UCI Diversity Affinity Groups

Faculty and staff diversity affinity groups foster cross-departmental social interaction, professional networking, cultural competencies, recruiting and mentoring.  Diversity affinity groups also offer the UCI community at large an opportunity to consult with group members as an information resource.

The following is a list of faculty and staff diversity affinity groups at UCI:

• Asian Pacific Islander Staff & Faculty Association at UCI
  Contact: Kathy Dong; Tonie Zhu
  Mission: The API Staff & Faculty Association aims to build connection through the lens of advocacy, empowerment, leadership, and community. Our goal is to provide opportunities to engage in meaningful spaces and build a sense of belonging related to identity and social justice topics within our community and beyond. 

• Black Faculty and Staff Association 
  Contacts: Greg Diggs-Yang; Niobe Duke
  Mission: To promote a sense of kinship for BFSA members and the Black community at the University of California, Irvine.
  

• Chican@/Latin@ Staff Association
  Contacts: Janet Antunez; Maria Calderon Leon
  Mission: To create a network and to work with administration on issues relating to the Chicano/Latino community at UCI.

• Iranian-American Faculty/Staff Association at UCI
  Contact: Rameen Talesh; Neda Moayedi
  Mission: To build an atmosphere of positive engagement and promote a sense of community for Iranian-American faculty and staff at UCI. 

• Native American Faculty and Staff Association
  Contact: Kathleen Johnson; Franklin Dollar
  Mission: To build a community of Native American/Indigenous faculty and staff that can serve as a resource to Native students at UCI, provide guidance to administration on academic and cultural issues relevant to the Native community, and help facilitate strong relationships with local Tribal communities.

• Staff and Faculty Pride Collective (formerly Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Staff and Faculty Network) 
  Contact: Deejay Brown
  Mission: To address LGBT concerns on campus and to organize activities to meet the needs of UCI’s LGBT faculty and staff. 

• Faculty and Staff Veterans Association
  Contact: Tomas Figueroa; Donald Blake
  Mission: The Faculty and Staff Veterans Association is a diverse organization composed of faculty and staff military veterans and veteran supporters with a shared mission to dedicate their strengths to the enhancement of the UCI community and create a network of UCI employees dedicated to professional development, retention, and recruitment of our veteran population.

• • Academic & Professional Women of UC Irvine 
    Contact: Tanya Zabalegui
    Mission: To develop awareness by faculty, staff and other campus constituencies of the contributions of women to the mission of UCI; To provide activities and to support other campus constituencies that contribute to the advancement of women at UCI; To serve as a networking and communications channel among women employees at UCI; To serve as an enabling body for women to input collectively to the decision-making process on campus and community issues affecting women at UCI.

• • Pil Am Nurse Association at UCI
    Contact: Dina Douglas
    Mission: To promote fellowship and unity among Pilipino American Nurses at UCI; to foster a positive image and to provide educational activities that assist in the professional development of the Pil American Nurse.

• • Women in Technology at UCI (WiT@UCI)
    Contact: Shohreh Bozorgmehri
    Mission: To create a supportive community that recognizes and brings awareness to gender imbalances surrounding women with careers in technology, and to develop innovative approaches and solutions by connecting, empowering, and developing women together. Open to faculty, students, and staff. All individuals are welcomed. 

Faculty and staff interested in joining any of the groups above are encouraged to email the contact(s) for the organization directly. Faculty and staff interested in forming a new diversity affinity group are encouraged to email Gwendolyn Black or call (949) 824-5594.  All UCI employees who want to learn about events and opportunities for all of the diversity affinity groups may subscribe to the Diversity-Affinity-Groups mail list.

The Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity is available to support faculty and staff diversity affinity groups.*  Diversity affinity groups are independent campus organizations that may or may not choose to register as campus organizations at UCI. Faculty and staff diversity affinity groups are eligible for limited administrative and financial support, including listing on the OEOD website.

* Students interested in joining or forming a diversity-related student affinity group are encouraged to contact Campus Organizations by email or (949) 824-5181.