Joanna Thompson was born in Alexandria, Virginia and raised in Rockville, Maryland - always staying true to her East Coast roots. She is a criminologist, receiving her B.A. in Criminology & Investigations from West Virginia University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Criminology, Law, and Justice from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Before joining us here at SCU, Joanna lived in Chicago for 8 years where she taught criminology courses at UIC for 6 years and worked at Center on Halsted--an LGBTQ community center--for 1 year. Her mixed-race (half-Black/half-Latina) and queer identities make her passionate about intersectionality and social justice. As Director of the Office for Multicultural Learning, Joanna is excited to help educate and transform the SCU community when it comes to multicultural and multiracial issues. Brigit and Don invite Joanna Thompson to indulge in the significance of social justice, spearheading diversity equity and inclusion work, her role at Santa Clara University as the Director of the Office of Multicultural Learning, actively striving to address urgent social issues on campus and nationwide, teaching empathy, the multi-faceted implications of the capitol riots, and having the temerity to live in all of your identities.