Nodia Mena

Experience

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  University of North Carolina at Greensboro

  Jan 2018 - now

  Built critical oral communication skills using creative pedagogies and modes of learning that incorporated performance, improvisation, and play as part of developing social and emotional intelligence for students’ greater global competency. ● Supervised over 100 classes of approximately 20 students each as a lead instructor.● Mentored students in groups and individually on navigating college life and personal development. Received Mentor of the Year award in 2020.● Developed award-winning cultural curriculums: Joy and Culture, Garifuna: Afro-Indigenous in the Caribbean, and Drumming Alongside our Ancestors.● Created dynamic lesson plans, annual performance report, and graded homework, which averaged 98% completion. Show less Curates socially conscious content that supports sustainable practices and efforts toward race equity that addresses the impacts of systemic racism and inequality on our campus. Committed to serving the university’s mission of excellence and engagement. Hosts of the Small Steps Big Impact podcast as part of education that promotes positive individual/organizational behavior, intergroup relations, and critical dialogue about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. ● Community engagement: convened students and staff to highlight and promote their social activism on campus.● Policy development: worked with senior management to develop and implement policies to advance racial equity. ● Conducted research to inform racial equity initiatives and guidelines. ● Managed projects and initiatives to develop and implement policies and procedures that will contribute to increased racial equity outcomes. Show less coordinated and moderated campus-wide events aimed at creating a vibrant intellectual space for faculty and students to engage through research, coursework, conference panels, workshops, and public lectures in the histories, cultures, and societies of Afro-Latin America/Latinx as part of the Black Atlantic● Coordinated logistics for two conferences.● Maintained program budget and tracked expenditures.● Implemented policies and procedures for the program.● Engaged program planning with different faculty and community members around the world Show less

  • PHD

    Aug 2019 - now

  • Instructor, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro - January 2013 - Present

    Jan 2013 - now

  • COMMUNITY ADVOCACY RACIAL EQUITY ASSOCIATE

    Aug 2019 - Jul 2024

  • AFRO-LATINX CONSORTIUM --- Coordinator

    Jan 2018 - May 2022
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  ISLA

  Aug 2021 - May 2022

  ISLA --- Immersion for Spanish Language Acquisition (ISLA)

  Teacher/Community Outreach. Created and implemented a project-based curriculum that includes Indigenous people’s ancestral traditions. ● Engaged in building community and leadership through Spanish educational language and cultural immersion programs.● Utilized cultural curriculums to generate a strong sense of identity and belonging among Afro and Latino students.● Created dynamic lesson plans, annual performance report, and graded homework, which averaged 100% completion.

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  UnidosUS (@WeAreUnidosUS)

  Jul 2022 - Apr 2023

  UNIDOS US- Afro-Latinx Líderes Avanzando Fellow

  This Fellowship centered on racial equity to develop a cohort of socially and educationally engaged Afro-Latinx young adults to act as levers of change in their respective campuses, workplaces, and communities. The Fellowship provided guidance, support, content knowledge, and strategic skills for responsible advocacy and activism around social, programmatic, and policy issues.● Conducted public policy research and community education. ● Researched education policy issues impacting Black and Latin American students and communities. ● Studied and analyzed school discipline policies and procedures to identify the specific processes contributing to inequitable learning outcomes. Show less