MEET OUR BOARD

Jennifer Noble, PhD
President

Jennifer Noble received her PhD from California School of Professional Psychology in Los Angeles with an emphasis in Multi-Cultural Community Psychology. Jennifer’s research interests include:  contributing factors to racial prejudice, the mediating effects of cultural exposure, racial identity issues, racism and the psychological effects of oppression.  Her dissertation examined racial identity, cultural exposure and racial prejudice in multiracial and monoracial populations. Jennifer is a full-time professor of Psychology in the Social Sciences Division at Pasadena City College.  She is also a registered clinical psychologist providing psychotherapy for children, adolescents and their families at the Reiss Davis Child Study Center.  Among other duties as MASC President, Jennifer is currently the project leader for MASC’s Teen Mentorship Project.  Jennifer is a native Californian of Sri Lankan and African American descent who joined MASC in 1999.

Contact: jnoblephd@mascsite.org

Farzana Nayani, MA
Vice-President / Census 2010 Liaison

A multicultural educator and intercultural communication trainer originally from Vancouver, Canada, Farzana Nayani has conducted research on the identity development of multiethnic individuals. Farzana is an alumna of the University of British Columbia (B.A., B.Ed), the University of Hawai’i at Manoa (M.A.), and the East-West Center. Of Pakistani-Filipino heritage, Farzana has experience facilitating discussions about multiracial, multiethnic, and multi-religious issues facing families, youth, and the school system. Farzana has designed curriculum for the Smithsonian Filipino American Curriculum centennial project (http://www.filam.si.edu/curriculum/). She formerly worked as an Education and Training Consultant for LEAP, Inc., an organization supporting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders through leadership, empowerment, and policy. Farzana currently works as a Program Manager for SIPA (Search to Involve Pilipino Americans) developing educational programs and conducting workshops on entrepreneurial training and business development for ethnically diverse clients. She has been featured on DiversityInc, about working with multiracial and multiethnic colleagues.

Contact: farzana.nayani@mascsite.org

Thomas Lopez
Treasurer / Parent Liaison

Thomas Lopez is the Parent Liaison and Treasurer for the Multiracial Americans of Southern California (MASC).  He is the leader of the MASC children’s playgroup that seeks to provide a supportive and welcoming environment for multiracial youth and families through social gatherings and educational events.  Thomas has been a member of MASC for over fifteen years and is a past president of the organization.  He has made numerous television, print, and on-line media appearances and speaking engagements as a keynote and panelist.  As a long-time board member he has also organized conferences, a mini-film festival, and diversity training workshops.  Apart from MASC, Thomas is a mechanical engineer having worked in multiple industries the most recent being medical devices.  He was born and raised in Southern California with parents from Mexican American and German-Polish roots.

Contact: parent@mascsite.org

Jonathan Brent
Outreach Coordinator

Jonathan Brent is a first generation hapa of Japanese and European descent. The founder and former President of USC’s Hapa Student Community, he is currently a full time student at the University of Virginia School of Law. He is also an accomplished spoken word artist, having performed at various collegiate and professional venues, including the Village Gate Theatre in Los Angeles and Highways Theatre in Santa Monica.

Contact: jonathan.brent@mascsite.org

Nancy G. Brown
Board Member, Co-Founder, Former President

Nancy is a first generation American, born in New York City and raised in New Jersey, and is of German-Jewish heritage. Nancy is a clinical nurse specialist in mental health, having received her B.S. in nursing from Boston University in 1975, and her M.S. in Psychiatric Nursing/Community Consultation from UCLA in 1980. Nancy currently works as a therapist at the Kaiser Department of Psychiatry in West Los Angeles. From her interracial marriage, Nancy has two adult multiracial daughters of African American and European-American descent. She co-founded and became president of MASC in 1987 and represented MASC as a founding member of the Association of MultiEthnic Americans (AMEA) our national organization, in 1988, and for many years thereafter. She held the position of Western Regional Vice-President since 1994. She was elected President of AMEA in May, 2001, and under her leadership AMEA held their first National Conference on the Multiracial Child in October, 2002. Nancy has been a co-author in two books; The Multiracial Experience by Maria P.P. Root (1996) and New Faces in a Changing America Edited by Loretta Winters and Herman DeBose (2003).

Rudy Guevarra, PhD
Advisory Board Member

Rudy Guevarra received his Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research and teaching interests include comparative and relational Ethnic Studies, specifically histories of Asian Pacific Americans and Chicana/o-Latina/os, race and ethnicity, immigration and transnational migration, labor history, and multiracial/multiethnic identity. As a self-identifying Mexipino (mixed Mexican and Filipino descent), Rudy has written extensively on the subject, which was also the basis of his dissertation and upcoming book manuscript. He is co-editor and contributing author of Crossing Lines: Race and Mixed Race Across the Geohistorical Divide (Alta Mira Press 2005). His work has also appeared in Mavin Magazine and Urban Mozaik Magazine Online. Rudy is currently an Assistant Professor in the Asian Pacific American Studies Program (APAS) at Arizona State University. He is also an Affiliated Faculty member in the Department of Transborder Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies at ASU. In addition to his scholarly work, he is also owner of Multiracial Apparel, a clothing line dedicated to celebrated the mixed race experience (www.multiracialapparel.com).

Contact: rudy.guevarra@mascsite.org

G. Reginald Daniel, PhD
Advisory Board Member

G. Reginald Daniel, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Sociology, at University of California, Santa Barbara and is Affiliated Faculty at the Latin American and Iberian Studies, the Departments of Black Studies, Asian American Studies, History, and Chicana and Chicano Studies.  Since 1989, he has taught “Betwixt and Between,” one of the first and longest-standing university courses to deal specifically with the question of multiracial identity comparing the U.S. with various parts of the world.  He has published numerous articles, and chapters, and has written a number of books about the relationship between social structure and racial formation—especially multiracial identities.  Dr. Daniel is a member of the Advisory Board of AMEA (Association of MultiEthnic Americans), the Advisory Council of the Mixed Heritage Center of MAVIN Foundation, and is a former Advisory Board member of Project RACE (Reclassify All Children Equally), receiving media attention and invitations as a guest speaker at various conferences. Daniel’s own multiracial identity includes African, European, Asian, Arab, and Native American origins.

Contact:

Michelle Ragsdale
Summer 2009 Intern

Michelle Ragsdale is a junior at the University of Southern California.  Studying Psycholinguistics with minors in English and Spanish, Michelle is involved with HapaSC, the mixed-race student group of USC. Michelle was born and raised in Huntington Beach, California, and is of Russian-Jewish, Native American, and African American descent.

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A BRIEF HISTORY