Team

Desiree is a board-certified neuropsychologist and a nationally recognized leader in cross-cultural neuropsychology. She is working to bring critical approaches to neuropsychology training, science, and practice. Her research explores the roles of health disparities and culture in the expression of cognitive dysfunction in central nervous system disease. Her interests are in cultural identities, aging, dementia, HIV, substance use, and historically excluded populations. She is a board-certified neuropsychologist and a nationally recognized leader in cross-cultural neuropsychology. She is working to bring critical approaches to neuropsychology training, science, and practice. Her research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Alzheimer’s Association.  She has served in leadership positions for the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Clinical Neuropsychology, and the National Academy of Neuropsychology. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and the National Academy of Neuropsychology and a sitting member of the National Institute of Aging-Neuroscience study section. She has authored over 60 peer-reviewed publications and 10 book chapters. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on Culture, Neuropsychology, Psychopathology, and Decolonizing Psychology.  As a first-generation scholar, pairing her research interests with a deep dedication to training and advocacy is a privilege that she has proudly, humbly, and enthusiastically devoted time to throughout her career.    

Sara P. Alvarez is Assistant Professor of English at Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY). Her qualitative research focuses on the multilingual and academic writing practices of self-outed U.S. undocumented young adults. Sara is also Interim Co-Principal Investigator with CUNY’s, first of its kind, Initiative on Immigration and Education (CUNY-IIE). Sara’s works have appeared in Literacy in Composition Studies, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, among other journals and edited collections. 

Dr. David P. Rivera is an associate professor and coordinator of the graduate programs in mental health and school counseling at Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY), where he is also the Founding Director of the CUNY LGBTQI Student Leadership Program.  He holds degrees from Teachers College, Columbia University, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Wyoming. His professional experience includes college counseling, higher education administration, and consultations on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Dr. Rivera has worked at a variety of institutions, including the University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown University, Prince George’s Community College, and the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. A counseling psychologist, his research is guided by critical theories and social justice frameworks and explores cultural competency development and issues impacting the marginalization and wellbeing of people of color and oppressed sexual orientation and gender identity groups, with a focus on microaggressions.  He has published books, journal articles, and book chapters in various areas of multicultural psychology, education, and social justice, and his latest co-edited books, Affirming LGBTQ+ Students in Higher Education and Critical Theories for School Psychology and Counseling: A Foundation for Equity and Inclusion in School-Based Practice were released in 2022.  Dr. Rivera holds leadership positions with the American Psychological Association, The Steve Fund, and The Council for Opportunity in Education. Dr. Rivera is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and has received national honors from the American College Counseling Association, and the American College Personnel Association. 

(she/her)
Lizandra’s work at the College focuses on promoting inquiry and insight into students’ experiences and development. As Associate Director of Survey Research & Assessment, she supports program decision-making with data, evaluation studies, needs analysis, and other projects. Outside the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, she also serves as adjunct faculty in the Philosophy department where she has the best time teaching her students formal logic. A first-generation graduate and a QC alum, collaborating with fellow faculty and staff on student-centered initiatives is the highlight of her work. Lizandra’s background is in art, philosophy, and applied social research, and she has been with Queens College for over ten years.  

Erica Doran is a Lecturer in Psychology at Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY), whose research has been published in The Psychological Record and the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior. She has presented papers at annual meetings and conventions of ABAI, The Berkshire Association for Behavior Analysis and Therapy, and The Eastern Psychological Association.  She is also an attorney who assists asylum seekers, pro bono, in completing their applications and preparing for their Credible Fear Interviews.  Additionally, she serves as a protest monitor and volunteer with NYCLU, was an original member of and served a legal counsel to The Women’s Diversity Network, and is a member of both the Hunter College High School Alumni Association Diversity Committee and the Queens College Psychology Department’s DEI Committee.

Grace Pai is an Assistant Professor in the Elementary and Early Childhood Education department at Queens College in the City University of New York (CUNY). Her interdisciplinary scholarship examines educational equity across various fields ranging from mathematics education to international education through a combination of quantitative, qualitative, and historical research methods. Her current research focuses on culturally responsive and sustaining education, mathematics affinity, and fostering digital equity in computational thinking. Her research on out-of-school children in sub-Saharan Africa has been supported by the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and featured on NPR’s Academic Minute. Her public scholarship also includes writing op-eds on fighting anti-blackness and discrimination against the Asian community that have appeared in the Daily News and Inside Higher Ed, and she is an appointed member on CUNY’s University Advisory Council on Diversity (UACD). 

Anisha Clarke is a Lecturer (Doctoral Schedule) in the Department of Mathematics at Queens College, where she has been a faculty member since 2007. In addition, she teaches and mentors students in the Percy E. SEEK Program. Anisha completed her doctorate in mathematics education at Teachers College, Columbia University. She has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a master’s in mathematics education from Queens College. Her research interests lie in faculty development and, by extension, student success.   

After decades of working in higher education, Norka Blackman-Richards is known to be a curator of anti-racist equity-needing spaces and movements. This work is aligned in her over twenty years of supporting student success in higher education at Queens College and in the City University of New York. Her role as a recognized advocate, curator, and leader, is further manifested in the achievement of the following: (2023) Presidential Staff Award for Diversity and Inclusion, (2019) Presidential Award for Excellence in Service, and (2014) The Jewel of Queens College Award. Educated under the British, Dutch, and Latin American educational systems, Norka has a deep respect for diversity of cultures, customs and people. A leader of a not-for-profit international grassroots organization for women, she is also a direct descendant of the builders of the Panama Canal, and the daughter of missionaries. Norka acknowledges that the intersections of her lived experiences and identities are ever-present in her many roles inside and outside of higher education. A published writer and presenter in topics on microaggression, JDEI (Justice, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion), Women of Color, and first generation student success in higher education, Norka is completing a degree in Higher Administration (Ed.D). She has completed degrees in Nonfiction Writing (M.F.A), English Language Teaching Education (M.Ed), and Business Administration with a minor in Personnel Administration (B. Sc). Norka is the director of the Percy E Sutton SEEK Program at Queens College, one of the oldest opportunity programs in the United States; she also lectures in English Composition.

Christopher Rafinski is a mental health counselor and career coach with over twenty-five years’ experience cultivating young people in their exploration and creation of success on their distinct journeys. His aim is to spark curiosity, vision, self-efficacy, community and wellness through individual coaching and interactive presentations. His primary goal is to help guide individuals to a sense of their inherent value and purpose independent of accomplishment. His home-base has been CUNY for nearly ten years where he has principally focused on appreciative, prescriptive and developmental advising, while utilizing tenets found in both Design Thinking and Growth Mindset. Throughout his time at CUNY, he has worked individually with nearly 800 young people and moderated events for over 1300 students to explore their academic, personal and professional goals. Prior to his time at CUNY, he worked in international humanitarian aid which brought him to over 25 countries and produced corporate and non-profit events both domestically and internationally for audiences ranging from 15 to 15,000 people. 

Duncan Faherty is Associate Professor of English & American Studies at Queens College and The Graduate Center, CUNY.  He is also a core faculty member of the Committee on Globalization and Social Change. Until recently he served at the Graduate Center as the founding director of the Early Research Initiative. He is the co-editor of the journal Studies in American Fiction and, along with Ed White, the co-director of the Just Teach One digital humanities project housed at the American Antiquarian Society. He is the author of Remodeling the Nation: The Architecture of American Identity, 1776-1858, and his work has also appeared in American Literature, American Quarterly, Early American Literature, and Reviews in American History. His most recent book The Haitian Revolution & the Early Republic of Letters: Incipient Fevers is forthcoming from Oxford University Press in the fall of 2023.