Staci Dennis-Taylor

Staci Dennis-Taylor, Esq., is an experienced litigator and mediator. Driven by a dedication to equal justice under the law, Dennis-Taylor takes pride in supporting racial justice and diversity initiatives in her community.

Dennis-Taylor is a 2014 graduate of Syracuse University’s College of Law. In 2016, she joined the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office as an assistant district attorney, prosecuting special victims and elder law cases, homicides, and served as the Municipal Courts Bureau Chief, coordinating all misdemeanor
prosecutions in Onondaga County. Following this, Dennis-Taylor worked as a divorce and family law attorney before being appointed Principal Law Clerk to Deputy Chief Administrative Judge James P. Murphy.

Hamid Ekbia

Hamid Ekbia is University Professor in Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Ekbia’s research focuses the political economy of computing, in the future of work, and in how technologies mediate socio-economic, cultural, and geo-political relations of modern societies.

Tula Goenka

Tula Goenka is a professor, filmmaker, and social activist in S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. She teaches courses in multimedia storytelling, film production, and Indian cinema. She started her filmmaking career as an editor for Spike Lee, James Ivory, and Mira Nair, among others. She now produces and edits her own documentaries, including the award-winning PBS film “Dancing On Mother Earth,” about singer/songwriter Joanne Shenandoah and “El Charango,” about the musical instrument from Bolivia.

Since 2008, Goenka has been the creator and program director of the month-long Bollywood Snapshots: Internships in Mumbai (#SUBollywood), offered through Syracuse Abroad.

Ahlam Islam

Ahlam Islam completed her undergraduate study at the Maxwell School, studying sociology and citizenship and civic engagement. As an undergraduate, she engaged in research exploring the mental health utilization of college students of color and designed and implemented intersectional workshops and initiatives at both the Shaw Center and the Barnes Center at the Arch.

Following her undergraduate studies, Islam remained at Syracuse University and worked with the McNair Scholars Program while simultaneously completing an M.S. in cultural foundations of education.

Islam strives to connect students with experiences that will broaden their academic curiosity and increase their access to opportunities and spaces that will enhance their abilities to promote equity and tangible change.

Seyeon Lee

Seyeon Lee is the associate dean of research and DEIA and the Georgia Miller Associate Professor in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Before transitioning to academia, Lee worked as an architect and project/construction manager for over 14 years in the design and construction industry. Lee’s professional portfolio includes residential, commercial, retail, hospitality and urban planning projects across the United States, South Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

Lee received a Ph.D. in architecture from Texas A&M University, as well as a master of architecture and a bachelor of environmental design from Montana State University. Her research focuses on innovations in sustainable and affordable design, including user-centered community design, sustainable interior architecture, and sustainable design practices for affordable and low-income housing and community development.

As the 2021-23 Lender Center for Social Justice Research Fellow, Lee is dedicated to exploring ways to improve access to social determinants of health for underrepresented, low-income, refugee and women populations.

James Haywood Rolling Jr.

James Haywood Rolling Jr. is interim chair of the Department of African American Studies and professor of arts education in the College of Arts and Sciences. A recent co-director of the University’s Lender Center for Social Justice, Rolling received a BFA in fine art from The Cooper Union, an MFA from Syracuse University, and a doctorate in art education from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Rolling served as the 37th President of the National Art Education Association and is a member of the Board of Trustees at both The Cooper Union and the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse. Beyond his work in higher education, he is working on his forthcoming book, “The Next Dawn: Humanity’s Creative Resilience in the Wake of Catastrophe,” an exploration of human social history for models to be adapted here in our post-pandemic era from communities and cultures around the globe that came to the brink of disintegration, but instead took their next creative leap.

Danielle Smith

Danielle Taana Smith, Ph.D., is faculty director of the Renée Crown University Honors Program, a professor of African American studies in the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of sociology (courtesy) in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and a fellow of the Lender Center for Social Justice. Smith’s interdisciplinary research areas include global migration, global development and human rights and international law. She also engages with U.S. domestic policy issues with an overarching goal of improving the social and economic environment for all, especially those at the margins of our society.

Julia White

Julia M. White is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Teaching and Leadership in the School of Education, Syracuse University. She directs the interdisciplinary minor in Atrocity Studies and the Practices of Social Justice and is the co-coordinator of the Spector/Warren Fellowship for Future Educators.

She has served as co-chair and secretary/treasurer of the Disability Studies in Education SIG of AERA and as secretary/treasurer, program chair, and chair of the Special and Inclusive Education Research SIG of AERA. With Christine Ashby, she is co-editor of Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning. Her research agenda includes special educational policy at the national and international levels and inclusive education as a human right, particularly related to Romani students in Central and Eastern Europe and students with significant disabilities.