Meet the Planning Committee
Clara Buie, M.Ed. (she/her/ella)
Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Darren Gambrell (he/him/his) is the Assistant Director for the Office of Student Service where he oversees the Office of Multicultural Affairs, Commencement, and the FCCI Main Rotunda. Darren has been engaging students at the USF SM campus for over 19 years. Service to USF SM campus began in 2003 when Darren became involved with the Student Government Association, where he served in the positions of SGA’s Secretary, Vice President, and their Business Manager for 6 years. Also, Darren has received many awards, nominations, and recognitions including the Staff Senate Quiet Quality Award in August 2006 and June 2012, the Diversity Honor Role Award in 2010, USFSM Outstanding Staff Award nomination in 2009 and 2012, followed by receiving the USFSM Outstanding Staff Team Award in both 2014 and 2016. Darren graduated from the University of South Florida in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology. Also, he has received certificates in both Hotel Management and Restaurant Management and currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Hospitality Management and Tourism Leadership.
Samantha Cleveland, M.S. (she/her/hers)
Associate Director, Alumni Engagement USF Alumni Association
University of South Florida St. Petersburg Campus
Co-Chair: Kyonna Henry (she/her/hers)
Kyonna Henry is from Woodbridge, Virginia. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Education ’09 and a Master’s degree in Higher Education Administration ‘12 both from Old Dominion University in Virginia.
Kyonna works as the Director of Student Life and Engagement at University of South Florida at St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg, FL. There she provides strategic leadership and direction in the following areas: Student Government Association, Multicultural Affairs, Leadership and Student Organizations, The Crow’s Nest, Harborside Activities Board and leads a team of 6.
In her community she is a proud member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. since November 2006. She also is the Membership & Communications Chair for the ODU Black Alumni Chapter as well as Social Media manager for Ebony Vision, a non profit in Fond du Lac Wisconsin that serves the needs of African Americans. But most of all she loves to prepare her 5 year old daughter for a life well lived as a powerful and strong black girl.
Her favorite quote to live by is from Margaret Mead “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Ana Rosa Arellano (she/her/ella)
Ana is the Diversity Director for the College of Marine Science. She is also an Instructor, and Chemical Oceanographer. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Minor in Spanish from Roanoke College, Salem, VA. Ana graduated from the University of South Florida, College of Marine Science (CMS) with a PhD in Marine Science in 2013.
Her main responsibility is to create transformational changes at CMS by recruiting underrepresented (URM) students, postdocs, staff, and faculty. She catalyzes an inclusive environment within CMS by providing workshops for personal development and implementing new student and postdoc organizations. Outside of CMS, she attends scientific conferences to recruit URM students. In addition to recruitment, she is the instructor for the following courses: Introduction to Oceanography, and The Geologic History of Florida. She facilitated a Research Experience for Undergraduates at CMS in 2019 and currently has addition summer undergraduate projects in development.
Alison Garcia (She/her/ella)
Coordinator for LGBTQ+ Initiatives in the Office of Multicultural Affairs in the Tampa Campus
First Year Graduate Student in the College of Student Affairs Program
Co-Chair: Neudy Carolina Nuñez (she/hers/ella) has been working in Higher Education for the past 14 years. She currently serves as an Assistant Dean of Students at the USF-Tampa campus where she is also the Director for the Office of Multicultural Affairs. Prior to this role, Neudy served as the Program Director for Academic Initiatives and Living Learning Communities (LLC) in Residential Education at the University of South Florida for 6 years. Before arriving at USF, Neudy’s career stops include Boston College, Nova Southeastern University, and Old Dominion University. She holds over 10 years of experience facilitating multicultural education, training, and social justice initiatives. She is a trained national facilitator on the impact of Racial Microaggressions for Minority Populations at predominantly white institutions and corporate spaces and has facilitated workshops on this topic at ACPA, NCORE, NASPA, at the American College Counseling Association, and at the state of Ohio Latino Health Summit.
Neudy Carolina received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and a Minor in Mass Communications from Florida International University (FIU) in Miami, Florida in 2005 where she also obtained Master of Science Degree in Higher Education Administration and a Graduate Certificate in African New World Studies. She is currently a Ph.D. student in Applied Anthropology at the University of South Florida.