Kicking off our SIG Award highlights, congratulations to Dra. Mary Dueñas, who received an Honorable Mention for the Early Career Award. She’s an Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. ¡Felicidades!

Big congrats to Dra. Katherine Espinoza, our Early Career Award winner for the AERA Latina/o/x SIG!. An assistant professor in Education at Trinity University, Dra. Espinoza's work is rooted in comunidad & corazón. Gracias for your service and impact.

Reminder AEFP student members: The AEFP Student Member Engagement Survey closes TODAY. Student members who complete the survey will have the option to be entered into a drawing to win a complimentary AEFP membership. Check your email for the survey link!

The #AERA2026 submissions deadline has been extended one week to August 1, originally scheduled for July 25. We hope this extension will provide support during a time of funding losses and disruptions to work. aera.net/Events-Meeting…

I am recruiting for my research study. If you know of any Black college students who may be willing to participate have them check out my flyer below!

Continuing to celebrate our SIG’s awardees! Felicidades to Dra. Airlyn Moreno-Luna, a UC President's Fellow at UCLA, for receiving the Outstanding Dissertation Award from the AERA Latina/o/x SIG. Such a well-deserved honor.

Felicidades to Dra. Marialexia Zaragoza, from the 2022–2023 AAHHE GSFP cohort, on earning her PhD in Higher Education from the University of Pittsburgh! We are so proud of her accomplishment and her continued support of the GSFP comunidad.

The Student Debt Crisis is a civil rights issue. Thanks Reverend Al Sharpton for writing the Foreword to my new book.

Continuing our highlights, meet Jessica Stamp, a Ph.D. candidate at Howard University. Drawing on her Cuban and Panamanian roots, Jessica's research explores servingness of Black students at predominantly Black institutions. Read more about Jessica here: bit.ly/3UIsP61

Continuing our highlights, meet Kelly Andrade, a 1st-gen Brazilian American & PhD candidate at Rutgers University. She studies how Latine students navigate financial aid to examine access to higher education. Parabéns, Kelly! Read more about Kelly here: bit.ly/4mEL5JD

Wrapping up our award highlights with the Elementary, Secondary & Post-Secondary Award, congratulations to Dra. Courtney Luedke, Associate Professor of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Illinois Chicago. Felicidades, Dra. Luedke.

Continuing our GSFP highlights with Omar Sánchez, a Mexican American PhD student in Kinesiology at The Ohio State. His research centers on equity in adapted physical education & childhood obesity. Congrats, Omar! Read more about Omar here: bit.ly/3I0XicJ

We continue our GSFP highlights with Tabatha Cruz, a doctoral student at the University of Minnesota, in Higher Ed. Her dissertation will explore student experiences in Puerto Rican higher education institutions. Congratulations, Tabatha. Read more about Tabatha here: bit.ly/469zFba

We continue our GSFP highlights with Jeremy A. Rodríguez Vargas, a PhD student in Chemistry at UPR Río Piedras from Ponce, PR. His research focuses on developing antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer drugs. WEPA! Read more about Jeremy here: bit.ly/42aITS4

Today, we highlight Eleanor “Ellie” Estrada, a jota activist-scholar & first-gen Ph.D. candidate in Communications at the University of Utah. Their work centers Latine/x discourse in chisme, brown trans rhetorics & barrio urbanism. Read more about Ellie here: bit.ly/4nRjINn

I’m honored to be featured as a Rising Graduate Scholar in this issue of Diverse Issues in Higher Education. I am grateful to everyone who made this possible, especially to my community, which pushes me every day to keep doing the work I do.

We’re continuing our GSFP highlights with Armando A. Rijo, a first-gen Latiné scholar and Doctoral Candidate at Jackson State U.. His research explores how Cultural-Greek orgs foster growth and belonging. Congrats, Armando! Read more about Armando here: bit.ly/4n4oHcf

Armando Lizarraga's (Armando Lizarraga) supporters say his research as a doctoral candidate in educational leadership and policy at UT Austin offers valuable insights into the intersection of incarceration, gender, and student debt. #RisingGraduateScholars theeduledger.com/students/artic…

This feature hits different. 🤎 Gracias to The EDU Ledger for shining a spotlight on me, my work, fellow scholars, and the heartfelt efforts we all share to humanize the academy.