Cross Cultural Centers

Email: mcmonter@calpoly.edu

Building 65, Room 217
805.756.7242

 

Beya is here to ensure that Cal Poly continues to have events and programs that serve diversity, equity, and inclusion.  Beya works to support, advocate, and develop students in any way that she can.  She herself is a recourse for students and her work is a celebration of the culture they bring to Cal Poly.

 

She has her Master's in Ethnic Studies from San Francisco State and she specializes in re-imagining retention and recruitment initiatives for underrepresented students in higher education.

LGBTQ+ Initiatives

Email: sabyrd@calpoly.edu

Building 65, Room 214
805.756.2459

 

Samuel is a Gender & Sexuality educator, consultant, and national board-certified counselor originally from the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. As a first-gen professional, Samuel works to expand access to public education, to support students mental health & wellbeing, and to dismantle systems of oppression.  Over the years he has served as a public school teacher, college lecturer and counselor, interfaith chaplain, and community activist.

 

Whether in the halls of Vatican City, Moral Marches on the state capital, or in the classroom, Samuel advocates for underrepresented students and promotes communities that celebrate a radical and enthusiastic practice of inclusion.  Samuel coordinates LGBTQ+ initiatives at Cal Poly, serves on the Board of Directors for the GALA Pride & Diversity Center of the Central Coast and Growing Together Committee at the Community Foundation, and is a Trustee for the El Camino Real Diocese of the Episcopal Church, USA.   Samuel's current research explores the intersections of Queer, Womxnist, and Postcolonial Theology.

Womxn & Gender Equity Initiatives

Email: obtran@calpoly.edu

Building 65, Room 217 (A2)
805.756.6256

 

Olivia is committed to working for and with womxn-identified students and students of all underrepresented gender identities to affirm and celebrate existence and resistence on campus.  With background in programming for LGBTQ+ and APIDA students, her work focuses on cultivating understandings of intersectionally marginalized identities and carving out spaces for students to exist in their fullest, most authentic selves.

 

Olivia studied history at the University of California, Los Angeles and received her M.Ed in College Student Affairs Administration from the University of Georgia.

Men & Masculinities

Email: nbilich@calpoly.edu

Building 65, Room 217
805.756.2277

 

Born and raised in Santa Rosa, CA, Nick came to Cal Poly in 2002, graduating with a BA in English, and a minor in Communication Studies.  Nick’s passion for gender-based violence prevention and masculinity topics began at Cal Poly during his service as an AmeriCorps VIP Member with Safer and the Gender Equity Center (2011-2013).  Prior to being hired as the Men and Masculinity Program coordinator, Nick facilitated Safer's six-week Sexual Misconduct Training and participated as an advisor in their Respondent Advising Program. Nick and his wife Jill love living in SLO, and share a passion for their faith, people, soccer, music, the outdoors, and having guests over for dinner.

Multicultural Initiatives

Email: lctang@calpoly.edu

Building 65, Room 111F
805.756.1405

 

Lilianne Tang was born and raised in Chinatown of Los Angeles, CA and she earned her B.A. in Political Science and B.A. in Sociology: Social Inequalities from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD). This is where she learned the bureaucratic operation of the systems and structures in place, and how they reproduce inequality for communities of color. She is passionate about educational equity and has served as a College Adviser for 2 years, directly engaging and supporting first-generation, low-income, and underrepresented students in their pursuit to higher education. Because of her students, she felt empowered to go to graduate school at Loyola University Chicago. She is the first in her family and is among 5% of Cambodian Americans to receive her M.Ed. During her time in graduate school, she realized her potential as a scholar-practitioner and used theories to inform her work facilitating dialogues around identity development for Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) students. Lilianne is very passionate about social justice and is committed to learning it and working towards it both personally and professionally. As one of the Social Justice and Multicultural Programs Coordinator, Lilianne provides a forum in which students can connect, grow, develop, organize, and build community with one another. She wants to help shape the next generation of leaders and scholars who will challenge the mainstream structure and discourse of higher education.

 

In Lilianne’s free time, she enjoys watching TV, painting, playing the Nintendo Switch, and struggling through 1000-piece puzzles. She believes dish washers are a scam and has once gone viral on Twitter tweeting about birth control as healthcare. She also absolutely loves bonding and building community over food, boba, and board games.