Professional Staff

Marbeya Montero, M.A.

Email: mcmonter@calpoly.edu

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

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. Personally she supports, advocates, and develops our students in any way 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 specialize in re-imagining retention and recruitment initiatives for underrepresented students in higher education.

Lead Coordinator of LGBTQ+ Initiatives 

Samuel Neil Byrd, M.TS M.Ed NCC

Email: sabyrd@calpoly.edu

Pronouns: any pronouns

Building 65, Room 214
805.756.2459

Samuel is a Gender & Sexuality educator, consultant, and national board-certified psychotherapist originally from the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina.  A 1st-gen professional and alumnus of Appalachian State University, Richmond International University of Rome, NC State University, and the Pacific School of Religion Samuel has focused his studies on expanding access to public education, supporting students mental health and wellness, and dismantling systems of oppression.  He has served as a public school teacher, college lecturer, college counselor, interfaith chaplain, and community activist.  

Whether in the halls of Vatican City, the Moral Monday marches on the capital of North Carolina, or in the classroom, Samuel advocates for underrepresented students and communities that celebrate diversity through a radical and enthusiastic practice of inclusion.  Samuel currently coordinates LGBTQ+ and Interfaith Initiatives at Cal Poly and the local San Luis Obispo community. His current research is explores the intersection of gender, sexuality, race, and religion in Queer, Womxnist, and Postcolonial Theology.

Olivia Tran, M.Ed.

Email: obtran@calpoly.edu

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

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.

Nick Bilich, M.A. 

Email: nbilich@calpoly.edu

Pronouns: He/Him/His

Building 52, Room E5

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.

Lillianne Tang, M.Ed.

Email: lctang@calpoly.edu

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

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.

Bri Damacio

Email: bdamacio@calpoly.edu

Pronouns: They/Them/Theirs

Building 65, Room 217
805.756.2600

Bri will be working on the development and coordination of identity based and heritage month events. They will also be working on retention initiatives to support historically underrepresented students. Additionally, their work will contribute directly to creating opportunities for students to further their understandings of power, equity and diversity. 

Bri received their BA in Hispanic Studies and a minor in Gender and Women's Studies from Connecticut College.