Staff
Jessie Mancilla, M.A., he/him/el
Director, Unity Multicultural Education Center
Phone: 509-313-5267
Prior to Gonzaga University, Jessie was the Associate Director of Multicultural Affairs for the School of Industrial Labor Relations at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and the Director of Latino Affairs at Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU). Born and raised outside the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, he earned his B.A. from the University of North Texas in Radio, Television and Film. Jessie was a video editor for FUNimation Entertainment after graduating from North Texas. He moved to Minnesota to shift careers and earned his B.S. in Political Science and M.S. Educational Leadership from Winona State University. His interests include hiking, CrossFit, advocating for others, and building relationships.
Verónica Puente, M.A., she/her/ella
Assistant Director, Unity Multicultural Education Center
Social Justice Peer Education
Dialogue Programs
Training & Presentation Requests
Phone: 509-313-4159
Verónica was born in Mexico and raised in a rural town of Washington after the age of 11. As part of a family of migrant farmworkers and the first to go to college, her upbringing has informed the work she has pursued in higher education and in community engagement. It has also fueled her passion for student success, mentorship and social justice - spiritually and socially. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Organizational Communication from Washington State University and a Master's in Higher and Postsecondary Education from Columbia University. In her spare time, you can find Verónica hiking Spokane's trails with her family and friends or going on long walks or runs. She also enjoys supporting her local community in various ways.
Tere Graham, she/her/hers
Program Manager for Social Justice Programming
Diversity Monologues
Speakers
Films
Art & Activism Workshops
Phone: 509-313-6368
Tere is a native of Compton/Los Angeles, CA and earned her bachelor’s degree in Government with a minor in Sociology from Eastern Washington University. She worked in Africana Studies as a Mentor to underrepresented and marginalized students with the UJIMA Program and served as Associate Justice over the student body. Tere has an infectious passion for Social Justice, a heart for her community, and an unparalleled tenacity for equity and truth. She cultivates authentic relationships by exchanging the need to respond with the necessity to hear. Tere appreciates culture and recognizes its value, which has led to her travels to Spain, Portugal, Panama City, and Colombia where she has forged lasting relationships and partnerships with amazing people doing amazing work in the world. Tere honors family, enjoys dancing to good music, and creating new vegan recipes.
Carmen dela Cruz, she/her/hers
Program Manager for Mentoring
Phone: 509-313-4121
Carmen dela Cruz is originally from Arkansas where they know how to fry catfish and make hushpuppies. She moved to Atlanta, GA with her mom and brother at the age of fourteen, where she received her BA in Film Studies from Georgia State University and worked for a few years with the Sales Operations team for Cartoon Network. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from Chatham University in Pittsburgh, PA and is currently enrolled in Gonzaga’s Doctorate Program in Leadership Studies. She expresses her passion for art, social justice, and black feminist thought through her writing and has had selections of both prose and poetry published. Her essay, “Selma: An Exploration of the Womanist Lens and the Servant-Leader,” was selected for the Servant-Leadership, Feminism, and Gender Well-Being book published in September of 2022 by SUNY Press. Recently, her poetry was featured in the Slam! Performance Poetry from the Underrepresented in October of 202
Marjan Dehkordi, she/her/hers
Office Assistant
Phone: 509-313-4037
Born in Iran, Marjan and her family immigrated to the Seattle area when she was just three years old. Her family put down roots in Seattle and Marjan went on to earn her bachelor's degree in English Literature with a minor in Women's Studies from Western Washington University. Later she and her husband moved to Eastern Washington, where she studied Interior Design at Washington State University (Spokane Campus) and he began his career as a veterinarian. Marjan is passionate about helping others and enjoys interacting with students in UMEC. When she is not working, she looks forward to spending time with her husband and two kids. They try and go adventuring as much as possible in their 1991 Westfalia Camper.
Contact Us:
Unity Multicultural Education Center
702 E Desmet,
Hemmingson Center, Suite 215
Spokane, WA 99258
Phone: (509) 313-5836
Email: umec@gonzaga.edu
www.gonzaga.edu/umec