UACT Staff and Facilitators

Hey! I’m Amanda Santos and I’m working my way towards graduating this upcoming spring. My main area of focus is cultural Anthropology but I enjoy immersing myself in most other subjects as well, except maybe Math. On top of that I spend most of my free time reading, whether for pleasure or necessity, watching Jon Stewart, writing and hanging out with my fellow co-managers of the student-run collective I am a part of on campus, Campus Design and Copy. I am more than excited to collaboratively transform an ordinary classroom into a space of community, learning, wisdom, engagement and openness. Learning is one of the most important things we do in life, and I’m eager to learn all I possibly can with others.

Hey everyone! My name is Kayla Goldberg and I am a junior Social Thought and Political Economy major here at UMass. I am super excited to facilitate Grassroots Community Organizing this upcoming spring. It is a life-changing course and it has demonstrated to me just how influential a close-knit classroom can be in creating agents for social change. My favorite things include chocolate, miniature dachshunds, 90's music, and silly dancing. I believe in the unbounded influence of education and that incredible things can be accomplished with enough passion and positivity.

Hi! I'm MaryGrace DeCotiis and I'm going to be one of the facilitators of the Sustainability and Environmental Justice class this Spring! I'm a Civic Engagement and Sustainability major, rolling into my 3rd year at UMASS. My interests are in making friendly conversation, listening to smooth jazz, and community organizing work on and off campus. For the past few years I have been a passenger on the UACT train, through GCD my freshman year, helping to coordinate Alumni last Fall, and eventually taking the Alumni class this past Spring. UACT has led me to a passion in political and social activism and I'm souped about staying involved!

Nicole Mitchell
I am a junior majoring in Social Thought and Political Economy. I volunteer at the Everywoman's Center as a Rape Crisis Counselor/Advocate and work as a tutor in the Writing Center. Some of my favorite things include books, the outdoors, Mexican food, going to shows, spontaneous adventures, and (of course!) social justice.

Paige Shea is a Public Health major and part of the Citizen Scholar's program going into her third year at UMASS. She enjoys ice cream, figure skating, reading, listening to music and singing. At UMASS, she is frequently seen working in Baker as a RA, eating at Earthfoods or getting bubble tea in town. She is very excited to be involved with UACT and GCO. Let the adventure begin!

Sue-Ellen Duffy
I am a senior majoring in Public Health with a concentration in community building. My favorite things include my cat, campfires, singing, and being barefoot (Velcro shoes come as a close second). In recent years I have become more and more frustrated with oppressive social systems. Through UACT and GCO I have been able to surround myself with the ideas, theory, practice, and people who can make change possible.

Hi my name is Sara Hopps. I love to do anything outside that is with great people. This includes walking, hiking, running, eating, drawing, listening to music etc. I am creating my own major in the BDIC Civ-X program titled “Sustainable Engagement for Community Health.” I come to this work from the premise of this quote by Chief Seattle of the Suquamish. "Man did not weave the web of life - he is merely a strand in it.  Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself." 

Rachel Claffey is a junior studying Management and minoring in anthropology. She's excited to continue her work with UACT after taking GCO her freshman year. She loves meeting new people, playing intramurals, and walking around our lovely campus. Country music and tailgates are two of her favorite things. 

Julia Ozog is starting her 4th year with GCO and is thrilled for the opportunity to continue working with her community! She is passionate about social justice education on many fronts and hopes to continue her intersectional approach to activism after graduation by educating or organizing. In her spare time, Julia enjoys gardening, making/eating/thinking about delicious food, zumba, going on adventures, juicing whatever's left in the fridge, and reading and learning outside of what she's required to do in school.

Lily Brown graduated from UMass in Spring 2012 with a Bachelor's Degree of Individual Concentration in Community-Integrated Holistic Pedagogy. After growing up in the culturally-rich community of Syracuse, NY and working at a self-sustained ranch in Costa Rica, Lily figured out that community is essential to living a purposeful and engaged life. Lily saw the problems around her—climate change, social injustice, rampant corporate greed—as byproducts of a lack of local community power, and sought to find out how communities are built as the focus of her work at university. After working as a peer educator with the Sustainability Initiative on campus, she decided to take Grassroots Community Organizing as a sophomore to further her understanding of how community is formed, little did she know she'd find a learning community of her own. This experience was so empowering, that Lily decided to facilitate GCO the in spring 2011 to better understand how learning communities could be created for others. After spending the 2011-2012 academic year training future facilitators, Lily is returning to train again while overseeing the implementation of a new course, Sustainability & Environmental Justice, within UACT. When she's not doing UACT stuff, Lily enjoys eating fine cheeses, giggle fits, culinary exploits, Netflix, and globetrotting.

Jen Sandler, Ph.D.

Jen is a Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology. In her research, Jen focuses on the knowledge practices of activist organizations and movements, asking how those who are trying to change the structures of society learn and teach about the problems they aim to address. Jen has conducted research with urban educators, community organizers, policy activists, parent activist groups, and popular education organizations in several urban centers in the United States as well as in Mexico. She also engages as a participant in many organizations and collectives that work with people to understand their shared struggles and to gain the power to shape the institutions and policies that affect them.

Jen received her Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2008, and subsequently held visiting faculty positions at Trinity College and Bates College. As a professor, she has worked with many local community activists and organizers as partners to teach students, through engagement with both theory and practice, about different ways of understanding contemporary power, social inequalities, and diverse approaches to social change. Her classes have frequently involved efforts to disrupt the traditional power dynamics of the classroom to create collective environments for learning and community engagement. Jen comes to UMass this year ridiculously excited to work with the UACT staff along with graduate students, faculty, and community partners who are interested in thinking critically about engaged teaching and research on activism.