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Core Administrative Team

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Meet the CCC&AOP core administrative team.

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Program Facilitator & TAPS PhD Candidate 

Amani Starnes (she/her)

Amani is thrilled to be stepping into the role of graduate co-facilitator in the 2022-2023 CCC & AOP Certificate Program after participating last year as a student.  Amani is a fifth-year PhD candidate in the Theater and Performance Studies department and holds an undergraduate degree from Yale University. At Stanford, her work focuses on contemporary Black feminist performance and adaptation. Before and during graduate school, she has worked as a professional actor, singer, producer, and educator committed to equitable representation in theater, film, and television. When not trapped in her home by research demands, she adores traveling (mostly for the food, but cultural exchange in general is good, too), dancing basically anywhere to anything, the great outdoors, dinner parties, a good show, jumpsuits, Topgolf, her cats Miles and Davis, and cooking anything that goes with cheese (so, everything). 

Program Facilitator & VPUE Research Communities Manager

Jen Marrero Hope (they/them) 

Jen is a semi-retired scientist, an artist, a cat dad, and a seasoned rabble rouser. After earning a PhD from Stanford Chemistry in 2021, they started their current position as the Research Communities Manager in the office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Research. In this role they oversee student outreach, programming, and engagement, with an eye toward increasing access to opportunities and justice in academic research. Jen was a member of the 2020-2021 cohort of the CCC&AOP program.

Program Facilitator & Postdoctoral Scientist in Bioengineering

Eamon Byrne (He/Him)

Eamon is a postdoctoral research fellow working with Professor Karl Deisseroth in the Bioengineering Department. His research focuses on understanding the molecular structures of proteins that are able to activate or silence the activity of neurons in response to light. These protein tools are used to study the activity of neuronal circuits, which underpin all functions of the brain. His previous research used a technique called x-ray crystallography to determine the molecular structure of a membrane protein that is involved in cell-to-cell signalling and is essential for tissue patterning in the developing embryo and is also implicated in cancer. Before leaving Australia to pursue his PhD at the University of Oxford, Eamon was part of the leadership team who set up Teachabout (now "Titjimbat Gija"), a not-for-profit organisation that facilitates educational school holiday programs for kids in remote communities. The populations of these communities consist almost entirely of Indigenous Australians. The Titjimbat Gija program is highly collaborative and consultative and seeks to build capacity by engaging closely with local community members.In his spare time, Eamon enjoys bouldering, baking bread, reading/watching sci-fi and playing the double bass.

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Program Director & Assistant Dean for Student Support

Ankita Rakhe (She/Her)

Ankita is a California transplant hailing from Texas and is the Assistant Dean for Student Support. Ankita manages multiple programs and projects for Student Affairs, including the peer mediation program, the CCC&AOP Program, supports the DACAmented/undocumented students on campus. Both the Disability Community Space and Office of Military Affiliated Communities reports through her. Ankita holds a master's degree in higher education and student affairs from The Ohio State University and a bachelor's degree in child development with honors and a Spanish minor from Vanderbilt University. She is a Strengths certified coach and has a certificate in Restorative Justice Facilitation. In her free time Ankita volunteers for Cake4Kids, baking birthday cakes for children’s whose families cannot provide one, with voting initiatives in the South Asian community, and dabbles in the performing arts. 

Program Coordinator & PhD Candidate in Developmental and Psychological Sciences

Tatiana Zamora (she/her)

Tatiana is a 3rd-year doctoral student in the Developmental and Psychological Sciences program at Stanford's Graduate School of Education (GSE). Her research interests broadly include ethnic-racial identity development, socialization processes, and well-being for youth, especially for multiracial youth. She utilizes a strengths-based approach in her work. She received her BA in psychology from the University of San Diego and is a first-generation college student and McNair scholar.