From the president
Danielle Aguilar is a first generation college student pursuing a doctorate in Educational Foundations, Policy and Practice at the University of Colorado Boulder. Danielle is a community-engaged scholar and leader who collaborates with youth on Participatory Action Research (PAR) projects. Since 2022, Danielle has co-created a PAR project with four women of color that explores women of color student activists’ motivation to create change. She is also developing projects with youth impacted by the juvenile justice system. All of Danielle’s work is deeply connected to her own experiences growing up in the Latinx working-class community of Ontario, CA, observing the impacts of criminalization, substance abuse, and addiction. Danielle brings a strong commitment to mentorship and co-design of transformative research projects with young women of color. Her projects engage youth in critical and foundational questions related to social justice, student civic engagement and educational equity. The overwhelming consensus is that Danielle Aguilar is incredibly dedicated and organized, and she brings a wealth of experience, theoretical and methodological expertise as well as a grounding in ethical relationships of trust rooted in mutual respect and love to all her endeavors.
Personal Statement
Raised by a single mother, I am grounded in the humility and resistance of chingona fire. Growing up, I witnessed family members grappling with the carceral system and addiction. Navigating the educational pipeline as a queer Chicana and first-generation scholar uplifted with the Pell Grant, I have experienced the weight of inequitable policies and practices embedded throughout these systems prohibiting opportunities to thrive for countless students with parallel stories to mine. Knowing the innate brilliance of people is discarded by the educational system because of stereotypes, surveillance and criminalization, I am compelled to catalyze change. A deep love for people, the will to reimagine societal structures, and an unwavering commitment to collective liberation motivates my leadership. My doctoral research is grounded in a community-based, mixed-methods, participatory framework. I collaborate with undergraduate students of color to lead shifts in university policies and practices aiming to disrupt white supremacist ideologies of scarcity, competition, and wellbeing. I also support youth impacted by the carceral system and local changemakers to uproot carceral logic embedded in our schooling system. I aspire to collaborate with changemakers to reimagine and cultivate life-affirming and joyous educational practices for all youth.