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Professional Staff:

Interns:
Professional Staff:

Julienne Kwong Ratanasen, Gender Education Specialist
jratanasen@ucdavis.edu
Welcome to the Women’s Center! As a UC Davis alumnus, I am excited to be back on campus and working with the students, staff, and faculty toward women’s empowerment. As the Gender Education Specialist, my work focuses on issues pertaining to the women’s empowerment, safety, and self-defense. I also instruct and coordinate the Rape Aggression Defense (RAD) classes on campus, so please get in touch with me if you or your organization is interested in gaining self-defense tools. In addition, I am available to present workshops on a variety of issues related to gender.

I am a student of the UC system: as an undergraduate with a major in Sociology and minor in Asian American Studies, and as a graduate student of UCLA’s Asian American Studies Master’s program. My interests include immigrant women and families, global feminism, transnationalism, and the intersections of identity. Feel free to drop by and say hi!

How to request a program

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Macy Minor, Administrative & Resource Specialist
mlminor@ucdavis.edu
(530) 752-3372
Welcome! As the newest member of the WRRC team I look forward to meeting with everyone that visits us! Come and visit me at the front desk if you have questions, if you're looking for a resource or referral, if you want to hang out a talk, or even if you are lost and need directions!

I graduated from UC Davis a few years back with a BA in Communications and a minor in Women and Gender Studies and a minor in English. During my last semester at UCD, I filmed a short documentary about domestic violence and this spurred my passion for human rights and activism. Since then I have interned at The Women's Building in San Francisco and at Women's Health Specialists in Sacramento. I have worked with many non-profit and community-based organizations, especially women-centered organizations and have a wealth of valuable information about resources available for women and girls.

Before working at the WRRC, I worked in Public Relations and in the women's health clinic at Women's Health Specialists doing tons of public speaking and health education surrounding a woman's access to health care. As a strong supporter of women's reproductive rights, I advocate for all options for all women. I am an active member of my community, proud to be a Feminist, and I look forward to working at the WRRC. Outside of work I also enjoy reading, camping, riding my bike, playing with my dog, tennis, going to sporting events and volunteering as a clinic escort. See you soon!

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Joy Erickson, Librarian
jrerickson@ucdavis.edu
 Hi! I came to WRRC after working in UCD’s Shields Library in Special Collections. My background is varied and diverse. I received my B.A. in Sociology from University of Wisconsin-Madison. I was a state licensed Social Worker for 10+ years in Wisconsin and Colorado. While a Social Worker, I was a Counselor/Advocate for domestic abuse survivors in a women’s shelter, and a Counselor for domestic abuse perpetrators and sex offenders in a first offender program. I have also worked in child protection, and as a family law paralegal for the poor. After completing my MLS at UW-Madison, I’ve interned and worked in Public, Corporate, Academic libraries, and at a start-up K-12 educational web site.

I am extremely pleased to be here at WRRC as I feel that it gives me an opportunity to employ my skills both as a Librarian and as a Social Worker. I’m very much looking forward to working with students, staff, and faculty in meeting their information needs. My interests are information literacy, poverty in elderly women, disability rights (in particular “invisible” illnesses), HIV/AIDS (in U.S. and Africa) bi-racial peoples, and social stratification.

On a personal note, I enjoy fiction writing, films (I have worked as a Production Manager on two independent films), cross-country skiing (had to do something in frigid Wisconsin), and of course reading.

I look forward to meeting each of you! Please stop by and introduce yourself.

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Sonia-Melitta Montoya, Programs Coordinator
sdmontoya@ucdavis.edu
Greetings! I recently moved to the Davis/Sacramento area to join the WRRC staff! I am incredibly excited to begin programming and collaborating efforts with UC Davis diverse communities and departments. My mission as Programs Coordinator is to identify issues of concern to campus women and how best to address the issues identified, and carry out initiatives through partnerships and collaborations to achieve equity for women in realizing their full potential. In addition, work with students enrolled in WRRC’s Peer Education Program.

I hold my master’s in Women’s & Gender Studies with a research emphasis in Mexican American Studies from The University of Austin, Texas. My thesis was titled, “Voicing Solidarity: The Ladies’ Auxiliary and the Retelling of the Empire Zinc Strike.” While I attended UT Austin, I was a teacher’s assistant for the Center of Mexican American Studies (CMAS), as well as an active graduate student involved in planning events and conferences for both Center of Women’s & Gender Studies and CMAS.

As an undergrad, I interned with the non-profit organization, Girls For A Change, which mobilizes middle and high girls to create and implement social change projects for their communities. Additionally, I hold my bachelor’s degree in Public Relations from the School of Journalism & Mass Communication from San Jose State University, where I graduated as a McNair Scholar.

I am looking forward to meeting and working with you to educate and advocate on women’s & gender issues!

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Peg Swain, Co-Director
mbswain@ucdavis.edu
As the co-director, I share with Robin many of the day to day jobs to keep the WRRC surviving and thriving. Sometimes we allocate or literally divide a task, and sometimes we both are involved in decision-making, planning, and outreach. Because this is a job-share, we are modeling a form of work that challenges and enriches established routine work patterns. It's a bit risky to have two heads rather than one, but the potential benefits are immensely rewarding. My WRRC specialty is being the resident academic. Trained as an anthropologist, I teach courses and run an internship seminar on gender & global issues, work with individual students (undergraduate & graduate) on their research projects, and consult with faculty on teaching and research projects.

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Robin Whitmore, Co-Director
rlwhitmore@ucdavis.edu
Like many of us here at the WRRC, I'm a "Jill of all trades." One responsibility of the director is to make sure the WRRC has the money, staff, facilities and other resources to keep serving the campus, and that those resources get used wisely. I keep our political fences mended, and represent the Center to the campus and community. Like other staff, I have a role in deciding on programs, services and priorities of the WRRC. When advocacy or activism is called for, I'm there. As for specialties, I know more than most about gender dynamics in the classroom, and about how to get things done in the UC Davis bureaucracy. Other topics I know something about: sexual harassment, sexual discrimination, and work/family balance.

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Interns:

Rammy Sidhu, Women in Sciences &
Engineering Intern
wrrc@ucdavis.edu
Coming soon....!

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Brook Colley, Graduate Outreach Intern
Greeting! I am excited to be working this year as the Graduate Outreach Intern. I am here to assess the programming, advocacy, and resource needs of graduate women. I graduated this last spring from Southern Oregon University as a duel major in Sociology and Political Science. I grew up in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, nestled between the Cascade Mountains, the Pacific Ocean, and fields-upon-fields of farming communities. Born to a Wasco, Eastern Cherokee, and Japanese mother and an Irish father, I have a special interest in cultural dynamics and fusion cultures. As an undergrad I worked with the Multicultural Resource Center, Women's Resource Center, and Queer Resource Center. I am an activist, an event organizer, and a wayward writer. I strive to grow and transform internally and within my communities. This year I am beginning my first year as a doctoral student in the UC Davis Native American Studies department. I welcome your ideas and suggestions; I hope to see you soon! Walk in beauty.

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Laura Koivunen, Graphic/Web Design Intern
wrrc@ucdavis.edu
I'm a third year Design student from Finland, and this is my second year interning at the WRRC. I got into web design in Jr. High and High School, and have always been fond of the arts and all their applications. Some day I'd like to be an illustrator for fantasy books or a big gaming company like Wizards of the Coast or Blizzard...or something in that vein.

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