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Leadership Team

Profile picture of Audra Buck-Coleman smiling

Dr. Audra Buck-Coleman is the inaugural Associate Director for the Changemaker Institute at UC San Diego. In this role, she connects campus members and outside communities for collaborative projects that seek to make the world more just, sustainable, and inclusive. She strives to facilitate positive social change throughout the campus and beyond.

She is also an author, educator, designer, and social design researcher. Her research and creative practice focus on social justice design, the ways art and design can create positive change in culture and society. For more than 20 years, she has been creating collaborative cross-community projects that seek to close the distance between our perceived identity differences and to advocate the needs of underrepresented groups. Of these, nine have engaged off-campus partners, two have been conducted internationally, 11 have addressed issues of underrepresented groups, and 14 have resulted in exhibitions.

Dr. Buck-Coleman holds an Ph.D. in sociology with an emphasis in social psychology and social mobility and inequality from University of Maryland, College Park, an M.F.A. in two-dimensional design from Cranbrook Academy of Art, and a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from University of Missouri-Columbia. She leverages this knowledge to research issues of culture, racial and social inequality, identity, social psychology, and social movements. She concentrates this work on the ways art and design can potentially undermine stereotypes, prejudice and bias.

She has taught on three different campuses: Wayne State University, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and most recently at University of Maryland, College Park, where she was a tenured Associate Professor and director of the graphic design program.

Email: Audra Buck-Coleman  abuckcoleman@UCSD.EDU

profile picture of Cat Lettieri smiling

Catherine (Cat) Lettieri has organized community-based opportunities around education, health, law, and civic engagement to enrich students' experiences outside the classroom. Cat’s work and research have focused on Changemaking, community-engaged learning, faculty development, community as co-educator, and college access, and she is passionate about community-driven problem-solving. Cat holds an MA in Higher Education Leadership from the University of San Diego School of Leadership and Education Sciences, a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Cultural Anthropology from UC Davis and is currently pursuing her doctorate in Education Leadership. After completing her MA, Cat served as an Education Pioneer Fellow at the District of Columbia Office of the State Superintendent of Education, focusing on parent involvement in low-income schools. Most recently she has been a Community Engagement Fellow through Western Washington University and continues as a member of their CE Fellows Sister Incubator community of practice. Cat spends her free time exploring San Diego’s hiking trails with her partner, her two children, and their dog, Bowdoin.

Email: Cat Lettieri clettieri@ucsd.edu 

Changemaker Champions

  • Dr. Alysson M. Satterlund, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
  • Dr. Carlos D. Jensen, Vice Chancellor Academic Affairs
  • Dr. Lisa Ordóñez, Dean - Rady School of Management
  • Dr. Becky Petitt, Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
  • Dr. Albert Pisano, Dean – Jacobs School of Engineering

Changemaker Leaders

Changemaker Steering Committee

The Changemaker Steering Committee provides guidance and oversight for all Changemaker initatiaves at UC San Diego 2021-2022 members include:

  • Dr. Lisa Adams, Associate Chair, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
  • Dr. Ellen Beck, Director, UCSD Student-Run Free Clinic Project
  • Daniel Alfaro - Program Manager, UC San Diego Undocumented Student Services
  • Mandy Bratton, Executive Director, Center for Global Sustainable Development, Changemaker Institute Founding Director
  • Dr.  Stacey Brydges -Lecturer, Chemistry/Biochemistry
  • Dorado, Dulce Director of the International Students & Programs Office
  • Dr. Brian Goldfarb, Associate Professor & Chair, Department of Communication
  • Wendy Hunter Barker, Assistant Dean for Strategy and Operations, Rady School of Management, Changemaker Institute Director
  • Diana Kanchanasuwan, Program Manager, Rady School of Management
  • Patty Mahaffey, Ed.D., Assistant Vice Chancellor, Student Life, Campus Change Leader
  • Emily Marx Trask, Executive Director, Center for Student Involvement
  • Mia Minnes, Associate Teaching Professor & Vice Chair for Undergraduate Education, Department of Computer Science and Engineering
  • David Ruiter, Faculty Director, Teaching + Learning Commons, Changemaker Institute Director
  • Sonia Steinway, UCSD Entrepreneur in Residence, Principal Artemis Connection
  • Sean Travers Ed.D, Campus Diversity Officer & Director, LGBT Resource Center A Unit of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
  • Tim Schwartz - Executive Director, California Institute for Innovation and Development
  • Paul Yu, Provost, Revelle College

Working Committees

The Changemaker Steering Committee is supported by several sub- or working committees. These are
established by the Steering Committee to enable focused effort in specific areas identified as important.

  • Curricular: Develop a Changemaker Curriculum toward a minor, major, and each of the 7 colleges.
  • Co-curricular: Implements Co-Curricular Record to develop traditions and initiatives to infuse changemaking throughout campus.
  • Communications and Marketing: Ensures use of Changemaker messaging by senior campus leaders, and promoting central campus knowledge of events, news, and other opportunities for promoting Changemaker Campus visibility to both campus and external audiences.
    • Wendy Hunter-Barker, Assistant Dean for Strategy and Operations, Rady School of Management, Changemaker Institute Director
    • Andy Hoffman, Community Service Program Manager & Student Organizations Advisor
    • Rachel Hommel, Marketing Strategist
    • Diana Kanchanasuwan, Program Manager, Center for Social Innovation and Impact
    • Amanda Rubalcava, Content Strategist
    • Amy Lipsitz, Director of Social Media Strategy
    • Laurel Nelson, Assistant Director, Teaching + Learning Commons
    • Luiza Tanoue Troncoso Peres, Social Media and Marketing Analyst
  • Changemaker Week Events: Promotes and manages all activities related to Changemaker week events taking place in mid-January. 
    • Destany Charles, Project Coordinator, Student Life
    • Frida Pineda Alvear, Associate Director of Communication & Leadership and Community Service, Center for Student Involvement
    • Grace Fuller, Manager of International Student Experience & Engagement, International Students & Programs Office
    • Laurel Nelson, Assistant Director, Teaching + Learning Commons
    • Mario Garibay, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, Muir College
    • Patty Mahaffey, Ed.D., Assistant Vice Chancellor,  Student Life