Organizational Chart
Faculty Steering Committee
The CEJ's Faculty Steering Committee consists of faculty members who advise and work with its directors. Membership in this committee is open to all full-time and part-time faculty employed by any of the colleges and universities in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. This committee holds monthly meetings during the academic year. Please contact the Center's Director if you are interested in joining.
Members of the Faculty Steering Committee
Community Advisory Board
Members have been selected for their active membership in Ventura County's social justice community. We seek input from a diverse range of community leaders who values are consistent with those of the CEJ. Members of our Organizing Board will give input on how to best shape and grow the Center. Their input helps shape the CEJ's direction with respect to programs, events, website development, and community outreach. Members serve a 12-month term, with the possibility of renewal.
Members of the Community Advisory Board
Gabino Aguirre, Ph.D. – Dr. Aguirre is on the Santa Paula City Council (also former Mayor of Santa Paula) and Principal of Community High School in Moorpark. He represents Santa Paula as a member of the Board of Directors of the Association of Water Agencies of Ventura County and the Ventura Council of Governments.
Joan Blacher, Ph.D. - Dr. Blacher is a Carl Vincent award winning psychotherapist in private practice and author. Her expertise is on dysfunctional families, teenage development, and their impact on mental health. She currently sits on the Mental Health Board in Ventura County and is co-author of Difficult Teens: A Parent's Guide for Coping.
Eileen Boris, Ph.D. – Dr. Boris is Hull Professor and Chair of the Department of Feminist Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is currently working on how home care workers became the new face of the labor movement. Dr. Boris is the author of Caring for America: How Home Health Workers Became the New Face of Labor and The Practice of US Women’s History: Narratives, Dialogues, and Intersections. She is active in the Women’s Economic Justice Project and Critical Issues in Race Seminar.
Sue Broidy - Ms. Broidy is a retired English teacher and current community activist. She is secretary of the Ojai Valley Democratic Club and treasurer of the Journalists Loan Fund. She is also on the grant making board of the Sarah McCune Foundation.
Shoshana Brower, M.A. – Ms. Brower is a Commissioner on the Ventura County Commission for Women and instructor for Project Triumph, which brings Israelis of Jewish, Arab Muslim, and Arab Christian backgrounds together to participate in an 18 month program aimed at creating understanding. She also provides consulting and training services that assist organizations to understand cross-cultural issues and maximize strategic goals.
Renny Christopher, PhD - A professor of English at California State University Channel Islands (and Interim Associate Vice President for Faculty Affairs), Dr. Christopher focuses her research interests and teaching on issues of race, class, and gender in United States literature. She has won multiple awards for her writings, including the New Spirit Press chapbook award and a win in the Slipstream Press chapbook competition.
Carmen Ramirez, Attorney-at-Law – Attorney Ramirez serves on the Board of Governors of the State Bar of California and is an active community leader for environmental justice and sustainavble development in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. She is President of the Board of Teatro de Las Americas and board member of Public Interest Clearinghouse. Ramirez is also a member of the Board of the Ventura County Community Foundation and on the steering committee of the Ventura County Civic Alliance.
Florencia Ramirez, MPP – Founder and CEO of Azul Conservation Products, which works with water utility companies and public agencies to provide tools to conserve natural resources. Azul distributes and promotes products that are designed to be environmentally conscious and socially responsible.
Marcus Vargas, Ph.D. – Dr. Vargas is the founding Executive Director of the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE). He has led successful campaigns for living wage jobs, health coverage, women's economic justice, environmental justice, and fair representation. Dr. Vargas has received numerous awards for his work including the Earth Summit Leadership Award and Alice Greenfield McGrath Social Justice Award. He currently serves on the boards of the Sara McCune Foundation and the Ventura County Workforce Investment Board.
Howard Winant, Ph.D. – Dr. Winant is Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is an American sociologist and race theorist known for developing the theory of racial formation. Dr. Winant’s books include The World is a Ghetto: Race and Democracy Since World War II and Race in the New Millennium. He is currently developing the New Racial Studies Center, which is a multi-disciplinary think tank focusing on the dynamics of race in the 21st century.
Jonathan Ziv, D.D.S. – Dr. Ziv is a restorative and cosmetic dentist in Agoura Hills. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Los Padres Chapter of the Sierra Club and is active in regional environmental and transportation issues.
Student Advisory Committee
The Center for Equality and Justice Student Advisory Committee (SAC) serves as a bridge between the Faculty Steering Committee, Organizing Board, and local students by providing meetings twice a semester with the Center Director during which students can share ideas for new events, programs, and curriculum.
The SAC (1) gives students a voice in shaping the Center's development, and (2) provides a forum in which students who value equality and justice can network with each other and develop a coalition which can support social justice events both on campuses and throughout the communities of Ventura County.
One specific goal is for the members of the Student Advisory Board to collaborate with each other and other like-minded student clubs and organizations to increase student participation in social justice events.
Members of the Student Advisory Committee for 2009-2010
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