LCC Team Members
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She / Her / Hers
Rosa M. Cabrera, Ph.D, is the director of the Rafael Cintrón Ortiz Latino Cultural Center at UIC. Her research and praxis work focuses on understanding environmental and climate change problems as a social issue within larger systems of power and privilege; scrutinizing the role of social and environmental justice in museums and cultural centers; and using methodologies for public engagement that are centered on the arts and humanities to harness first voice stories and community knowledge to create culturally relevant and place-based solutions.
Cabrera is an adjunct faculty in the Department of Anthropology, Graduate College, Latin American and Latino Studies Program, and Museum and Exhibition Studies. She is also a Keller Science Action Center Associate at the Field Museum and a Mellon Faculty Fellow with the Humanities Action Lab.
Cabrera earned her Doctorate in Anthropology and Bachelors of Arts in Design from UIC and has talked extensively on the role of ethnic museums and cultural centers in shaping community identity–which was the topic of her dissertation. Prior to joining UIC, she was at the Field Museum where she led the “Cultural Connections” program, a partnership of more than 25 ethnic museums and cultural centers in Chicago that formed the Chicago Cultural Alliance in 2006 under her leadership. Between 2009-2011, she was part of a research team in a project with nine Chicago neighborhoods to better understand how diverse residents, including Latinxs in Pilsen, could be engaged in the Chicago Climate Action Plan. At UIC she has implemented projects such as the Heritage Garden to help the campus make explicit connections between environmental sustainability, cultural diversity, and social justice. She is currently working on the Humanities Action Lab “Climates of Inequality” project, which includes a traveling exhibit that amplifies local stories of environmental justice. The local story of La Villita, developed by students in her EJ course in partnership with Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO) and Alianza Americas, reveals how environmental and social injustices intersect in this neighborhood.
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He / Him / His
Jorge Mena Robles was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico and immigrated to the United States when he was 8 years old. He learned English while first living in Dallas, Texas before settling in Chicago, Illinois where he has spent most of his years. He is a first-generation college student and attended community college before transferring to UIC. As an undergraduate student, Mena studied Anthropology and Latin American & Latino Studies. During this time, he was involved in the undocumented immigrant youth movement via the formation of the Immigrant Youth Justice League in 2009. This time was formative as it led him to continue supporting and working with youth. After working with high school students and alongside restaurant workers building power through workplace and policy organizing, Mena attended graduate school where his MA research focused on undocumented and queer youth activism and how the process of ‘coming out’ can lead to individual and collective identity formation.
Prior to joining the LCC in 2021, Mena served as Assistant Director at La Casa Cultural Latina at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. During this time, he was able to support students and teach courses on mass incarceration as well as mental health wellness & awareness – a salient but often overlooked component of Latinx student’s academic and personal development. Mena is dedicated to ensuring that students of color successfully enter, navigate, and graduate from higher education. He has a personal commitment to engaging youth, parents, and the larger community so as to make college more accessible to first-generation, immigrant, and low-income families. Outside of work, Mena enjoys biking around the city, being near the lake, meditating, and trying new coffee beans.
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They / Them / Theirs
Jocelyn Munguía Chávez has been part of the LCC team since 2013. As a student educator, they led mural tours with the LCC’s Awakening of the Americas indoor mural. Throughout the years, they were also responsible for overseeing the gallery space requests as well as digital marketing for public programs. Their organizational skills, commitment and love for photography and social & environmental justice were a perfect match for the center. The love for science and helping others led them to pursue a B.A. in Applied Psychology at UIC in 2017. Munguía is now assisting with the development of public programs, expanding the LCC’s ARTivism series, leading bilingual tours and dialogues, and overseeing LCC interns and graphic designer.
During their undergraduate efforts, Jocelyn was one of the co-founders of Fearless Undocumented Alliance (FUA), a student organization created as a support and advocacy group by and for undocumented students on campus. Munguía’s interests on education and mental health complemented FUA’s initiatives and they advocated for educational equity in IL through legislation. After graduating, Jocelyn researched and archived the accomplishments of FUA and their collaboration with the LCC for future generations. Check them out HERE.
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They/Them/Theirs Ella/Elle
Ireri Unzueta Carrasco was born in Mexico DF and has lived and grown up in La Villita since the age of seven. Despite having lived in the US for 12 years, Ireri did not really start to feel at home until 2006, after joining a group of artisans and musicians who organized free art and music classes for the kids in Little Village. The group called itself Arte y Realidad, and the classes took place in a church garage, behind a cafe, and in public parks in Little Village, working with kids as young as two and as old as who ever showed up. It was a space that encouraged people to try to learn new skills, and held the central idea that everyone has something to teach and learn from one another. Ireri continues to hold this view as central to their work with young people, with immigrant communities, and with plants and ecosystems.
Ireri started out at UIC in 2005 through the College of Architecture, Design and the Arts, joining the Industrial Design program. Even though Ireri did not graduate with that degree, the Industrial Design program left them with an appreciation of how different peoples have practiced and still practice the cultivation of a relationship to the ecosystems around us of reciprocity, generosity, and community building, rather than the mainstream relationship of extraction, expendability, and individualism. And it was in the Gender and Women’s Studies Department that Ireri was able to delve deep into discussions of identity, class, gender, citizenship or lack of, migration, through a historical and cultural lense that helped them make sense of the injustices they saw in their daily life. These lenses continue to shape how Ireri analyses and sees the world. Ireri graduated from UIC with a Bachelor of Arts in Gender and Women’s Studies in 2009.
In 2009, tired of the frustrations and obstacles placed by a lack of immigration status, Ireri joined the Immigrant Youth Justice League, a group composed of young undocumented people working to diversify the narratives about being undocumented and creating spaces and resources for undocumented young people to navigate different aspects of life. Now, Ireri still collaborates with groups that uplift the organizing of undocumented immigrant communities, particularly working with Organized Communities Against Deportations (OCAD), and collaborating with Chicago Community and Workers Rights (CCWR). Ireri is also a proud worker owner of the workers’ cooperative Catatumbo Cooperative Farm in Chicago.
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She / Her / Hers
Lauren De Jesus joined the LCC as a Graduate Assistant from Fall 2017 to Spring 2019. She grew up volunteering in her community on the Northwest side and exploring Chicago’s museums. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2016 and completed her Master’s in Museum and Exhibition Studies at UIC in 2019. Throughout these experiences, she developed a passion for cultures, museum work, social justice, and environmental justice. Her goal is to change the way the public views museums by demonstrating that museums can utilize their expertise to encourage visitors to think critically about the issues facing society today.
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He / Him / His
Alonzo Zamarrón started as a Graphic Designer for the UIC Latino Cultural Center from Spring 2014 to Spring 2017, while pursuing a BFA in Graphic Design from UIC, and he continues to contribute his artistic eye to LCC promotional materials and more. Born and raised in Rochelle, IL and transplanted to Chicago, Alonzo became involved with many social justice movements by designing and printing their promotional material. After graduating, Alonzo was hired full-time in a roll that currently supports several UIC diversity units including the Latino Cultural Center, Office of Diversity, and the Women’s Leadership and Resource Center.
Alonzo plays the trumpet, saxophone, and guitar, as a member of Banda San Guillermo, Fuerte Arranke, and UIC’s Mariachi Fuego. His musical performances have taken him to many cities across Illinois and the midwest which has exposed him to the many different ways the Latinx communities come together to celebrate.
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She / Her / Hers
Ashley is a sophomore in the UIC College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She is a first generation student from the Northwest Suburbs. Her major is pre-nursing and her academic goal is to graduate with a nursing degree. She joined the LCC team in order to be more active within the Latinx community.
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She / Her / Hers
Nancy Morales is a South Side Chicago native, born and raised in the Brighton Park neighborhood. She transferred to UIC as an undergraduate student majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Life Science Visualization. She is a strong advocate for healthcare equity in Latinx communities. She has volunteered as a Spanish interpreter at the CommunityHealth Clinic and as a Surgical Services Volunteer at UI Health. In her free time she enjoys making art of all types of mediums such as pencil sketches, watercolor, paint, and more recently she has become interested in digital art. She hopes to combine her knowledge of science, knowledge from the LCC, and her art skills to bring awareness to healthcare disparities. She also hopes to take her knowledge into her process and goal of applying to medical school.
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She / Her / Hers
Isabel Tamas is a fourth-year Honors College student at UIC and a proud Mexican-Romanian. Her passion for addressing mental health issues and advocacy of underrepresented communities have led her to pursue degrees in Anthropology and Psychology. Isabel has experience conducting on-campus research at the Institute of Public Health, where she studied youth mentoring. She is currently an Ambassador of UIC’s Gender and Sexuality Center. Outside UIC, Isabel works as a volunteer with Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, a nonprofit organization that supports children in Latin America and the Caribbean. As an intern, she hopes to spread awareness surrounding the relationship between environmental justice and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
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She / Her/ Hers
A Chicago native, Wilmarie graduated from Roosevelt University with a BA in Sustainability Studies. She is a graduate student in UIC’s Museum and Exhibition Studies program. As a cultural worker, Wilmarie’s interests lie in museum accessibility and representation for BIPOC individuals. She also is interested in the evolution and sustainability of museums as it relates to collections and climate change. As a graduate assistant at the LCC, Wilmarie enjoys being able to amplify the voices in the Latinx community.
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She / Her / Hers
Sheila is an undergraduate student majoring in Political Science and Public Policy at UIC. She is a Mexican-Guatemalan first-generation college student. Growing up on the northwest side of Chicago, she is interested in local nonprofit organizations and volunteering in her community. She is a member of Chicago Scholars, a Mikva Challenge alumni, and currently works in UIC Campus Housing. Sheila is passionate about social and environmental justice as well as policy reform. She looks forward to supporting Latinx voices and gaining expertise at the LCC.
She / Her / Hers
Jocelyn Meraz is a Latina and a first-year student at UIC studying Criminology, Law and Justice. She was raised in Oak Park where she is a member of a community based organization, Revolutionary Oak Park Youth Action League (ROYAL). ROYAL is led by Black and Latinx youth organizers who believe that taking action is a powerful way to regain agency and heal from oppression. Jocelyn has had experience in public speaking, organizing, and civil disobediences. Her passion for activism sparked her interest to be a part of the LCC. She believes that all oppression is connected.
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Heritage Garden project efforts are carried out through the activities of the internship program, which runs in Fall, Spring and Summer and adapts to the season. Interns sustain the planting of the satellite gardens and offer public programs, tours of the gardens, and volunteer days. The UIC Sustainability Fee has funded paid internships since its inception in the summer of 2013.
To see a list of current and past interns and leaders, visit the Heritage Garden website.
To find lists of past student workers, interns, staff, and graduate assistants, check out our archives here.