Speakers
Dr. William Franklin holds a Ph.D. in Psychological Studies in Education with an emphasis in Child and Adolescent Development from Stanford University. Dr. Franklin currently serves as the Vice President for Student Affairs at California State University, Dominguez Hills and is the former Associate Vice President of Student Success. He has also served as an Associate Professor in Child and Family Studies at California State University, Los Angeles and as an Associate Professor of Human Development in the Center of Collaborative Education and Professional Studies at California State University, Monterey Bay. Dr. Franklin was honored in 2015 with the Wang Family Excellence Award. The award recognizes four outstanding faculty members and one outstanding administrator who, through extraordinary commitment and dedication, have distinguished themselves by exemplary contributions and achievements. While at CSU Dominguez Hills, Dr. Franklin has been instrumental in securing over $20 million dollars in grants to design and implement several student success initiatives for low-income, first generation students. Dr. Franklin is the founder of one of the most successful young males of color initiatives in the nation, called the Male Success Alliance (MSA). Recently celebrating its 10-year anniversary, MSA works with close to 200 middle and high school boys and approximately 100 young men on campus. The accomplishments and longevity of the program were the catalyst for the creation and launch of the system-wide CSU Young Males of Color Consortium in 2017. The Consortium is designed to advance a network of leaders committed to leveraging data and fostering shared knowledge and understanding in support of males of color. Dr. Franklin currently serves as the co-founder and Principal Investigator of the 23-campus Consortium.
Matthew Smith currently serves as the Interim Associate Vice President of Student Life and Dean of Students at CSU Dominguez Hills. In that role, he oversees eight Student Affairs departments designed to enhance student learning and development through co-curricular experiences.
Additionally, Matthew currently serves as the Principal Investigator for the CSU Young Males of Color Consortium. The consortium is designed to create a network of leaders committed to sharing data and fostering shared knowledge and understanding in support of YMOC. In his role as Co-Founder Matthew plans and facilitates bimonthly consortium meetings with leaders from all 23 CSU Campuses in an effort to systematically address and eradicate the opportunity gaps with Young Males of Color.
In his previous role Matthew served as the Director of Educational Partnerships and led the Male Success Alliance. In that role, he managed eight student success initiatives designed to improve the educational and social outcomes for low-income and first generation students throughout the educational pipeline. Over a span of 3 years Matthew was awarded over $10 million dollars in federal and local grants to better serve historically marginalized student populations.
In his role as Director of the Male Success Alliance Matthew built a Middle School Through College initiative focused on equipping young men with the tools and resources necessary for post-secondary success. Today the Male Success Alliance is viewed as a national model for initiatives aiming to improve outcomes for Men of Color. Over the last few years Matthew has partnered with his colleagues at CSU Dominguez Hills to conduct research focusing on the success of Men of Color in College. As a result, they have had the honor of presenting at Conferences such as Harvard’s Alumni of Color Conference, the International Colloquium on Black Males, AERA, and NASPA’s National Conference. He is the co-author of Empowering Men of Color on Campus: Building Student Community in Higher Education (Rutgers University Press, 2018)
Matthew Graduated from California State University, San Bernardino, where he majored in Sociology. He received his Masters of Science in Higher Education from California State University, Fullerton, he is slated to earn his Ph.D in education with a concentration in Gender Studies and Program Evaluation from Claremont Graduate University in 2020.
As an educator, he has been featured in the Detroit Free Press, Blavity, Ubuntu Leadership Academy, and the African American Male Achievement Documentary, “Kingmakers.” In addition, his work has been published by the Campaign for Black Male Achievement, which featured his unique approach to educating young black males. His engaging pedagogical practices were crafted from a place of absolute understanding of the Black male experience through education. Thus, his life’s work is focused on the education and the healing of black boys and men. He is honored to be in a position to impact change and looks forward to continuing the legacy of great educators.
Nicole Galport is a Research Associate at Cobblestone Applied Research & Evaluation, Inc. She received her M.A. in Psychology with a co-concentration in Evaluation and Positive Organizational Psychology and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Evaluation and Applied Research Methods. Most of her work at Cobblestone focuses on evaluating programs that serve underrepresented minority students across the education spectrum. Nicole also conducts research on evaluation with a focus on evaluator competency development and evaluator education and training.
Dr. Namrata Patel is the Director of Strategy & Knowledge Management at Cobblestone Applied Research & Evaluation, Inc. She received her Ph.D. in Applied Social Psychology. As an evaluator for more than 10 years, she has worked with teachers, students, and administrators in the entire education spectrum, ranging from pre-K-12 programs through college graduation and career development. Prior to her work at Cobblestone, Namrata used research findings to improve county and statewide education policies for young children and their families.
Dr. Lui Amador is a 1.5 generation Pilipino American immigrant. He has over 25 years of experience working in higher education, which includes positions at Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal State Fullerton. He currently serves as the Director for the Educational Opportunity Program at Cal State LA. He received is his BA in Politics from UC Santa Cruz, an MA in Cultural Studies from Claremont Graduate University and a doctorate in Educational Leadership from Cal State Long Beach. His doctoral research examined structural opportunity gaps of men of color at 4-year universities through a strengths-based approach. Dr. Amador resides in Torrance, CA with his wife and 2 children and is also a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps.
Dr. Monique Matelski is the Director of Research and Evaluation at Cobblestone Applied Research & Evaluation, Inc. She received her Ph.D. in Applied Social Psychology. As an evaluator for eight years, she has helped to design, manage, and coordinate multi-year evaluations of higher education programs funded through Department of Education (Title V, Title III, FIPSE) and the National Science Foundation. Most of her work has focused on evaluating programs serving underrepresented minority and low-income students.
Isaac Bryan is a policy shaper and published scholar. His work has helped to advance activist led movements and policy change around issues of racial, economic, and social justice. Currently, Isaac serves as the inaugural Director of the UCLA Black Policy Project, head of the Public Policy Division for the Million Dollar Hoods Project, and as the Director of Public Policy for the UCLA Ralph J. Bunche Center. He also co-chairs the Los Angeles Unified School District Task Force on Youth Diversion and Development and serves as a Senior Advisor to Assemblymember Sydney Kamlager-Dove who represents California’s 54th assembly district. Formerly, Isaac served in Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Office of Reentry and CENTCOM Unit where he co-authored the City’s first report on the holistic needs of Angelenos with past justice system involvement. Isaac holds Bachelors in Political Science and Sociology from the University of Arizona and a Masters of Public Policy from UCLA.
Ernesto Mejia, the proud son of Mexican immigrants, is a true example of the American dream. Diagnosed with the rare disease of Guillain-Barré Syndrome at the age of 16 that left him temporarily paralyzed, he was not supposed to be a successful student, much less a College Dean of Students. Through his hardships, Ernesto learned to never give up on life, he now speaks to students, parents and teachers about overcoming obstacles and never giving up on the American dream: education. For more information please visit www.coolspeak.net
Eligio Martinez Jr. is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs at Claremont Graduate University’s School of Educational Studies. He was previously a visiting faculty member at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona and a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, San Diego where he served as Co-Principle Investigator for Project EXCEL, a study commissioned by the University of California Office of the President.
Dr. Martinez is a P-20 scholar whose work focuses on understanding the experiences of boys and men of color across the educational pipeline. His research interest includes students on middle school experience, community colleges, and boys and men of color. His current research explores the experiences of directors of Men of Color Initiatives in community colleges and the development of Men of Color programs in higher education. Prior to his academic career, Dr. Martinez was the coordinator of the Men of Color Mentoring Program at Tarrant County College in Fort Worth, TX. In 20014, Dr. Martinez was recognized as the College Level Mentor in the state of Texas by the San Antonio Mentoring Forum.
Dr. Martinez is a research affiliate for Project MALES at the University of Texas, Austin and RISE for Boys and Men of Color through the Center for Race and Equity at the University of Southern California. Dr. Martinez is a native of Santa Ana, CA. He received his B.A. in History and Chicana and Chicano Studies from UCLA and his M.Ed. and Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Washington, Seattle.
Derrick R. Brooms, Ph.D. is faculty in sociology and Africana Studies at the University of Cincinnati and serves as a youth worker as well. His research and activism focus on educational equity, race and racism, diversity and inequality, and identity. His education research primarily centers on Black men and boys’ pathways to and through college and Black and Latino males’ college experiences, as well as on their engagement on campus, leadership, and identity development. He is author of Being Black, Being Male on Campus: Understanding and Confronting Black Male Collegiate Experiences (SUNY, 2017) and co-author of Empowering Men of Color on Campus: Building Student Community in Higher Education (Rutgers University Press, 2018). He currently serves as founding editor of the Critical Race Studies in Education book series with SUNY Press and he has a wealth of personal, professional, research, assessment and practical experience working with boys and young men of color in community-based, K-12, and higher education settings.
Jon Gausman is a civil engineering major at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo currently in his third year of study, and hails from the Fillmore district of San Francisco, CA. A father of two, Jon spent much of his time as a young adult working and caring for his children, who are now ages 25 and 21. Previous to enrolling at Cal Poly, he worked as an illustrator and patent artist for various patent law offices, and a local toy company. When not studying for exams, Jon loves to cook food and feed hungry people, build community, and read.
