Equity Champion Awards 2026

Equity Champion Awards

This Year’s Theme: Still We Rise! 

Spring 2026 

Help us celebrate this year's recipients. Please learn more about them below.

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Student: Juliette Leyva

Juliette Leyva was born and raised in East San Jose and is a fourth-year student at De Anza. They are a proud queer Chicana and advocate for creating communities that stand on Indigenous practices of connecting oneself to the earth, their neighbors, and their spirit. They are studying animation with the intention of working in public access children’s television. Their goal is to connect children to art and culture to nurture empathy for multicultural experiences and be part of a generation who loves learning. Juliette will be transferring to Otis College of Art and Design in Fall 2026.

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Classified: Deepa Yuvaraj

Deepa is a De Anza College Communications alum with over a decade of grant administration experience, currently serving as the Program Coordinator for the MESA and MPS programs, managing funding and supporting hundreds of first-generation STEM students. Her track record includes securing and executing major funding milestones—including the Innovation Award for MPS, the SIP Title III federal grant, and establishing the MESA Grant from the ground up. Her diverse background spans a 2013 League of Innovation Award alongside Prof. Donna Stasio, ten years as an Aircraft materials technology research executive, and cochairing the campus Diwali event team. Driven by an equity lens, cross-functional collaboration, and deep fiscal expertise, she balances complex budgeting with direct student support to break down barriers, and empower MESA and MPS students on their STEM journey.  

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Faculty: Laura Chin

Laura is a Political Science instructor at De Anza College who is deeply committed to equity-minded, student-centered teaching and community engagement. She serves as Director and Project Coordinator of the Faculty Discoveries and MOMENTUM Speaker Series initiatives, Student Voices Liaison for the Social Sciences and Humanities Equity Core Team (Spring 2025 and Spring 2026), Co-Advisor for Active Minds, Faculty Mentor within FA-PAC, and a Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC) developer. Through this work, she helps create inclusive spaces that foster dialogue, belonging, critical thinking, wellness, and civic engagement. Her work centers on supporting students holistically while building meaningful connections across the campus community and the greater Bay Area.

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Teams: De Anza Library Team

The De Anza Library team exemplifies what it means to be an Equity Champion. Every day, they place students at the center of their work by ensuring that all students—regardless of background, circumstance, or level of preparation—have access to the skills, resources, and support they need to succeed. From librarians guiding students to navigate the information era, to circulation staff and lab coordinators helping students access essential technology, to acquisitions and cataloging staff carefully building and organizing collections that reflect and support our diverse student body, this team demonstrates an unwavering commitment to equitable access. Their work on the extensive course reserves collection, lending of technology devices, and leadership in Open Educational Resources help remove financial and technological barriers that too often stand in the way of student success.

What you see when you walk into the library is a welcoming and inclusive space where students feel supported and valued. What you do not always see are the countless hours this team spends behind the scenes advocating for students, collaborating across departments, and making thoughtful, equity-minded decisions that strengthen access and opportunity for all. Through innovation, shared governance, and a deep understanding of student needs, the library team continuously works to bridge equity gaps and foster a culture of belonging. Their dedication, compassion, and leadership embody the very qualities of an Equity Champion.

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Administrator: Nazy Galoyan  

“Nazy Galoyan serves as Dean of Enrollment Services at De Anza College, overseeing Admissions & Records, Outreach, Veterans Services, Basic Needs, Men of Color Program, Evaluations, and multiple student success initiatives. Nazy is deeply committed to equity-centered leadership and has worked to transform Enrollment Services into a proactive, high-touch, student-centered division focused on access, belonging, and holistic student support. Her work has helped expand basic needs infrastructure, strengthen outreach and student support systems, and improve access for disproportionately impacted student communities.”

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Elder: Roseanne Quinn

Roseanne Giannini Quinn was born in San Francisco to a working-class Italian immigrant famiglia and is the first in her family to earn any college degree. She started teaching at De Anza when she was 24 years-old. She has held several college leadership roles, including within the Office of Equity, as the Faculty Coordinator for Women, Safety, and Inclusion, and Interim Faculty Coordinator of the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Center. She currently teaches English, and Women’s Gender, and Sexuality Studies and is an active member of the Women’s Advisory Council and Pride Affinity Association. In addition, she teaches in the REACH Learning Community for our student-athletes. In the fall, she will be joining the faculty of the Bachelor’s Program for Automotive Technology Management working with the second cohort of students.

She is also an active scholar who publishes regularly in areas of intersectional feminist and critical race theory, multi-ethnic literatures, and campus sexual assault awareness and activism. She was awarded the inaugural Feminist Change Agent award by the Women’s Center division of the Women’s Studies Association.

Roseanne is humbled and grateful for all of the ongoing and transformational mentoring and support from her De Anza Equity colleagues. She remains devoted to her diverse range of students as well as to honoring the inclusive social justice principles at the heart of Community Colleges with open-access to higher education and the fostering of multi-generational opportunity.

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We recognize that there are multiple ways of demonstrating commitment to these values. The following are examples of ways recipients exemplified their commitment to equity:

• Promoting a deeper understanding of equity by advancing best practices in their respective office and/or program

• Exhibits leadership qualities in their work through collaboration, courageous conversations, inclusion through an intersectional lens, and fosters accountability.

• Prioritizes student needs and advocates for systemic and institutional change to address them to ensure equitable opportunities.

• Serves as a creative and equity-minded decision maker in the shared governance process

• Fosters practices that help bridge the student equity gaps.

The individual or team being nominated should also embody the spirit and principles reflected in the above criteria.

About the Equity Action Council

The Equity Action Council is a shared governance body that helps facilitate campus wide development and support, engagement, implementation of programs, evaluations, policies and procedures that are in line with De Anza College's vision of equity, social justice, and multicultural education. The Council helps meet the goals and objectives of equity at De Anza and in particular, the Equity Office.

For More information: Adriana Garcia at 408-864-5636 or EquityOffice@fhda.edu