Campus Organizing
Nia studied illustration at the Maryland Institute College of Art and social work at Metropolitan State College of Denver before transferring to Mills College to complete her BA in Ethnic Studies. At Mills, Nia was an active part of the campus community and held several work-study positions including tutoring, taking notes for students with disabilities, recruiting prospective students, and developing curriculum on a number of social justice issues. As part of the Mills community, Nia worked on projects to help create a campus culture both inclusive and supportive of students of color, first-generation college students, immigrant students, older students, students with children, queer students, transgender students, mixed-race students, and students with disabilities.
Nia's job with Student Diversity Programs (now called the Diversity and Social Justice Resource Center) enabled her to hone her event planning, public speaking, and facilitation skills, while giving her the creative freedom to spark dialogues on campus about issues close to her heart. One of her proudest accomplishments at Mills was designing and implementing a six-event, year-long educational film series about queer and transgender people of color. The series was called Reel Vivid, and featured documentaries such as Krudas, The Aggressives, and The Believers. Nia brought together academic departments (Ethnic Studies and Women's Studies), student affinity groups (the Black Women's Collective, Mujeres Unidas, Native American Student Alliance, and Asian Pacific Islander Sisterhood Alliance), nonprofits (the Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project), and for-profit businesses (Frameline) to find innovative films, bring filmmakers to campus, and acquire funding for the series. She received the Helen Carroll Award for LGBT activism in 2010, and received two write-ups in the college paper, the Campanil, for her work on Reel Vivid:
New film series enhances visibility of gay students of color [LINK]
Queer women of color organization screens films on campus [LINK]
Nia also helped revive a student organization called Queer Melanin for queer and transgender students of color, which co-produced Reel Vivid with Student Diversity Programs. Queer Melanin (pictured above) received two "Student Organization of the Year" awards in 2010; one which was open to all student organizations, and another specifically for racial and ethnic affinity groups.
Nia's job with Student Diversity Programs (now called the Diversity and Social Justice Resource Center) enabled her to hone her event planning, public speaking, and facilitation skills, while giving her the creative freedom to spark dialogues on campus about issues close to her heart. One of her proudest accomplishments at Mills was designing and implementing a six-event, year-long educational film series about queer and transgender people of color. The series was called Reel Vivid, and featured documentaries such as Krudas, The Aggressives, and The Believers. Nia brought together academic departments (Ethnic Studies and Women's Studies), student affinity groups (the Black Women's Collective, Mujeres Unidas, Native American Student Alliance, and Asian Pacific Islander Sisterhood Alliance), nonprofits (the Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project), and for-profit businesses (Frameline) to find innovative films, bring filmmakers to campus, and acquire funding for the series. She received the Helen Carroll Award for LGBT activism in 2010, and received two write-ups in the college paper, the Campanil, for her work on Reel Vivid:
New film series enhances visibility of gay students of color [LINK]
Queer women of color organization screens films on campus [LINK]
Nia also helped revive a student organization called Queer Melanin for queer and transgender students of color, which co-produced Reel Vivid with Student Diversity Programs. Queer Melanin (pictured above) received two "Student Organization of the Year" awards in 2010; one which was open to all student organizations, and another specifically for racial and ethnic affinity groups.