Student Services
Student Services Annual Conference 2022
The Hill We Climb: Addressing Racial Inequity in Student Support Services
Thursday, May 26 9 a.m.1:30 p.m. Join Us via Zoom
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Conference Program
Workshop Descriptions
Biographies
Aisha Fukushima, Performance Lecturer, Justice Strategist, Singer/Songwriter, and RAPtivist
Aisha Fukushima is a Performance Lecturer, Justice Strategist, Singer/Songwriter, and RAPtivist (rap
activist). Fukushima founded RAPtivism (Rap Activism), a hip hop project spanning
20 countries and four continents, amplifying universal efforts for freedom and justice.
She is a multilingual, multiracial African American Japanese woman who has done lectures
and performances everywhere from the United States to France, Morocco, Japan, Germany,
England, South Africa, Senegal, India, Denmark and beyond. Fukushimas RAPtivism
work has been featured on Oprah Magazine, TEDx, KQED Public Television, The Seattle
Times, TV 2M Morocco, The Bangalore Mirror, HYPE, South Africas #1 Hip Hop Magazine,
and Tour highlights include performing for audiences of over 20,000 people in Nepal,
speaking with the President of Estonia about the power of music to create change,
and sharing stages with the likes of Bernie Sanders, Angela Davis, Emory Douglas (Black
Panthers), KRS-One, Herbie Hancock, Christian McBride, The Isley Brothers, and M1
(Dead Prez). As a public speaker, Aisha combines the art of performance and lecture.
In my keynotes she links themes such as hip hop, global citizenship, empowerment,
feminism and cultural activism through storytelling as well as live musical performance.
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Dr. Rog矇air D. Purnell, President and CEO of RDP Consulting
Dr. Rog矇air D. Purnell, President and CEO of RDP Consulting, is a researcher, evaluator, facilitator, and former grantmaker. She has designed, led and consulted on numerous high-profile studies and projects focused on advancing opportunity, promoting success, and catalyzing change. She is leveraged for her ability to navigate diverse communities, boards, businesses, and industries, including K-16 education, philanthropic foundations, and governmental agencies. And her intellectual commitment to unbiased analyses strengthens partnerships and equips organizations with sound insights for establishing and achieving significant milestones. Prior to becoming a consultant, she worked for non- and for-profit organizations where she effectively managed difficult conversations and built consensus. She thrives when collaborating with her client partners to ensure justice. Dr. Rog矇air Purnell launched RDP Consulting in 2009 to offer culturally competent, equity driven, and asset-based research, evaluation, and coaching to nonprofit and philanthropic leaders. She brings over twenty-five years of professional experience as a program director, grantmaker, researcher, evaluator, and facilitator. As a director, she coordinated a program for 16 to 20-year-olds who had left high school to complete community college courses to earn both college credit and a high school diploma. As a program officer, she supported efforts to improve high school completion rates and postsecondary opportunities for low-income youth. As a research associate with both for- and non-profit research organizations, Dr. Purnell helped design and implement research on and evaluation of initiatives to improve employment and health, to prevent teen pregnancy, and to increase completion rates for community college students. Dr. Purnell holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Stanford University, as well as a masters degree in social work and a doctoral degree in social work and social psychology from the University of Michigan. In 2008, she was selected as one of the 45 Faces of A Better Chance, an organization dedicated to substantially increasing the number of people of color who are capable of assuming positions of responsibility and leadership in U.S. society.
Dr. Darrick Smith, Professor, University of San Francisco
Dr. Darrick Smith is an Associate Professor of Educational Leadership at the University of San Francisco and Co-Director of the School of Educations new Transformative School Leadership (TSL) program. His research interests are culturally responsive discipline practices; critical pedagogy; transformative school leadership, and social justice schooling. Dr. Smith is the founder and former Director of the TryUMF program in Oakland, CA and formerly served as the Co-Director/Principal of the June Jordan School for Equity in San Francisco. He has served as a trainer and administrative coach in local school districts as well a Center Director under the Foundation for California Community Colleges- the system for which he still consults as a trainer for the statewide Professional Learning Network. Nationally, Dr. Smith also currently serves as a national consultant for the Now is the Time Technical Assistance (NITT-TA) Center funded through the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). Internationally, Dr. Smith serves as a professor to practitioners serving within the East Asian Regional Council of Overseas Schools and recently served as a lecturer and scientific reviewer for the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organizations (UNESCO) International Summer School in Warsaw, Poland. Dr. Smiths pathway has led him to speak at a number of national and statewide conferences on issues of educational reform as well as work in Californias correctional facilities while maintain his lifelong dedication to resistance efforts in the Greater Bay Area of Northern California. Such experience has shaped both his research agenda and his pedagogy for the last 20 years.
DJ OME
Since they began DJing in 1999, Omedj has become known for their infectious energetic
stage presence & an eclectic pallet in song selections. Ome has been described as
'the Peoples DJ' having DJed alongside political leaders such as President Barack
Obama, Blair Imani, Ilhan Omar, Stacey Abrams, Hillary Clinton, and Dolores Huerta
as well as celebrity actors Keegan Michael Keys, Hasan Minhaj & Eva Langoria. Ome
has performed and emceed in front of audiences awaiting Grammy-winning artists such
as La Santa Cecilia and Little Joe y La Familia to other acclaimed acts like Ty Dolla
$ign, Saul Williams, Chicano Batman, Las Cafeteras & Climbing Poetree. In addition
to their DJ duties, Ome Quetzal Lopez is also the co-founder of Dulce UpFront, an
award-winning multi-media art-activist organization, having produced over one hundred
events capturing the attention of thousands of people, working in partnership with
a large constellation of artists, activists, event producers, Organizations, and colleges
nationwide. In 2018, Ome was awarded Inspirational Queer Activist by Queer Out and
highlighted by Rise Up, alongside Alicia Garza & Bambadjan Bamba, as part of the next
generation of activists in California who are actively creating and inspiring change
on a local and global level. In 2020, Ome was awarded City of Fresno District One
Woman of the Year in Arts & Culture.
DJ Domingo Reynolds (AKA DJ HellaGood)
Domingo Reynolds (AKA DJ HellaGood) started spinning records in 1996. He is also known as MC Spidey in the Bay Area from
his work with the Oakland-based hip hop crew, Psychokinetics. Psychokinetics has earned
comparisons to OutKast and Common, and their superb writing skills that have earned
them a John Lennon Songwriting Award and a Finalist Spot in The Independent Music
Awards. SF Weekly describes the group as one that pushes the boundaries of what one
expects from underground hip hop by weaving in funk, soul, and electronica. DJ HellaGood
has a loyal following and a reputation for both his spinning skills and his rap artistry.
DJ DREAMS
Mar Mendoza aka DREAMS is a chicanx trans dj, producer and musician living in Oakland.
DREAMS is resident dj of Passionfruit Queer Dance Party and collaborator with radical
queer hair salon, Beauty Botanica. Follow them both on Instagram @dreamsthedj @Beauty_Botanica
Muralist Rio Holaday
Rio Holaday (she/her) uses visuals to make you feel seen, heard, and grounded in our collective
journey towards justice. She has a public health background and became a visual practitioner
in order to make information accessible, gatherings engaging, and the journey more
joyful. Rio is a Culture of Health Leader with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Rio was formerly the Director of HOPE Collaborative, which organizes black and brown
communities in Oakland around equitable health policies, and a Senior Policy Analyst
at ChangeLab Solutions, which uses policy and planning tools to create healthier communities.
She co-founded Rebel Ventures, a social enterprise that works with high school students
to make healthy snacks to sell in corner stores and schools, and conducted research
on food access in Philadelphia. Rio is a former Fulbright Scholar and worked in refugee
resettlement in Vermont. She received her MPH from the University of Pennsylvania,
MA in Forced Migration from the University of the Witwatersrand (VIT-vahters-rand),
and BA from Wesleyan University.
Jessica Maria Recinos, Dance Instructor
Jessica Recinos, a proud Latina dancer, choreographer and company director from San
Franciscos Excelsior neighborhood, has developed her own multidisciplinary dance
style and aesthetic drawing from street dance forms, such as Vogue, Hip Hop and Afro-Latin
dance forms. An experienced arts educator who has taught at LINES, SF School of the
Arts and in the community dance program at SF Ballet, Jessica is gifted at working
with, listening to, coaching, and sharing stories from young people. Through Rising
Rhythm, the company she founded and directs, Jessica works with both professional
and young artists to build the next generation of dance entrepreneurs and changemakers!
For full bio, visit
Tereza Kopcilova, Dance Instructor
I began dancing at the age of 5 and competed since I was 9 years old. I started my
dance journey with Hip Hop and Tap Dance, and since then grew my love to more dance
styles, such as Ballet, Modern and Contemporary dance. Over the years I have attended
national (Czech), European, as well as World competitions, and won many titles as
a soloist, a duet/trio partner, and a group member. I also participated in numerous
dance shows over the years, one being "Love 2018" organized by 17勛圖 Dance
in the Smithwick Theater. Besides performing, I was also a Hip Hop & Tap Dance instructor
for 6 years which was one of them most rewarding experience as I was able to share
my passion for dance with others.
Hebert Aguilar, Dance Instructor
Was born in San Francisco and has lived in the Bay Area all of his life. He has been
dancing ever since he can remember, inspired by Michael Jackson to learn Hip-Hop,
Break dancing, Popping, Tutting, and by his parents to learn Latin dance at family
parties. He was introduced to Salsa in his sophomore year of high school and immediately
fell in love with it, going every summer to classes and taking his dancing career
to the next level by performing at social events, festivals, and getting trained by
professionals in the Latin dance world. At age 15 he began instructing Salsa at Colleges
and Ballrooms, he went to college during the summer breaks in high school to expanded
his repertoire with other dance genres such as Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Waltz, Bachata,
Mambo, Rumba, Cha cha cha, East Coast Swing, and more. For full bio, visit