Dr. Elavie Ndura (she/her/hers)
Dr. Elavie Ndura serves as Vice Chancellor for Equity and Inclusion and holds faculty rank of full professor with tenure. Her leadership focus is to collaborate with campus and community partners to foster a learning and working environment where all students and employees feel safe and welcomed so that they can bring their authentic best selves to campus and thrive in realizing their academic and professional dreams. She brings more than 30 years of leadership, scholarship, and practice, blending passion and policy to create and implement effective programming and innovative diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs in diverse and complex academic settings. She previously served as Associate Vice President and Campus Diversity Officer at California State Polytechnic University Humboldt (Cal Poly Humboldt). In this capacity, she led the development of a faculty Cluster Hire initiative to increase diversity among faculty and elevate cross-disciplinary collaboration; pioneered the development of an Institutional Anti-Racism Action Plan that garnered cross-campus and University Senate support; expanded mentoring and coaching opportunities for BIPOC faculty; enhanced intercultural competency among students and employees through DEI professional development, thus improving campus climate; strengthened university-campus partnerships; and helped to elevate the university’s national and international visibility. Before Cal Poly Humboldt, she served as Vice President for DEI at Gallaudet University where she engaged 3,000 employees, students, alumni, and Board of Trustees members in diversity and implicit bias training, cross cultural conversations, mindful facilitation training, and culturally responsive curriculum development and teaching. She also designed and delivered innovative DEI training for more than 1,000 employees and students at George Mason University where she served as professor of education and Presidential Fellow for Diversity and Inclusion for 12 years.
A Fulbright Scholar and Senior Specialist for education, peace education, and conflict prevention & transformation, Ndura is the recipient of many awards including the 2010-2011 Woodrow Wilson Fellowship at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the Peace and Justice Studies Association's 2011 Peace Educator of the Year Award.
An Alumna of the American Academic Leadership Institute's Executive Leadership Academy, Ndura holds a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction with emphasis in Bilingual and Multicultural Education from Northern Arizona University; a master's degree of Education in Teaching English for Specific Purposes from the University of Exeter, England; a bachelor's degree in Humanities and Social Sciences with emphasis in English Language and Literature from the University of Burundi, Africa; and a graduate certificate in Conflict Resolution Advanced Skills from George Mason University. She also Holds a certificate Mindful Facilitation.
endura@uw.edu | SNO 150D
Sara Contreras (she/her/hers)
Sara is celebrating over 38 years with University of Washington. In 1992 she transferred from UW Seattle to work in the then-new Education Program at UWT serving as graduate advisor and program administrator. In 2010 she joined the Office for Equity and Inclusion as the first program administrator for the unit. She received her bachelor’s degree from UW Tacoma as a first-generation graduate. Sara and her two children have lived in Federal Way since 1983. She enjoys spending time with her family, especially her grandchildren.
saracc@uw.edu | SNO 150C
Nedralani Logotala (she/her/hers)
Talofa lava! Nedralani Logotala is the Student Retention and Community Development Specialist for the Center for Equity & Inclusion. In this role, Nedralani supports diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts across campus and oversees the RISE Scholars program designated to support first-year, first time in college students of color. She has a passion for supporting students through their identity development as well as providing services for students to close the equity gap.
Nedralani is a UWT alum class of '17. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Healthcare Leadership. She is currently pursuing her Masters of Education in Student Development Administration in Higher Education at Seattle University. She is passionate about serving her Pasifika community and promoting safe and affirming spaces for marginalized student populations. Nedralani is a first-generation college student and is the oldest in her family. When she is not at work, you can find her spending time with her family and husband, involved in her church youth community, or enjoying everything the PNW has to offer.
“O le ala i le pule o le tautua”
The pathway to leadership is through service
-Samoan Proverb
mailon@uw.edu | SNO 150B
Gabe Minthorn (he/him/his)
Shix pa’chway, haʔł sləx̌il (good day). My name is Gabe Minthorn (Yakama, Umatilla, and Nez Perce) I live and work on the ancestral homeland of the Coast Salish People. In particular, our campus is situated on the traditional territory of the Puyallup. I work for the Center of Equity and Inclusion as the Tribal Liaison.
My role as Tribal Liaison is to serve and support students on campus through recruitment and retention programs. I have worked in Pre-Kindergarten as an elementary Special Education Teacher assistant, taught middle school Personal Wellness, 7th grade English/Social Studies, I was a high school Literacy Coach and Social Studies teacher. I have coached middle school football, wrestling, and basketball, high school football and baseball. I also coached football and club baseball at Haskell Indian Nations University. The communities I serve are the Tribal Communities in the South Puget Sound area and those throughout the Pacific Northwest. I meet with tribes to determine how The University of Washington Tacoma can meet the needs of their students, both traditional and non-traditional, and how we can support the community’s goals moving forward.
I graduated from Blue Mountain Community College with an Associates of Arts Oregon Transfer Degree, Haskell Indian Nations University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Indian Studies, and Lewis & Clark College with a Master of Arts in Teaching. My professional journey through education has provided me the opportunity see student growth and development at every stage, leading students into college, careers, or military after high school.
I enjoy spending my free time with my wife Dr. Robin Minthorn and our daughter Roxie. We like to travel to see family and visit new places when we can.
NÁY, huy'. (That's all, until we meet again)
gminth@uw.edu | WCG 102
Tanya Velasquez (M.A) (she/her/hers)
Tanya Velasquez is a second-generation Chinese Mexican American and a first-generation college graduate from the University of Washington Tacoma. She is an Associate Teaching Professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts, and a Faculty Development Associate for the Office of Equity and Inclusion. Central to her work is the study of race and racism in the United States and the development of inclusive, anti-bias pedagogies. In 2017 Tanya was awarded Outstanding Faculty by the student body and in 2020 she received UW Tacoma's award in excellence for distinguished teaching. When she’s not grading papers or mentoring students, Tanya enjoys spending time with her family and gardening.
iamtanya@uw.edu | GWP 233
Dr. Cassie Miura (she/her/hers)
Dr. Cassie Miura is Director of Grants and Special Projects for the Office of Equity and Inclusion and Assistant Teaching Professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences. She teaches courses in academic writing, rhetoric, and the humanities and loves working with UWT students.
Dr. Miura holds a Ph.D in Comparative Literature from the University of Michigan and a B.A. in English from Portland State University. She is a fourth generation Japanese American who was born in Hawaii and raised in the Pacific Northwest. In her free time, Dr. Miura enjoys spending time near the water and packing bento lunches for her two young daughters.
miurac@uw.edu | GWP 228
