LDIR

LDIR is a program led by a fierce multi-racial group of women from diverse class backgrounds who use a team and collective decision-making approach to doing the work. Some of us are first and second generation immigrants. Some of us are queer, and some of us are straight. We come from various communities of faith and define our spirituality in varied ways.  We know that our identity and social location informs our work, and that there are many aspects to who we are that our bios do not address. We invite you to get to know us!

Li’i Furumoto

Li’i is of Japanese and Mexican descent and a life long resident of the Los Angeles area.  She attended LAUSD schools and graduated from UCLA, where she was co-founder of the UCLA Student Initiated Access Center and Director of MEChA de UCLA’s Xinachtli Outreach Program. Li’i currently works at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center as the Youth Programs Manager, directing the Leadership Development in Interethnic Relations School Based Program.  She also serves on the Board of Directors of the UMMA Community Clinic in South Los Angeles.

Muneera Shariff Gardezi

Muneera  received her Bachelors in Anthropology from UCLA and is currently finishing up her Masters degree in Cultural Anthropology from CSUN. As a graduate student, her emphasis has been on identity politics  ranging from the role of ethnicity in hospital practices to Islamophobia in the US.  Muneera is a graduate of the LDIRS in Health 2008-2009 6-month program.  Her experience in the program has increased her analysis and awareness and informs her work on a daily basis.

Jennifer Jiries

Before joining the LDIR program, Jennifer Jiries was the Volunteer Manager for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).  She has been involved in non-profit work for over four years with organizations like AIDS Walk Los Angeles and the Venice Family Clinic.  She has also been doing community based work with groups such as Trans/Giving, Tongues to Tongues, and FTM Alliance.  She started out working towards a film degree by working in a non-profit women’s clinic.  After moving to Los Angeles and working in the entertainment industry for a year, she went back to working for non-profits and has been there ever since.  She has spent the past five years organizing a performance and art show for transgender, genderqueer, and intersex performers and artists.  She also facilitates a support group for allies in the trans community.  Jennifer comes to the LDIR Program with a strong commitment to social justice issues and community work.

Carmen Morgan

Carmen is presently the Program Director of LDIR. Under her leadership the LDIR program has received local and national recognition and has expanded to Flint, Michigan; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Northern California.  Carmen co-wrote and edited ExpandingLDIRship: A Resource Promoting Positive Intergroup Relations in Communities Through Awareness, Skills and Actions in 2002, which remains the center piece of LDIR’s community programming and training.  She has presented at national conferences including the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity, National Association for Multicultural Education, Grantmakers in Health, INCITE! and the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation’s Annual Meeting, to name a few.

Carmen is a founding member of the California Chapter of the National Association for Multicultural Education (NAME), a former Human Services Commissioner for the City of Pasadena, and is currently on the fundraising committee for Black Women for Wellness, a community-based organization serving women in South Los Angeles.  Carmen remains a committed community activist who has worked within the non-profit sector, specifically around social justice issues, for over 15 years.  As a founding member and current President of Liberty Hill Foundation’s donor advised funds for women of color, Carmen combines her commitment to community, activism, and philanthropy.

Diana Aquino Price

Diana grew up on the east coast and obtained her undergraduate degree in English from Barnard College. She has lived, worked, volunteered, and studied in New York City, Washington, D.C.; Beijing, China; and Taipei, Taiwan. She moved to California in July 2010 to pursue a master’s degree at UCLA, where she is focusing on mixed race literature and identity within the university’s Asian American Studies department.  Soon after settling into Los Angeles, she joined LDIR’s team, eager to contribute to and learn from community-based work that resonates with both her academic interests and personal commitment to social justice.

Sam Sunshine

Sam Sunshine is a lead facilitator and Community-based Program Coordinator at LDIR. She is a graduate of LDIR’s community-based class of 2003-2004, subsequently trained as a facilitator, and joined as staff in 2008. Prior to her role in the LDIR program, Sam worked in the Public Health sector for over 6 years with The Los Angeles Free Clinic and the Asian Pacific Health Care Venture. She is a trained sexual health, chronic disease management and general nutrition counselor and educator, a State of California Certified HIV Counselor, and a Certified Health Educator. She has a decade of combined experience in health education, community organizing, racial healing and dialogue, and multicultural facilitation, and is trained in conflict management and mediation. Sam has presented at the national White Privilege Conference on Organizing for Racial Justice in the White Community.