graduate student in the Master in Diversity and Inclusion. She has a passion for social justice advocacy and an interest in public health and public health policy as it relates to reducing health disparities. Mariana is motivated to improve the well-being of individuals with the objective of eliminating barriers to success.
Naima Chowdhury
Naima Chowdhury is a Bengali-American undergraduate student studying Sociology at Rowan University. As a first generation student, Naima has found immense power in making meaningful connections with others on campus, including Erin Hannah, Associate Director of Student Support Services who encouraged her to be a more active member of Flying First. Naima is the senator for the public health club on campus and is also involved with public health research on campus. Outside of Rowan University, Naima works as a Population Health Screener at Cooper University Hospital where she screens patients in the Emergency Department for a wide variety of social determinants of health. In addition to that, she also volunteers at a free clinic that provides uninsured individuals with free primary care services. Professionally, Naima hopes to contribute to a transformed healthcare system where attaining wellness is accessible to everyone in society.
Angela Cirucci, Ph.D.
Angela Cirucci is a digital media scholar and an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies. Her research focuses on the symbolic meaning of programming languages, the intersection of institutional practice and user knowledge, and user experience. Often focusing on identity, Angela has a passion for studying how digital spaces impact the lives of marginalized communities. She received her B.A. in Radio/Television/Film from Rowan University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Media and Communication from Temple University.
Dyron Corley, Ed.D.
Dyron Corley, Ed.D. is the Assistant Director of the TRiO Student Support Services (SSS) Program at Rutgers University – Camden. He has over ten years of experience in academic advising and developing student success programs for first-year, first-generation and limited-income students. The foundation for Dyron’s commitment to college access and success was established during his undergraduate experience at The College of New Jersey where he was an Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) student. Dyron now strives to share that same passion and commitment with the students he serves and help them achieve their personal, academic, and career goals.
Michael Curry
Michael Curry grew up in Millstone Twp., NJ where he attended Allentown High School and played a variety of sports. He decided to attend Johns Hopkins University for college where he played football for 4 years and became heavily involved in tutoring inner-city children. It was through his experience with sports that he became exposed and realized his love for medicine. Michael began working in the Emergency Department as a transporter to help care for patients during summers and spent his days off shadowing an orthopedic surgeon in Baltimore, MD. After taking a gap year to work as a gastroenterology technician and scribe he enrolled in Cooper Medical School of Rowan University where he is currently in his second year. At CMSRU, he is primarily involved in microbiology research, orthopedic research and medical education for veterans experiencing homelessness.
Ariel Davis, M.S.
Ariel Davis is a first-generation college graduate who will be completing her doctorate in Educational Leadership at Fresno State University, May of 2022. As both a Black woman and scholar of humble beginnings, she has made her mission to outreach to, advocate for and research intersectional issues of first-generation in college status students, the underresourced, BIPOC, and all those otherwise marginalized systemically and within academia. She currently serves as the Coordinator of Outreach for the Educational Opportunity Programs & Services department at San Bernardino Valley College in San Bernardino, CA and an independent educational consultant.
Lindsey DeJean
Lindsey is a first-generation, first-year medical student at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. She graduated from Rutgers University-New Brunswick in 2020. In her gap year, Lindsey worked as a transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) technician and volunteered at the Community Food Bank of New Jersey. She is currently a part of the CMSRU Student Government Association and is dedicated to serving and connecting with the Camden community through involvement with different service organizations. In her free time, Lindsey enjoys spending time with friends and family, trying new things, and catching up with her favorite tv shows/ movies. Lindsey is currently interested in pediatrics but is willing to keep an open mind as she journeys through medical school.
Robert Eisberg, M.A.
Robert Eisberg is an instructor in the Department of Language, Literacy and Sociocultural Education. He received his B.A. from Pepperdine University and M.A. degrees from Rutgers University, Camden, and Rowan University. He is a retired teacher in the Camden City Schools. At Rowan, he teaches undergraduate and graduate reading courses. He also is the coordinator of the Literacy Studies and reading endorsement programs and serves as co-advisor for the Secondary Education Club and Students for Literacy.
Michael Grove, Ph.D.
Michael Grove grew up in Ohio and attended The Ohio State University as a first generation student. After receiving a BS in Zoology, he completed a PhD at the University of South Carolina. He has been a faculty member in Biological Sciences at Rowan since 2001 and a member of the Flying First Task Force since 2018. His research interests are in the area of aquatic ecology, and he teaches courses in evolution, ecology, and conservation biology.
David Guadarrama
David Guadarrama is a first-generational, non-traditional, DACA recipient, first-year medical student at RowanSOM. He was brought to the USA when he was an infant. As an undocumented Mexican immigrant, he experienced several institutional obstacles. However, those obstacles magnified when his family faced home eviction when he was 13 years old. For the next four years, David and his family of 6 had to live in his grandparents' shed for shelter. These experiences help shape his views on immigration, poverty, health equity, and healthcare accessibility. He pursued a B.S in biomedical and health sciences with a minor in chemistry. He previously worked as a lab assistant, a patient care navigator, and as a medical scribe. He was the president of Tri-Beta, the biological honors society at Saint Leo University. Recently, he has been working with the Interfaith homeless outreach committee and other committees to provide aid to vulnerable populations.
Harriet Hartman, Ph.D.
Harriet Hartman is Professor Emeritus as of September 2021, after having taught in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology since 1996. Last year she joined a national team to study how COVID-19 impacted first-generation college students, as well as administering and analyzing surveys of all of the Rowan community (students/faculty/staff) about COVID-19 experiences. She is Co-P.I. of the NSF RevEd Project on engineering diversity at Rowan. She is the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Contemporary Jewry, and received the 2019 Marshall Sklare award for her research on contemporary Jewry. She currently resides most of the year in Israel.
Arianna Hoffman
Arianna (pronouns: she/her/hers) is a first-year graduate student in the School Counseling M.S.Ed. program at Monmouth University. Prior to attending Monmouth University, she completed her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a Specialization in Clinical and Counseling Work at The College of New Jersey and her Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts at Ocean County College. Currently, she is the graduate assistant for Monmouth's First to Fly program, where she assists the faculty program lead Claude Taylor with first-generation student support. Specifically, she works very closely with the First to Fly Hawks student club to help them find community and execute events related to their personal and academic development. Her goal is to become a professional school counselor in a K-12 setting to continue empowering students of all backgrounds to realize their potential and overcome any of the obstacles they may face. She is co-presenting at the Symposium to share her experiences navigating the role of a Graduate Assistant for first-generation students.
Brooke Hoffman, Ph.D.
Dr. Hoffman is a Lecturer of Multilingual and Culturally Responsive Pedagogy and Coordinator of the ESL CUGS and Bilingual Endorsement programs at Rowan University. Prior to obtaining her Ph.D. in Education with an Applied Linguistics concentration at Temple University, she taught English in China for 3 years; third grade in Elizabethtown, PA for 1 year; and Math and Science to middle school English Learners (ELs) in inclusive classrooms for 10 years with the School District of Philadelphia. She holds certifications in elementary education for K-6, middle years Math and Science, English as a Second Language (ESL) for K-12, and teaching in higher education. Her research focuses on language ideologies; the integration of language and content in the instruction for P-16 classrooms and adult education; and the efficacy of teacher education programs, especially for pre-service and in-service teachers preparing to (more effectively) teach Emergent Bilinguals (EBs) in general education classrooms.
Erica Iraheta
Summaiya Ishrat
Shareyna James, MBA
Shareyna James currently serves students in the Office of Student Access and Inclusion as a Program Development Specialist for the Rutgers University School of Engineering. She holds a BA in English, Writing with a minor in African, African American, and Caribbean studies and she holds a Master's in Business Administration. She has been teaching at Rutgers since 2011, courses ranging from Expository Writing to Workplace Communication. She loves working with students and helping them accomplish their personal and professional goals, both inside and outside of the classroom. She is also responsible for developing outreach initiatives which focuses on the pre-college population. As the lead for Young Engineers Day, Shareyna works alongside colleagues and students to develop engaging activities that showcase the Engineering profession and what it means for the URM community and society as a whole. She enjoys watching students discover who they are and assisting them with pursuing their career goals. She loves that, in her current role, she can bring her two loves together - advising and outreach!
Dana Kemery, Ed.D.
Dana Kemery, EdD is the Director of Innovative Course Design and Technological Infusion and an Associate Clinical Professor at Drexel University College of Nursing and Health Professions. She earned her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Rowan University, focusing on the student experience of remediation after academic wrongness. Dr. Kemery works with students who struggle with study and test-taking techniques, focusing on behaviors that support student success.
Sierra Lomuto, Ph.D.
Sierra Lomuto received her B.A. from Mills College after previously studying at the Peralta Community Colleges, City College of San Francisco, and UC Santa Cruz. She was a dual major in Creative Writing and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. She also earned an M.A. in English Literature from Mills College and her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. She spent two years (2018-2020) at Macalester College as a Consortium for Faculty Diversity Postdoctoral Fellow, where she developed courses on the Global Middle Ages, Race and Medieval Literature, Chaucer and Adaptation, and Travel Literature. Her book-in-progress, Exotic Allies: Mongol Alterity and Racial Formations in Medieval Literature, explores the relation between global contact histories and the discursive production of racial ideologies in medieval literature.
Penny McPherson-Myers, Ed.D.
Dr. Penny McPherson-Myers, the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, is responsible for co-facilitating the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Council, which includes providing oversight of the DEI strategic action plan, serving as the liaison to Student Affairs and providing leadership of student pipeline and support programs. Dr. Myers also works closely with the Associate Vice President/Title IX Coordinator and Directors of the Faculty Center, ASCEND, CHAMP program, and SJICR to implement the vision and mission of the Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. In her previous role at University, Dr. McPherson- Myers led multiple initiatives to coordinate support services and resources for high school and college first generation, under-resourced and under-represented students through pipeline programs, students with disabilities and veterans, and co-led the development of the Rowan University First Generation Task Force and the SHOP Food Pantry and Resource Center. Dr. McPherson-Myers’ research has focused on learning communities, college affordability, and food insecurity. She is a three-time alumna of Rowan University where she entered as a Minority Achievement Program (MAP) student, completed a B.S. in Law and Justice and Sociology, an M.A. in Student Personnel Services, and an EdD in Educational Leadership. She joined Rowan University in 2007 as the Director of the Educational Opportunity Fund/Maximizing Academic Potential Program.
Christina Michaud
Christina Michaud has been teaching writing at BU since 2003 to both English language learners and mainstream populations. Since 2010, she has mentored first-gen and multilingual students who are graduates of the Boston Public Schools and are attending BU on scholarships. Her scholarship and research are primarily in the areas of student metacognition and antiracist pedagogy.
Catherine Michener, Ph.D.
Dr. Michener is an Associate Professor of Language and TESOL and the coordinator of the ESL and Bilingual Education CUGS programs at Rowan. She was a K12 ESL and bilingual teacher for 13 years in Canada, Taiwan, and the US. She completed her doctoral work at Boston College, MA, in Language and Literacy. Her research focuses on questions of effective teaching of multilingual students, teacher advocacy, and student language and literacy development. She is the Principal Investigator of the Camden Promise Neighborhood grant.
Gabrielle Montlouis
Gabrielle Montlouis is a first-generation medical school student who graduated Summa Cum Laude, top 3 of her undergraduate class at the University of New Haven in Connecticut. During her undergraduate career, Gabrielle pursued her extracurricular passions and started her very own praise dance team as well as held numerous E-board positions on different campus organizations. After graduation, Gabrielle devoted most of her time co-founding a Battered Women’s Shelter named Restoring Life Restoration Center alongside her mother. She has organized numerous community wide give-back and fundraiser events. Gabrielle also worked full-time as a medical scribe at Newark Beth Israel Hospital for 3 years. She was accepted into Rowan School of Osteopathic Medicine in 2021. She is the first member of her immediate family who graduated college as well as pursued a career in medicine. Already, during her short time here at RowanSOM, she holds numerous E-board positions. She is the Black history Month Coordinator for SNMA, recruiter for the Community Service and Student Events club. She recently obtained a position as the outreach coordinator for the Rowan community health clinic which is entirely student run. She oversees numerous committees and partners with surrounding community organizations. Gabrielle also started a new tradition here at RowanSOM in which she organized a meal giveaway partnered with SNMA and her shelter. She organized for students to make hot meals, package them and distribute them in the Camden community. Through the help of her team, in December of last year, they successfully fed 135 people in Camden. Gabrielle also loves to serve at her local church and is apart of numerous praise dance teams including DEW ministries of New Jersey.
Denzell Moore
Denzell Moore is a second-year graduate student pursuing a Master’s degree in Higher Education Administration at Rowan University. He completed his undergraduate degree at Rowan in Spring of 2020 in Economics with a minor in Psychology. It was at this time he was introduced to the Flying-First program and the resources they provide. After seeing the academic and professional growth from that program and others like it at Rowan, he volunteered his time as a Peer Educator in part with Healthy Campus Initiatives.
Victoria Murray
Victoria Wong Murray is a first-generation non-traditional student now in their first year of medical school at Rowan School of Osteopathic Medicine. After being awarded the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Young Scholar Award in 2002, they went on to pursue a B.A. in biology and a M.H.S. in biochemistry at the Johns Hopkins University and School of Public Health. As an immigrant with non-English-speaking parents, they were naturally drawn to the issues of language equity and accessibility, as well as immigration status. They have recently worked on research involving racial disparities in mental health diagnosis and treatment as well as telebehavioral health access. Their longtime educational advocacy includes work through the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, the Center for Excellence in Education, and most recently as the curriculum representative for the 2025 medical school.
Akua Nyame-Mensah
Akua Nyame-Mensah (ANM & Co) is a certified executive coach and strategic advisor that creates space for leaders to focus and connect so they can scale. In addition to providing direct support to individuals and teams, she develops training, facilitates sessions, and creates online products and services based on the customers she has served. Before launching her coaching and consulting practice, Akua was a regional leader at the first African-based tech unicorn, Jumia Group. Akua has a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a leadership-focused MBA from the Africa Leadership University School of Business.
Yvonne Ortiz
Yvonne Torruella Ortiz is the Inaugural Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the School of Osteopathic Medicine. Her career spans diverse institutions of various sizes, geography, public and private, as well as predominately white and historically African American. Ms. Ortiz’s 25 years of administrative and teaching experience includes institutional coaching to improve success for undergraduate, graduate and professional students; leading professional learning for equity-minded practice; senior student affairs administration; and creating a culture of evidence for reaffirmation of accreditation. A former first-generation college student from Bronx, NY, Ms. Ortiz’s passion is helping disenfranchised students reach their educational and professional goals. Through coaching, she has helped universities collaboratively critique the institutional climate to create changes that improve student belonging and success. Her mantra – we are the campus climate – has inspired greater introspection and collaboration among leadership, faculty, students and trustees to make transformative and sustainable change. If people cannot bring their whole selves to the institutions in which they are supposed to belong, healthy development, engaged learning, and collaborative leadership become less possible. A presenter at numerous national conferences, Yvonne has been recognized for her professional and civic work in student success, equity and justice, improving mental health in higher education, and intersectionality in LGBTQIA, African American, and Latinx communities.
Mathew Pekora
Mathew graduated from Rowan University in spring 2020 with a Biology degree and minor in Chemistry. Mathew was president of the Pre-Allied Health Club, a member of Tau Sigma and Alpha Epsilon Delta, and a mentor for the Rowan Mentor Program, He also won honorary mention at the Rowan STEM Symposium in summer 2019, won best student research presentation at the Evolution in Philadelphia Conference at Temple University in fall of 2019, and received the Robert N. Renlund Preprofessional Award in the Allied Health Field upon graduating. Mathew has extensive research experience, studying honeybee behaviors and, and clinical research studying the effects of naloxone distribution and the delivery of overdose prevention education. He is currently a lab manager at Rowan University and a pharmacy technician at Walmart Pharmacy to work towards my Adv-CPhT degree. He is pursuing a career as a surgeon and is applying to medical schools for the 2023-2024 cycle.
Rosaria Pipitone
Rosaria Pipitone currently serves as the Associate Director of Career Readiness at Rowan University. Rosaria has 12 years’ experience career counseling and training diverse populations. She currently serves as the New Jersey Career Development Association President and the in-house trainer for Rowan University’s Career Advocate Network.
Krista Quinn
Krista Quinn is an adjunct instructor of English at Rockland Community College. and Ramapo College of NJ. Krista also has extensive experience teaching English at the high school level, as well as supervisory experience in the high school setting. Krista is passionate about teaching developmental writing courses and her research interest areas include strategies for improving persistence and retention in first year writing courses at community colleges, as well as how to create an inclusive and equitable course syllabus. She is a two-time graduate of NYU's Steinhardt School of Education and she also holds a NJ Supervisory Certificate. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in Education Leadership at New Jersey City University.
Peter Rattigan, Ph.D.
I am currently an associate dean but was until February 2017 a full time faculty member of the department of Health and Exercise Science. I taught pedagogy and technology courses to Health and Physical Education teacher candidates, co taught Clinical Practice Seminar, and supervise student teachers during clinical practice. I have also taught classes for the College of Education on Learning Communities, both undergraduate and graduate, and an online course, Computers in the Curriculum, for Rowan Global. I came to Rowan in September 2000, after 14 years teaching in K-12 health and physical education in the UK and US, and a total of five years as a teaching assistant at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. I have been in education for a total of 35 years.
Amy Ruymann, M.S.
Amy Ruymann, Director University Advising Services, works with a dedicated team of professional staff to positively impact student retention and graduation. Amy holds a BS degree in Economics and a MS in Computer Science with a concentration in Information Systems. As co-chair of the Rowan University First-Generation Task Force, Amy enjoys celebrating the successes of first generation students. For over a decade, Amy has worked to support students in achieving their educational goals. Of particular interest are students who overcome significant barriers and yet find a way to persevere.
Claude Taylor
Prof. Claude Taylor currently serves as Director for Academic Transition and Inclusion and is a lecturer in Communication Studies at Monmouth. Claude leads the campus-wide initiative First to Fly: First Generation at Monmouth which empowers first generation and historically underrepresented students to effectively navigate academic, personal, and cross-cultural challenges they may encounter. His scholarly interests include the study of mediated representations of gender, racial, and cultural identities, feminist media studies, social class and social mobility, and gendered practices of consumption. Claude regularly teaches courses in Gender, Race and Media, Communication Ethics, Media Literacy, Political Communication, and Civic Participation. As an educator, Claude is informed by his training in Rhetoric and Public Communication. His teaching at Monmouth is interdisciplinary and reflects a worldview of global interconnectedness and cooperation with which he guides students through critical analysis of ethical persuasion, argumentation, and audience-centered message creation.
April Townson
April Townson is a second-year graduate student pursing an M.A. in Higher Education at Rowan University. She completed her undergraduate degree in English and History at Cornell University in Spring 2020. Her experiences as a first-generation, low income student at Cornell made her passionate about student success and mentorship for first-year students. She is currently completing a master’s thesis on low-income students’ experiences with academic advising, and also works as a graduate coordinator for the Rowan Writing Center, a graduate worker for Rowan’s Office of Strategic Planning and Management, and as a Success Coordinator with Student Support Services.
Miguel Vera
My name is Miguel Vera Rodriguez and I am a first generation college student. I am currently a Junior here at Rowan University pursuing a major in Biological Sciences and a minor in Sociology and Chemistry. I am a member of the Bantivoglio Honors Concentration in the Honors College and the Upperclassmen Representative of the Honors Student Organization (HSO). Outside of the classroom, I am a member of the University’s Cross Country and Track teams, a senator for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), and a Community Service Chair for the Minority Association of Pre-Medical Students (MAPS).
Ellen Wasserman
Ellen is a doctoral candidate in the Community College Leadership educational doctorate program at New Jersey City University. Her areas of interest include issues of equity in teaching and learning, first-generation students, and community college baccalaureate programs. As an adjunct English and First-Year Seminar professor at Westchester Community College, Ellen practices student-centered, constructivist, teaching. In addition, she is Program Specialist for the Office of Learning Initiatives and Student Success at WCC, planning and implementing programs such as the First Year Seminar course, a Health Science Learning Community, and faculty development regarding holistic student supports and high impact educational practices. Ellen is active in shared governance and works on committees to support professional development and adjunct issues.
John Woodruff, M.S.
John Woodruff John Woodruff is Director of Accessibility at Rowan University, Glassboro, New Jersey. He coordinates campus services for students with disabilities and manages transitions for students entering college. John holds an MS in Health Education from St. Joseph’s University and a BS in Business Administration from St. Francis University (Loretto, Pennsylvania). John is the co-author of a book with Dr. Michelle Kowalsky entitled, Creating Inclusive Library Environments. He is also the co-author of a book with Dr. S. Jay Kuder and Dr. Amy Accardo entitled, College Success for Students on the Autism Spectrum. His most recent activities include outreach and programming geared towards faculty, staff and students to increase understanding related to access, inclusion, hidden disabilities and neurodiversity. John’s professional career reflects over thirty-nine years of education, training, administration and management of employment, training and support programs for persons with disabilities.
