DLDP Community Engagement Projects 2019
Learn about the different ways our DLDP students applied their understanding of differences, improve their ability to address complex issues through projects, and cultivate an inclusive environment in an organization or workplace!
Group Projects
Campus Security
Campus Security is a group of three individuals who focused on the Emergency-Blue Lights Project. Their goal is to learn more about emergency-blue lights and its history. This group created a survey to ask the campus community about their knowledge of the emergency-blue lights and the purpose of those lights. Their goal is to increase campus safety by teaching students how the blue-lights work, encourage the university to implement more lighting around campus, and advocated for a map that shows the location of blue-lights! Don't forget to check out your neighboring emergency-blue lights!
Youth Empowerment
The Youth Empowerment team believes "all seeds have potential to grow" and their goal is to inspire youth to pursue higher education. They focused their project on educating the youth on higher education because they know there is a strong need for mentorship and guidance, especially for minority groups. Their project understands the importance of mentorship, role models, resources/information on higher education at a high school level. Since a big part of leadership is sharing knowledge and helping others grow, minority students need relatable role models. This team applied their diverse leadership by hosting workshops, presentations, and tabling for AB-540 Undocumented Students, bringing in motivational speakers, and mentoring students. Moreover, they applied what they have learned in DLDP seminars, such as allyship, solidarity, race, and equity to their project's structure!
International Students
The International Students group, composed of three motivated campus leaders, focused on personal development and career success as a college student. The goal of their project is to assist students and encourage future career success. The group reached out to Services for International Students Scholars (SISS) and worked with a staff member to advocate for workshops in regards to Academic and Professional Development Workshops for International Undergraduate Students on campus.
Individual Projects
Diversity & Inclusion in Business Club
Evelyn did her individual community engagement project on Diversity & Inclusion in her Business Club. She chose this business club because they value diversity and welcomes people with a variety of social identities and experiences. Her project pionered the implementation of educational workshops on diversity and inclusion since her goal is to include workshops and events that foster diversity and inclusion education and awareness. She presented the 1st diversity-based workshop called Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace, where club members learned the importance of diversity in the workplace, meaning of inclusion, and how to practice inclusion. Evelyn says, "I brought their social identities to the forefront by having them share how their social identities shaped their experiences in the workplace. With this workshop, I highlighted the importance of understanding how our social identities impact our experiences in work and in our personal life." With future workshops and events dedicated to diversity and inclusion, Evelyn hopes to foster a greater understanding of people's social identities and experiences!
Domestic Violence
Kristen's community-based engagement project aimed to fill the need for more accessible information to past or present victims of intimate partner violence on campus. The UC Davis campus provides several resources, yet she believes many of these resources stay unknown to people who tend to slip through the cracks, such as transfer and commuter students. The focus of her project was to intentionally place information of campus resources for intimate partner violence to reach those students. This project allowed to place 100 informational flyers in bathrooms around campus by partnering with PERIOD and place 200 informational handouts in the Transfer Reentry Center. Her ultimate goal for this project is to inform students of campus resources that can help victims heal and prevent further abuse.
Internship & Volunteer Positions
CLL Intern - Peer Educator
Romae's applied experience as a Peer Educator Intern at the UC Davis Center for Leadership Learning allowed her to learn the skills and practices necessary to foster truly inclusive environments. As a Peer Educator Intern, her internship included contributions to facilitating CLL's quarterly Leadership Essentials workshop series and development of peer-to-peer education workshops for the greater undergraduate community. This internship continued to serve beyond individual undergraduate students through the facilitation of workshops for student academic clubs, organizations, and other student services units. It helped build upon the leadership capacity of the peers within the UC Davis community through the expression of leadership theories, research, and passion. The roles and responsibilities involved helped plant the seeds of leadership potential and development among peers in the UC Davis community. Romae believes The Diversity Leadership Development Program (DLDP) prepared her to lead communities through the growth mindset that the program has instilled within her!
CLL Intern - Peer Leader
Renee's applied experience as a Peer Leader Intern at the UC Davis Center for Leadership Learning gave her the ability to overcome the challenging aspect of working with others. She learned collaboration and coordination as well as accountability when she worked with her partner as a Peer Leader Intern for the DLDP certification program. She learned how to balance her internship position and her DLDP cohort responsibilities as she participated with her cohort. She described her experience as a DLDP moderator as a learning process and a good way to learn how to listen and formulate questions for group discussion after engaging in challenging dialogues. She believes when people are really passionate with leadership and social justice, people come together to create something great! She says, "There is a mentality of endurance, strength, learning, and passion that is prevalent amongst our cohort, and that really inspired me through the year through my own struggles." Her definition of leadership now includes endurance and trusts the process of leadership. Renee believes she has gained a lot more awareness and appreciation towards everyone's leadership journey!
CLL Intern - Peer Leader
Imara applied her experience in The Diversity Leadership Development Program (DLDP) as Peer Leader Intern at the UC Davis Center for Leadership Learning. Her internship involved preparing the DLDP program by receiving applications and completing interviews with potential cohort participants. Imara also supported CLL Peer Educators with weekly Leadership Essentials Workshop Series (LEWS) by preparing rooms and materials, to being an active participant when needed. Throughout winter and spring quarters, her and her partner Renee, worked together along with Trish Nichol from Campus Dialogue and Deliberation who lead them through what dialogue is and what it should be like when implemented into DLDP. Moreover, Imara worked closely with Director Christie Navarro of the CLL, lead organizers of DLDP, and other guest speakers on weekly seminars! Imara is grateful for her leadership experience and is inspired to continue growing and supporting students with their own journey!
Literary Docent/Program Coordinator
Madison calls her applied internship experience project as another step outside of her comfort zone. Madison's volunteer work at the elementary school was an effort to create more one-on-one time for students. Class sizes have increased to over 30 students per teacher. Her volunteer work gave students the opportunity to work on their academic skills (Math and English), on an individual basis. The students she tutored showed large improvements in their reading and math skills, and this showed in their homework and tests. Individual mentoring was beneficial to each student in their comfortability in the class setting and their needs were being catered to. She believe the skills she learned during DLDP dialogue trainings were especially helpful in establishing the individual bond with kids. Madison says, "It was very rewarding to feel that I was able to make an impact on a child's life. It was an experience I will always treasure, and the skills I learned in DLDP made it possible." As a political science major, she always felt that effective leaders need to value diversity and educate themselves on concepts relating to it. The DLDP program and its emphasis on diversity in leadership style made her realize that there are different types of leaders and she could be one herself.
UC Davis LGBTQIA Resource Center - Volunteer
Chloe's individual applied experience consisted in volunteering at the UC Davis LGBTQIA Resource Center. Her responsibilities included front desk duties, tours of the center for new students, and the promotion of affiliated organizations. She assisted the staff with various projects, including feedback collection and the creation of informational signs on the different identity flags. Chloe volunteered during pride month events, creating a public safe space for folks in the community and promoting the the theme of the year: "Collective healing for Liberation." She took the opportunity to educate herself on the many aspects of the center's work, and the challenges ahead. This mindset inspired her to participate even more by using her skills to create an updated map of the center, which provides a more detailed and improved information on all the resources available for students. She said being part of this movement for inclusivity and diversity was a rewarding and instructive experience!