09/29/2023
Meet & welcome our new team members!
Ericka Jasmine Garcia (she/they) joins the CDI Team as our new Program Coordinator for Womxn of Color Initiatives, which includes running the LUCES program and expanding our reach of womxn’s initiatives on campus. As a proud Chicagoan, Latinx, Q***r, and First-Generation College Graduate of Loyola University Chicago (BS in Psychology, Minor in Social Work – 2020), Ericka went to work in the Chicago Public School system with both general and special education populations by providing them with mentorship and academic support. Previous to coming back home to LUC, she worked at Howard Brown Health at their Broadway Youth Center, focusing on supporting LGBTQ+ homeless youth by creating a safe space for them to get their basic needs met. Ericka is a September Libra who’s obsessed with Halloween, Fall, music, & dance and has a 1-year-old black cat named Shadow.
Derrick Pooyouma (he/him) joins the CDI Team after 11 years as the Senior Office Specialist at the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management, as the new Office Administrator. Key duties associated with his role include management of the office, budget, and front desk, while serving as the primary contact of communication for CDI. Derrick received his Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from the University of Arizona and, while a student, worked at the Richard F. Caris Mirror Laboratory which builds mirrors for some of the world's biggest telescopes and spacecraft. He is a Founding Father of the Omega Chapter of Delta Lambda Phi the first LGBTQI+ fraternity at the University of Arizona. Derrick is full blooded Hopi Indian and grew up on the reservation in Northern Arizona. His grandfather was a Hopi code talker in World War II. Derrick loves the outdoors and has backpacked through the Grand Canyon for two weeks. He’s an avid music fan who has a massive vinyl collection and loves to attend concerts and music festivals – he’s been to Coachella every year for the past 10 festivals. Derrick moved to Chicago where he lives with his long-term partner and their feline Moosa (“cat” in Hopi!).
Stop by the center and say hello to these amazing people!
