Stay Blue & Gold: Inside Careers in the UC

Charron Andrus

Associate Chief of Information Security Office | Berkeley

Charron Andrus received her B.S. in Organizational Leadership from Biola University and her M.A. in Gerontology from the University of Southern California. She has been with the University of California for 10 years, serving at both the Davis Health and Berkeley campuses. Currently she oversees the Information Security Office at Berkeley as their Associate Chief Information Security Officer.

Charron’s focus is on advocating for a diverse, inclusive, and equitable faculty, staff, and student body; and her passion is on engaging in and creating meaningful relationships with community partners.

Charron is the co-founder of the Black Leadership Alliance Council at the University of California (BLAC@UC). She has also served on several campus and systemwide committees including serving as a Delegate to the UC Council of Staff Assemblies for two years and then as an Officer of the Council with her term concluding in June 2021. Charron is also an appointed Commissioner on the Sacramento City Independent Redistricting Commission.

Charron founded Andrus Consulting (www.linkedin.com/company/andrus-consulting) in February 2021 to focus on serving Black women and other diverse groups by providing guidance and advice so they can flourish in their careers.

Charron is mom to a teenage son who is pursuing a Biology degree at California State University Sacramento with a goal of becoming a physician. In her spare time, she enjoys writing and has published a book of poems entitled Words That Occur in the Absence of Love and a Planner, Journal and Goal Tracker entitled the Simplicity & Joy Planner.

Yadira Marquez

Principal Analyst | Academic Personnel Office (APO)

Yadira Marquez is the Principal Administrative Analyst in the Academic Personnel Office (APO). She is a graduate of UC San Diego, where she earned her BA in Sociology with a minor in Art History. She has been with the UC for eight years working on academic personnel matters, and with UCLA since 2016. In her most recent role, Yadira advises the campus on academic personnel policies for academic appointees, including represented academics, non-senate and senate faculty. She also partners with UCOP and other UC campuses on systemwide projects, among a variety of other duties at APO.

Dr. Jonli Tunstall

Senior Lead | Academic Advancement Program

As a dedicated social change agent for underrepresented students in higher education, Dr. Jonli Tunstall has committed her career and volunteerism to creating programs, teaching courses, and student advocacy. In her tenure at UCLA, Dr. Tunstall has served in a number of formal and informal positions that have contributed to the acceptance and graduation of underrepresented undergraduate students across the country. In her current role as a member of the senior leadership team in the Academic Advancement Program (AAP), Jonli oversees several programs and initiatives that works with first-generation, low income, underrepresented students. Currently she directs two programs as part of the AAP team: VIP Scholars, a social justice college access program, and the Freshman and Transfer Summer Program. Additionally, she teaches courses in the African American Studies, Education, and Ethnomusicology Department at UCLA. In addition to these roles, she is the co-founder of the Sister to Sister Institute that addresses the specific needs around the retention and socialization of Black women at Historically White Institutions. She is co-author of Expanding College Access for Urban Youth: What schools and colleges can do, and authored in All Students Must Thrive: Transforming schools to combat toxic stressors and cultivate critical wellness. work in access and retention for Black students has been presented nationally. As a testament to the exceptional leadership that Jonli provides, she was awarded the California Alliance for African American Educators Unsung Hero Award in January 2009 and and the “Ambassador of Education Award” by the National Congress of Black Women, Inc., Los Angeles Chapter, in 2019.

Jonli received her B.A. from UCLA in Psychology and Ph.D. in Education, Urban Schooling concentration, from UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. Dr. Tunstall is committed to providing educational leadership, mentorship, empowerment, and hope to young people of all ages contributing to a legacy of Black excellence.

Cecilia Lacayo

Associate Director | Community Engagement Division of Social Sciences

Celia Lacayo is the Associate Director of Community Engagement for the Division of Social Sciences. She received her PhD in Ethnic Studies from the University of California Berkeley. Her research interests include Race & Ethnicity, Immigration, political behavior, and Media. She finished a postdoctoral fellowship at UCLA with the Institute of American Cultures in the Sociology Department and is now Associate Director of Community Engagement for the College of Letters and Science. She also teaches in the Chicana/o & Central American Studies and African American Studies Department. Her main research examines white attitudes towards Latinos and their policy preferences, as well as the role of media stereotypes to understand contemporary race relations and stratification. Her article “Perpetual Inferiority: Whites’ Racial Ideology toward Latinos,” in the Sociology of Race & Ethnicity journal interrogates how external racial ascription affects the racial group formation process for Latinos. It won the Distinguished Contribution to Research Article award by the American Sociological Association Latino/s Section. Moreover, her article “Latinos Need to Stay in Their Place: Differential Segregation in a Multi-Ethnic Suburb” also has garnered attention. This article which contributed to the literature on Latino segregation was featured in The Guardian, OC Weekly, CityLab Latino, and Immigration Prof Blog. Celia is constantly sought by Spanish and English media to discuss her expertise. Her other work includes comparative racial discourses between US and Europe used to explain Trump and Brexit. Her next research projects include examining the Afro-Latinx Experience and relations between African Americans and Latinos as well as Latinx racial socialization and political behavior.

Carina Salazar

Director of UCLA’s Transfer Student Center

Carina Salazar is the Director of UCLA’s Transfer Student Center. She is a passionate and committed advocate in higher education with 20+ years of experience whose leadership philosophy is based on a social justice framework. She strongly believes in access and equity for all students and is committed to making the transfer experience become part of the fabric of UCLA. Carina received an AA degree from Los Angeles Pierce College and  holds a BA in Sociology from UCLA and a Masters in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from CSUN.  She started her professional career with UCLA’s Undergraduate Admissions as a Transfer Recruiter. Carina transitioned to AAP where she spent 17 years in academic advising. Most recently, Carina was the  Senior Associate Director of the Career Center where she spent 4 years. Carina is excited to be working with Transfer Students and being part of their journey at UCLA. In her spare time, Carina enjoys spending time with her family and friends.