Every March 8th and November 25th, thousands of women gather throughout various cities in Mexico to politically protest rising rates of gender-based violence and femicide. In these marches mothers, activists, and community members demand for justice through organizing, mobilizing, and enacting radical care. The radical care practices utilized in these political spaces support these activists’ communities and fight against systematic violence. Through this project I aim to understand the role radical care and systemic violence have in these marches and their impact on activists in Tijuana, Mexico. I propose to investigate the following questions: How do radical care practices manifest in Tijuana Mexico’s annual 8M & 25N marches? How does the state of Mexico perpetuate tactics of systemic violence toward the women in these marches? How does practicing radical care affect leaders in the Mexican Feminist movement? How does systemic violence affect leaders in the Mexican Feminist movement? In the following months, I will conduct a qualitative study using community engaged methods, such as platicas, to shed light on these women's stories. I will be creating a zine featuring mixed media art that conveys the project’s findings. In understanding activists’ self-valorization via direct action we are able to better comprehend the value of radical care acts for advancing womens’ rights in Mexico. This research can then support in giving care and resources to the women who have been at the forefront of this decades long movement.

Access to green spaces plays a crucial role in developing children with autism's emotional, physical, and social skills through play. However, children with autism often face barriers such as poor urban design, inaccessible design, and overstimulating environments, which hinder their ability to access and benefit from these spaces. This project explores the lack of accessible green spaces for children with autism and the impact of this exclusion on their physical and emotional well-being. By utilizing ethnographic research and sources such as literature reviews, observational analysis of green spaces, and potential interviews with children’s families, this research will highlight how current green spaces are inaccessible and fail to provide necessary accommodations for children with autism. Though this is an ongoing project, preliminary findings suggest that lack of access to green spaces not only hinders children with autism's social skill development, but also negatively affects their emotional and physical health. This project demonstrates that integrating inclusive design principles, particularly universal design, in the development of green spaces will enhance accessibility and inclusivity. Furthermore, it emphasizes the importance of recognizing neurodiversity in the planning and design of green spaces in order to ensure equitable access for all children, regardless of ability, and to support their emotional, physical, and social development.

Dermatological at UCLA is a public health initiative run by undergraduate students with the mission of "building skin health and hygiene literacy skills from the ground up today, so young adults have the foundation required to make informed decisions tomorrow". Through various initiatives such as our educational outreach across underserved schools, our donations of hundreds of hand-packed skincare kits to unhoused communities, and our consistent commitment to DEI, Dermatological members work to provide accessible resources to the Los Angeles community. Most recently, we earned UCLA recognition as a Skin Smart Campus from the National Council of Skin Cancer Prevention, which provided two sunscreen dispensers for students, faculty, and visitors. Such projects address the diverse range of social determinants of health, including education access, economic stability, and healthcare quality. Dermatological aims to increase the impact of our initiative through expansion efforts across various high schools and universities throughout the country, with 14 new branches since being founded in 2021. With our presentation, we aim to explain such social determinants and display the importance and impact of grassroots initiatives to address gaps in health education and care.

Refugees arriving in the United States often face significant barriers to healthcare access, including language and cultural differences, past trauma, geographic isolation, and limited transportation. At the Refugee Children Center (RCC) in the San Fernando Valley, these challenges are particularly pronounced and contribute to delayed preventive care and undiagnosed health conditions. This study examines the healthcare experiences of RCC participants during the onset of Donald Trump's second presidency, a politically charged period expected to heighten systemic barriers. Using a mixed-methods design, the research combines surveys to identify general trends with semi-structured interviews to explore individual experiences in depth. Although data collection is ongoing, prior research suggests that these barriers are likely to reduce healthcare engagement among RCC families. The goal of this study is to identify actionable strategies to improve health outcomes and connect refugee families with the healthcare resources they deserve.

Young Black women navigating white-collar professional and academic spaces in the 21st century continue to face intersecting pressures rooted in systemic racism, sexism, and cultural expectation. Despite increased emphasis on diversity and inclusion in recent times, the unique stressors they endure often remain under examined, resulting in psychological burdens. This study explores how structural barriers and societal expectations shape the self-concept, mental health, and resilience of young Black women in predominantly white institutions (PWIs) and professional environments. By utilizing intersectionality, critical race theory, and W.E.B. DuBois’ concept of double consciousness, this research argues that while resilience serves as a necessary coping mechanism, it also conceals the emotional cost of identity shifting, hypervisibility, and institutional neglect. Using a mixed methods approach, this study combines semi-structured interviews and quantitative surveys with Black women students at UCLA and Black women working in white-collar roles in Los Angeles. Through this lens, the research challenges dominant narratives that frame resilience as inherently empowering, instead repositioning it as a survival strategy in the face of systemic inequity. Ultimately, the study calls for a shift away from individual adaptation toward institutional accountability and reform.