Alicia Hayes “Alicia annually mentors over 300 of Berkeley’s top undergraduates through the process of applying for nationally and internationally competitive scholarships. In her 20-year career, she has honed an impactful and empowering advising practice that values diverse pathways to higher education. For the students who have had the opportunity to work with her, Alicia’s investment is transformative; she uplifts our best and brightest students, forever changing their life trajectory, their knowledge of how to leverage their skills and experiences, and their sense of self-worth. In 2021, she received the McCray Exemplary Service Award from the National Association of Fellowship Advisors, which acknowledged Alicia’s mentorship, her dedication to inclusive advising practices, and her advancement of the profession. Extending from her advising praxis and through her leadership at NAFA, Alicia has used her influence to affect systemic change and to make fellowship advising more inclusive.”
Amanda Leung "Amanda Leung has proven herself inexhaustibly persistent, creative, diplomatic, and effective in supporting more inclusive and equitable recruiting practices. Amanda also brings numerous creative innovations to her work as the Haas School’s Academic Searches and Recruitment Analyst. She helps others navigate the systems that manage the faculty hiring process, and she has massively increased the success rate with which the Haas School recruits new faculty. Amanda contributes to the welfare of all those around her by responsiveness. Through it all, Amanda exhibits the highest level of professionalism and diplomacy in working with faculty, job candidates, the Dean’s Office, and other staff at Haas and around campus. We are incredibly grateful and humbled by Amanda’s excellent work and we are honored to have her as our colleague."
Amanda Tran “Amanda goes above and beyond to make the law school equitable and welcoming for students, faculty, and staff alike. From being a nearly one-woman exams department to her work on the Staff Circle on Anti-Racism, to her contributions to Student Services’ community building activities, she is dedicated to supporting students and improving the law school environment. Thank you for your unflappable, impressive, thoughtful approach to your role, Amanda!”
Andrew Kraus "The strength and breadth of Andy Kraus’ skills and accomplishments have been acknowledged since the end of 2009, when he began at Cal Performances. He has steadily risen to his current role of Deputy Executive Director. However, it was through the pandemic that the campus community truly became acquainted with Andy’s extraordinary invention, tenacity and work ethic; designing and implementing the Health Ambassadors program for the campus, co-chairing the Events and External Relations Subcommittee of the campus Recovery Management Team, and securing $7.2 million of funding for CP from the Shuttered Venue Operators Grants, allowing CP to emerge from back to live performance on solid financial footing. All the while he served as acting CFO for CP and was instrumental in the launch and success of CP digital platform. Anyone who has worked with Andy knows his extraordinary determination, creativity and analytical skills, as much as they know his warmth and humanity."
Claudia Trujillo “Claudia is an exemplary administrator, dedicated to the mission of making physics accessible to all students. She pioneered approaches to “Build a community”, addressing pressing challenges such as an “imposter syndrome” & a “stereotype threat”. She developed a course specifically for transfer students, piloted for the last two fall semesters with great success. She co-founded the Physics Staff for Action on Racial Justice to create community principles of an equitable and ethical environment and created the Physics Latinx Community Group. She joined the MPS Dean’s Task Force on Undergraduate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, tasked with evaluating data on STEM students and retention, receiving a ~ $3M grant from the Moore Foundation for the Mathematical Physical Sciences Scholars Program. Claudia launched a very successful revenue-generating Berkeley Physics International Education Program. Claudia is an outstanding role model and mentor.“
Cristóbal Olivares "Cristóbal demonstrates a commitment to ensuring that UC Berkeley is an equitable, inclusive, and just environment for everyone. He builds community for the Black, Indigenous, and Latinx staff across One IT, and bridges to leadership to enhance and improve the experiences of the staff under them. Taking the initiative to create and sustain a much-needed resource at the height of the pandemic and social unrest has benefited countless staff."
Fatima Alleyne "Dr. Fatima Alleyne has almost single handedly built a transformational DEIB program for faculty and staff in the COE.Her EMPOWER program, which consists of multiple trainings that bring faculty and staff together with community partners, has already led to significantly enhanced diversity of admitted graduate student classes and faculty applicant profiles just in the last 2 years. The platform/infrastructure she has built is widely seen as trail blazing for its depth, rigor, and scope."
Gary Thomas "Gary installed, configured, and put into production a brand new Wi-Fi management and control system to allow for a nearly seamless transition to a modern platform. Gary has managed the upgrade of 8000 plus Wireless Access Points on campus from 2018 to present. Gary’s efforts have made UC Berkeley a top tier partner with Aruba and a trusted and valued member of the Aruba family, which have included invitations to speak and participate in multiple Aruba forums."
Gia White "During her career, Gia has actively created an inclusive and welcoming environment for diverse individuals and groups and has dedicated herself to fostering historical awareness, both at a community level and on campus. The celebration of the 150th anniversary of the admission of women to the University of California triggered Gia’s interest in the whereabouts and significance of African American women on the Berkeley campus. She developed, on her own initiative and without any funding, a research project that allowed her to uncover a wealth of information. The publication of her research findings on the Berkeley website allowed the Berkeley community to become aware of these African American women trailblazers, their time on campus, their stories, and their remarkable journeys. 'Where a door was shut in their face,' Gia concluded, 'they opened their own.'”
Gladys Khoury “Gladys Khoury serves as Finance Director for the Blum Center. Gladys has consistently demonstrated exceptional efforts aimed at enhancing and sustaining UC Berkeley’s reputation. She applies a deep, domain-specific expertise in finance, personnel and grant administration combined with a unique understanding of the nuances of trans-disciplinary research and training to provide critical support to faculty and students working ‘to explore, ask questions, and improve the world.’ She has a real-world understanding of multiculturalism, the realities of people living without access to resources both in the US and in developing countries, and the need for women to be supported to maximize their full potential. Gladys models good campus citizenship in so many ways, seeking a diversity of opinions, making sure everyone feels heard in her meetings, and supporting the morale of the Blum team and all who interact with the Center.“
Holli Griffin Strauss "Holli exemplifies what makes UC Berkeley a world-class university: it is staffed by people who care about the educational mission. Inheriting a division in financial crisis during the difficult days of the pandemic, Holli worked tirelessly to ensure that the Social Sciences would thrive while teaching and research went online. Holli’s work during the pandemic underscores the fact that campus budgets are not merely financial statements; they are strategic plans that reflect our shared values. Holli managed to protect staffing levels, retain faculty, and serve the most diverse student body on campus. She ensured that faculty received additional training in new tools during the transition to online teaching; devised a new system to allocate instructional funds fairly, consistently, and transparently; reduced the workload for staff involved in instructional planning, and consistently communicated to departments that the Dean’s office was there to support them. She is a dream CAO."
Jessica Thach “At the Center for Educational Partnerships (CEP), Jessica Thach has been key to transforming our institution. She has done exceptional work within and beyond her role as the CEP Associate Director of Data Analysis & Communications to create a welcoming environment in which every individual can feel safe. Through efforts such as her CEP bulletin, she strengthens the recruitment & retention of our diverse communities. Her work is reflective of our community and demonstrative of our commitment to inclusive & equitable engagement. Jessica ensures that our college access professionals are equipped with the professional tools for future endeavors. Through professional headshots and comprehensive professional development curriculum and resources, Jessica is integral in closing gaps and ensuring that first-gen professionals have the opportunity to market their best selves. Jessica’s commitment to mentorship and building an inclusive campus has been invaluable to our program and our University.”
Julia Snippen "As co-chair of the Berkeley Advancement Community, Julia commits to fostering an equitable and inclusive community, and to enhancing Berkeley's mission and reputation. In her 1.5 years as co-chair, Julia sought to make the BAC a more welcoming and inclusive place for all, and she collaborated with colleagues across the campus to enhance Berkeley’s mission and reputation and better enable all staff to raise philanthropic funds for the university."
Juliana Bradley “Juliana lives UC Berkeley’s commitment to inclusivity and equity as a colleague and mentor. She approaches each inquiry from students and questions from colleagues with presence, dignity and genuine care. Her communication with students demonstrates authentic interest in their individual goals together with sound knowledge of policies and protocols, and informed knowledge of the intersection of health sciences. Efficient, innovative, and adaptable describe Juliana perfectly. When handling projects or tasks, she develops templates and creates procedure outlines and then finds the most efficient way of getting it done. She always makes others feel included and proactively reaches out to new staff to make sure they have the resources they need to thrive while handling an incredible workload on her own. She embodies excellence as a mentor, colleague, and administrative master for students and staff.”
Keith McAleer "In our experience, Keith McAleer is one of the most innovative, adaptive and efficient staff members on campus. He joined the IEOR department in 2015 to focus on improving communications, but he quickly took on much more responsibility, leading a number of new initiatives that dramatically increased interaction among IEOR students, staff, and faculty. Keith has greatly enhanced the reputation of the IEOR department and our Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology.Keith has done extraordinary work in expanding the range and diversity of topics taught and studied at UC Berkeley. With rising public interest in data science, analytics, and engineering, Keith played a crucial role in redesigning the IEOR department’s public face to highlight the cutting-edge research, teaching, and learning opportunities that are available. Since Keith's arrival, IEOR enrollment has grown by 80%. Keith McAleer is truly deserving of the Chancellor's Outstanding Staff Award.”
Kelly Mann "During the past two years, Kelly Mann has stepped up on multiple occasions to provide campus leaders with information and alternatives to address needs at both a departmental level and at a campus-wide level. In many cases, Kelly then supported or solely implemented actions to empower campus decisions. The needs that Kelly has addressed were due not only to COVID-19, but to other dynamics on campus including spiking growth in undergraduate enrollment, staff turnover, and reductions in campus support for student systems training. Kelly has combined his systems expertise, his knowledge of campus regulations and his unwavering dedication to staff and students to provide outstanding service to the campus during this unprecedented period."
Kerry Franzetta "As an Associate Director of the Financial Aid & Scholarships Office, Kerry has played a leading role in opening student access to Berkeley’s world-class education. Her tireless work in the areas of fiscal management and compliance, systems development, & research has helped ensure that Berkeley students graduate with substantially lower debt than either our public peers or the national averages for both 4-year public and private institutions. Kerry is a thoughtful and engaged colleague who works cooperatively within and across departments. Over the last 5+ years, Kerry has served in a leadership role for a monthly meeting that spans various campus units. Topics covered ranged from the academic success of low-income students, to the relationship between enrollment management and financial aid modeling. Kerry has also taken a hands-on approach to reviewing methodology/Cal Answers queries that are the foundation for data calculations of great importance to campus (e.g., HSI eligibility)."
Lara Wolfe “Lara Wolfe has sharpened the Berkeley Center for New Media’s focus on Indigenous issues, greatly improved our public events’ accessibility and inclusivity, and supported student success in myriad ways. She administered the launch of BCNM’s Indigenous Tech program, including facilitating an ongoing relationship between BCNM and a local Indigenous non-profit. When she transitioned all of our public lectures from in-person to online due to the pandemic, she ensured all events were captioned, simulcast, and posted on YouTube afterwards, and also coordinated a slate of speakers that consisted of 80% BIPOC scholars, allowing us to both offer highly diverse programming and attract diverse attendees from all over the world. She does outstanding recruitment of a diverse student body and offers exemplary mentorship and advising to our 92 students. She recently created two key grant programs that support student research and that helped high financial-need students navigate the COVID-19 emergency.”
Phil Stilson “Phil was nominated as a strategic thought partner for his contributions to impactful initiatives that have transformed our organization as we wrapped up the SIS Phase 2 project and stood up our Operations model. The nominators also commend Phil for his unwavering commitment to grow and develop others. He embodies remarkable leadership by nourishing the talents of staff across the organization and advocating for equitable compensation and opportunities. It has been a pleasure working alongside Phil as he contributes to the maturation of our organization.”
Susan Hagstrom “As the Manager of Advising Strategy + Training, Susan provides support for 1000+ advising and student services staff across campus, and has been a champion for an equitable and inclusive community. She grounds her advising and student services initiatives in equity, diversity, and inclusion. She launched the Advancing Practice workshop series to provide mutual mentorship, connection, community, and a foundation for inclusive and evidence-based advising and coaching. She addressed injustice and reduced barriers for students and staff, promoting greater engagement, self-awareness, sensitivity and lifelong inquiry about unconscious bias, oppression, and power dynamics. She piloted Equity-Oriented Advising and Coaching program events equipping 200+ staff with strategies to reduce stereotype threat and increase a sense of belonging for students and staff. She created more equitable and accessible learning environments for staff and students, advancing Berkeley’s reputation and mission. She is an empathetic leader, a true co-conspirator, and a beloved colleague utterly devoted to campus; we are beyond lucky to have Susan Hagstrom at Cal.”
Temple Byars "Temple Byars is an exemplary mentor and a staff member who skillfully manages an inclusive and diverse informal working group. Her founding and facilitation of the weekly “Schedulers Unite!” group was not meant to be a formal community of practice, but it turned into a lifeline to curriculum managers old and new. Temple’s skillful facilitation and inclusive and open communication style make these weekly sessions both immensely useful to the on-the-ground practitioners and cultivates a feeling of connectivity and community at Cal across all the colleges."
Teresa Yu "Under Teresa’s leadership, The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) has had prolific success in funding and supporting sustainability projects on campus. From 2019-2021, she led the TGIF committee in an equitable and inclusive process to grant over one million dollars to 72 campus initiatives, many of which prioritize environmental justice. Teresa provides oversight and advising to groups applying for and receiving funding and has helped uplift many of these still active projects to success. Teresa’s work exemplifies her moral grounding in values of inclusion and equitable community engagement. This is most apparent in her dedication to increasing access to money and resources for students who are in need. Teresa pioneered the inaugural first and second years of the Brian Gialketsis SERQueer Scholarship, which has awarded ten $1000 scholarships to queer environmentalists. Her leadership in facilitating the scholarship focused on reducing barriers to apply and actively mitigating implicit bias in the review process."
Victoria Williams “For many undergraduates and language teaching faculty the first person they encounter in the Berkeley Language Center is Victoria. She will greet them with a smile, inquire if they need something, and help them to find it, which includes everything from zoom instructions to where they can set up a skype call for an interview with an Estonian radio station. Her engagement is not only about fulfilling a need, it is about developing a relationship, one that is based on respect and cooperation with the goal of ensuring that everyone realizes their fullest potential. On campus, Victoria is actively involved in LGBTQ+ organizing, most notably through LavenderCal; she was recognized for this work in 2020 as part of the “150 Years of Women at Berkeley” project.”
Team Award Recipients:
Berkeley Changemaker (changemaker.berkeley.edu) "This three-person team developed the Berkeley Changemaker—a narrative and new curriculum that codifies an essential part of what UC Berkeley has always stood for and that our campus is rallying behind, humanists and scientists alike. Through its focus on: 1) Critical Thinking, 2) Communication, and 3) Collaboration, the curriculum activates students’ passions and develops a sharper sense of who they want to be and how to make that happen. Berkeley Changemaker now includes over 10 courses and in its first 18 months enrolled 10% of UC Berkeley undergraduates. The gateway course, The Berkeley Changemaker, enrolled 500 incoming students in its first offering. These successes were the result of the team’s meticulous attention to detail–from making sure that incoming students from all walks of life knew about the new offerings, to assessing rigorously the impact of the new curriculum over time, and integrating the efforts of faculty across more than ten departments."
Laura Hassner
Jay Stowsky
Alex Budak
California Research Alliance (CARA) Industry Partnership Team "For their dedication and significant contribution to achieve the central missions of the California Research Alliance (CARA), a unique research center and partnership between academia and industry to bridge the gap between research and innovation. And for their exceptional organizational skills, as coordinating multiple agreements at any given time requires a strong attention to detail, exceptional communication with partners across different universities, while making sure colleagues experience exceptional service, therefore enhancing UC Berkeley’s reputation among the academia and industry community. CARA operated under one of a kind “Hub and Spokes” business model with Berkeley as the “hub” and other California research institutes as the “Spokes”. Lynne and Lissette have developed a protocol that can now be used as a guideline and model for future industry-university collaboration."
Lynne Hollyer
LissetteGarcia
COVID Compliance Campus Access Badge Technical Team "The Campus Access Badge project, sponsored by the executive-level COVID Recovery Management Team, is a collaboration among several OneIT technical teams, including the Berkeley Mobile App, PeopleCards Portal, University Health Services IT, Data & Analytics, and Engineering and Integration Services. The Campus Access Badge fosters an equitable campus access experience for users by providing a coherent picture of one’s access status. A “green” badge is required for students, employees and affiliates to be physically on campus, and guidance is provided via links in the badge on how to resolve non-compliance. Due to the dynamic nature of the pandemic and the constantly evolving compliance requirements, the team designed an innovative solution that was equally dynamic and that could quickly be adapted to new and shifting policies. We are grateful for the Campus Access Badge technical team’s creativity, perseverance and exceptional teamwork in helping campus weather COVID."
Aswan Movva
Naresh Meda
Terri Kouba
Chara Bui
Tamer Sakr
Sanghamithra Bandi
Anji Gannavarapu
Desi Gallardo
Grant Life Cycle Team "The Grant Life Cycle Team coalesced during the pandemic to develop an important resource that benefits the entire campus research community. The Team created the new, holistic Grant Life Cycle Portal that consolidates and presents the full spectrum of the grant life cycle in one site. It features the user perspective as its organizing principle and has received praise from users. The Portal facilitates grant funding and research compliance. The Team also redesigned and executed a New Faculty Outreach event to publicize the Portal and demonstrate how each stage of a grant relates to a multi-step, multi-year process. Breakout rooms were provided for each life cycle stage that enabled participants to interact directly with staff in administrative departments involved in that step and forge personal relationships. The new Portal is extremely impactful for Berkeley, as a “one-stop” comprehensive, yet streamlined and effective resource."
Eric Giegerich
Pamela Miller
Kate Lewis
David Trinkle
Noam Pines
Erica Whitney
Kimberly Carl
Debra Summers
Library Course E-Reserves Design and Implementation Team "The Library Course E-Reserves Design and Implementation Team is recognized for their remarkable tenacity, collaboration, and innovation. This team — drawn from many different units and areas of expertise within the University Library — transformed the print course reserve program into an all-digital e-reserves program within a couple of months, reaching students who were learning remotely around the globe. This program is a critical part of making the courses affordable and accessible. Despite the many limitations of the COVID-19 pandemic, this team ensured that Berkeley students — from first-year undergraduates to doctoral students — were able to access critical information resources for their academic work. Congratulations to this team for their commitment to Berkeley’s teaching, learning, and research, and for their demonstrated innovation, adaptability, and leadership."
Lillian Lee
Molly Rose
Mark Jack
Jenny Schuelke
Christine Huhn
David Moles
Lynne Grigsby
Optometry – Online Continuing Education "Prior to the pandemic, the Continuing Education and Event team was providing three annual events. These events were in person and were mainly targeted to alumni and optometrists in California. Due to COVID restrictions, the pandemic accelerated a new kind of lecture delivered online; these new initiatives and bold thinking resulted in the creation of the online continuing education team. While the team had to start this initiative from the ground up, it has been a successful first year. The team was able to thrive and last year alone delivered a total of 80+ webinar hours resulting in 2,400 enrollees and 200,000+ credit units awarded, which is unprecedented at the School of Optometry. They created new ways of capturing and delivering top-notch content via a variety of digital initiatives while also automating workflow. By reaching out to a broader audience, UC Berkeley’s teaching excellence is now accessible to anyone who wishes to attend, no matter where they are located."
Matthieu Kaminksi
Catherine McChrystal
Elizabeth Yuen
UHS Dismantling Anti-Black Racism Strategy Team "The Dismantling Anti-Black Racism workgroup at University Health Services has assisted the organization in deconstructing and reshaping policies, procedures, and systematic barriers rooted in white supremacy in order to create racial equity, to foster understanding and empathy, and to increase access to opportunities for Black staff and students so that all feel valued and seen. Through thoughtful research and information gathering, honest conversations, and deep emotional labor, this team is leading the way for UHS to be an anti-racist organization that centers this work around creating wellbeing for Black and African-American staff and clients."
RahmatBalogun
MelissaKwon
Joan Hauser
Warren Whitfield
Arleen Ervin-King
Nat Hoonsan
Cintia Chavez
Adisa Anderson
Elliott DiTusa
Lisa Bell
RaghavSuri
Sandeep Lehil
TobirusNewby
UHS Transgender Care Team "Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) college students face unique medical and mental health difficulties, and report higher rates of suicidal ideation than their non-TGD Peers. In response to these unique needs, the University Health Services formed a Transgender Care Team (TCT), an interdisciplinary, integrated, comprehensive, and groundbreaking model of care for TGD college students. The team developed the UC Berkeley Hormone Guideline Protocol and the UC Berkeley Gender Confirmation Surgery Assessment, and provides training for students, staff, and community organizations about TGD care. UC Berkeley TCT members also created the UC-wide Transgender Care Collaboration, allowing improved and increased TGD services across all 10 UC campuses. Finally, the UC Berkeley TCT has become a model of care for colleges and universities, across the United States, seeking to establish or improve TGD care, impacting the care TGD students receive across the country."