Our Team

DEANDRA CADET
Co-founder & Executive Director

“I truly believe that in order to build peace we must start by questioning the narratives we tell and who gets to be seen as human. Through InterAction, we are creating new opportunities that not only challenge oppression in its many forms but also dream up new ways of being and existing where justice, belonging, love and equity are central.”

Deandra is a social entrepreneur and diversity educator. She serves as the Cofounder and Executive Director of InterAction Initiative Inc., working alongside young people of color to develop sustainable strategies for inclusion. As a Haitian-American Midwest transplant from Newark, NJ, she’s still in the process of understanding the complexities of her own identity and story. In 2018, she was named a Dalai Lama Fellow in recognition for her social change leadership. She graduated cum laude from the University of Notre Dame in 2015 in Political Science and Peace Studies. While at Notre Dame she was a Kellogg Institute International Scholar, Franklyn E. Doan Scholar, and Frazier Thompson Scholar. Deandra is a diversity educator, social entrepreneur, and an activist in social justice work within her local South Bend Community.

TAEYIN CHOGLUECK
Co-Founder & Creative Director

“Investing in our young people of color (YPOC) is the best strategy to uprooting racism. They are the movers and shakers of our society who can transform our world to learn from their lived experiences. If we can cultivate YPOC to be the intersectional racial justice leaders they are meant to be, then we will eradicate oppression.”

Taeyin ChoGlueck lives out her three life passions – stories, theatre, and social justice – at InterAction as their co-founder and creative director. Taeyin’s experiences range from immigrant to second generation, from Korean to Korean-American and Minnesotan/Midwestern identities. Taeyin was awarded the inaugural Student Diversity & Inclusion Leadership Award as an intersectional racial justice activist. Having graduated summa cum laude from Notre Dame as a sociology and peace studies student, Taeyin went back to school to think critically about the role of narrative and activism and holds a degree in MFA in creative writing. Taeyin has worked in London, Minneapolis, and Seoul in multicultural organizations. As the Creative Director of InterAction, Taeyin envisions InterAction as the the leader in supporting YPOC. In her spare time, Taeyin is a writer and an art manager for her printmaker mother.

LAURA BOYKINS
Diversity Catalyst Fellow

Laura Boykins graduated from Holy Cross College in 2016 after majoring in the pre-law track and minoring in philosophy and global perspectives. She was an Emzingo Global Impact Fellow at Johannesburg, South Africa, working with an HIV/AIDS NGO. She was a student researcher in New Delhi and Bangalore in India through Global Encounter. She served as an immigration legal volunteer at the Catholic Charities Immigration Legal Services and an advocate volunteer in the Fort Wayne Police Victims Assistance Office. Laura currently works at the City of South Bend in the Human Resources Department as the HR Generalist/Benefits Coordinator. Laura is tirelessly working towards becoming a Human Rights Attorney.

Nandi Mgwaba
Diversity Catalyst Fellow

“InterAction puts in the work to not only amplify marginalized voices, but empower its community to be more inclusive and intersectional in its approach to social justice issues. It has been a blessing to witness a community uplift itself through theater from spaces that oppress, ignore and silence its needs and wants. Theater is unique as a tool because it forces confrontation and disrupts power structures, catalyzing crucial conversations. Theater can also be incredibly healing for those who decide to share their narratives, as well as to the people who connect to these experiences.”

Nandi grew up in Johannesburg, South Africa as an Anti-Apartheid ‘born free’. Nandi is passionate about social justice specifically in relation to mental health and sexual violence activism. Nandi has used their experience in performing arts to work on community theater projects such as ND: Show Some Skin and Loyal Daughters & Sons, productions that focus on encouraging conversation and activism around racial, gender and sexual injustices on college campuses. In their earlier life Nandi was an educator at the Global Scholar’s Program teaching youth, entrepreneurial leadership. As a playwright, Nandi spends much of their time trying to humanize narratives of the deliberately alienated.

Jackie Navarro
Diversity Catalyst Fellow

Leslie Omeeboh
Program Coordinator

InterAction represents an amazing convergence of my interdisciplinary education, my research, my struggles and my vision for the future. It deals with the deconstruction of colonial-inspired narrative that fosters intergenerational inequality, oppression, and marginalization, and allows youth, to reconstruct a greater narrative, cultivated from knowledge, hope, and empowerment. InterAction allows for the narratives of POC to be the anchor by which the reclamation of voice occurs, thereby allowing for the gradual healing of the trans-generational fracture of the psyche engendered by colonial trauma. 

Leslie Omeeboh is a recent graduate from the University of Notre Dame and M.A candidate in International Psychology.

Emily Penaflorida
Diversity Catalyst Fellow

Emily is a young filipina woman who is starting as a freshman at Bethel College. Growing up Emily’s filipina culture has been long forgotten, but now as an adult her mission in life is to help generations of immigrants’ children like her to understand their roots and where they came from. When she found InterAction through the entrepreneur program, Startup Moxie, it sparked her passion for social justice and giving people a voice to tell their stories.

Udochi Esomonu
Writer, Activist & Student

RENEE FLEMING
Assistant Vice President & Trust Officer

“I support InterAction because we, as a community and as individuals, have a fuller, richer and a more dynamic experience that can drive business and generate creative solutions when diverse individuals gather together and have a seat at the table.”

Renée joined the 1st Source team in 1998.
Since that time she has worked in the Retirement Plan Services Division, Personal Trust Division and most recently as the Central Region Hub manager in the Asset Advisor group. She holds FINRA Series 7, 63 and 66 licenses. She also holds Life, Health and Long Term Care insurance licenses. Renée is a strategic wealth planner with 20 years of experience assisting clients through the various stages of wealth accumulation and wealth transfer. She is also skilled at building strong relationships that enable her to better understand each client’s individual needs and respond with strategies or services to satisfy those needs in a distinctively convenient way. Renée also serves as a board member for the YWCA North Central Indiana and as a board member for Youth Services Bureau (YSB). In her free time, Renée enjoys photography, reading, listening to music and watching sports.

LUCAS GARCIA
Marketing Associate, League of Chicago Theaters

“We are made of stories. When someone else uses power or violence to take control of our stories, they can sometimes unmake us, or make us into something we aren’t. InterAction empowers all kinds of people, especially young people of color, to excavate their own voices. They offer tools to activate that voice AND to build a platform to affirm them. I believe in InterAction’s mission because I believe in the power of telling your story from your own perspective.”

Lucas Garcia is a Chicago based writer and dramaturge from Albuquerque, NM. They are also Co-Director of Marketing and Communications for the Alliance of Latinx Theatre Artists, a volunteer member service organization dedicated to the advancement of the Latinx Theatre movement in Chicago. Lucas is also a member of El Semillero, ALTA’s Latinx playwriting circle. Lucas has worked as a dramaturg with Sideshow Theatre Company’s Freshness Initiative (Mechanisms of Fidelity), The Yard (columbinus), TimeLine Theatre Company (In the Next Room), Steppenwolf (La Ruta, Pass Over), The Hypocrites (W;t), and Chicago Dramatists (Lorca in New York, Felons and Familias). Lucas also writes as a theatre critic for Rescripted: an artist-led platform for critique, discussion and writing.

MARIA GIBBS
Co-founder of INVANTI

“I believe that stories drive empathy and the counter-narratives that InterAction amplifies are crucial building systems that allow individuals to realize their full potential.”

Maria is the co-founder of INVANTI, an impact-focused startup generator that activates talented people to discover and pursue new venture opportunities at the intersection of important problems and big markets. Previously, Maria was the Operations and Research Coordinator for the international non-profit organization Bridges to Prosperity, which creates access to healthcare, education and markets by working with isolated communities to build footbridges over impassable rivers. She also served on the Board of Directors for the organization. Maria has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Duke University and a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, where her researched focused on developing a human-centered approach to wind mitigation of long span footbridges. A thread that runs through Maria’s seemingly disjointed educational and professional background is a passion for eliminating barriers that prevent people from achieving their potential.

CHRISTIAN MURPHY
Co-founder & CEO of Catharsis Productions

“Other programs strive to shape a young person’s personal experience into a form of expressive art. The coolest element of this non-profit is the next step in their process– transforming that art into action. As these stories are compassionately crafted and then shared in a theatrical program, we as an audience all get to see what an inclusive world might look like. As their stories are heard, our own perspectives are broadened and we are activated to be our better selves. In the meantime, the creators of these pieces discover a greater appreciation of their own agency and are inspired to build a better future within their own communities and beyond.”

Catharsis Productions aims to change the world by creating and delivering innovative and interactive educational programs that challenge oppressive attitudes and transform behavior. Our programs use strategies like humor, interactive dialogue, and theater to tackle social justice issues, like sexual violence, sexual orientation and gender identity, and race in a non-conventional way.  Two of our presentations, Say What? (for college audiences) and NSFW (for corporate audiences) bid participants to recognize any unexamined privilege they may possess and how microaggressions unchallenged can further marginalize individuals from minority populations.  Our work is not to shame, but rather inspire positive, inclusive communities.

PETER WOO
Associate at Riverside Partners

“I believe that an important step toward healing the divisions in our communities involves genuine, listening-focused conversations. InterAction plays a critical role in this process by serving as a creative platform that sparks conversations based on honesty and empathy.”

Peter is an Associate at Riverside Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm investing in growing technology and healthcare companies. He supports the firm’s healthcare investment evaluation and portfolio management activities. Prior to joining Riverside in 2017, Peter lived in Chicago working as an Analyst at William Blair, an investment bank. Outside of work, Peter serves as a mentor for Partakers, an organization which coordinates teams of volunteers who mentor incarcerated women and men in Massachusetts as they pursue higher education. Peter holds a Bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Notre Dame. His favorite extra-curricular activity at Notre Dame was JIFFI, a student-run financial services provider that offers safer alternatives to predatory loans in South Bend, IN.

Deborah Campbell
C-Level Nonprofit Executive and Strategy Consultant

A resident of Southern Nevada since 1981, Deborah Campbell currently offers organizational development, resource development, marketing and public relations, and facilitation services.
Ms. Campbell is known and respected for her unique ability to inspire and engage stakeholders at all levels to help organizations and business leaders develop and position sustainable organizations, initiatives and partnerships. Her expertise includes strategic planning, small and large group facilitation, organizational cultural competency, team and individual coaching and mentoring, public relations and marketing campaigns, and fund development.

Prior to launching Deborah Campbell and Associates, LLC in 2004, Ms. Campbell provided leadership to two leading nonprofits in Southern Nevada. She has served as Vice President & Executive Director of the St. Rose Dominican Health Foundation which supports Dignity Health hospitals in Southern Nevada; and, as Chief Operating Officer at United Way of Southern Nevada.

Deborah moved to Las Vegas as a young television journalist and made Southern Nevada her permanent home. Her journalism background includes news, public affairs and morning show anchor duties at KHSL TV in Chico, California; and KTNV Channel 13 and Fox 5 television stations in southern Nevada.

Ms. Campbell is proud to call Southern Nevada home where she raised and educated her daughter Rachel Wallace, a dual degree Environmental Engineering and Philosophy 2017 University of Notre Dame graduate.

Dr. Dina Okamoto
Director of the Center for Research on Race and Ethnicity

Dina Okamoto is the Director of the Center for Research on Race and Ethnicity in Society (CRRES) and Professor of Sociology at Indiana University-Bloomington.  She has helped to expand the impact and visibility of CRRES as a multi-disciplinary center focused on social science and humanities scholarship related to race and ethnicity. Specifically, Dina has worked to build interdisciplinary networks and community on campus; provide training, research, and grant opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, as well as postdocs and faculty; and shape relevant campus conversations and initiatives related to race, diversity, and inclusion.

Dina’s research broadly focuses on how immigrants and racial minorities in the U.S. become part of American society.  She examines the dynamics of immigrant incorporation as well as intergroup conflict, cooperation, and collective action.  Her current projects investigate the civic and political incorporation of immigrants, early activist narratives that gave rise to the new categories of “Asian American” and “Hispanic”, and how youth-serving community organizations deal with increasing ethnic, racial, and language diversity.  She is author of Redefining Race: Asian American Panethnicity and Shifting Ethnic Boundaries (Russell Sage Foundation, 2014) and is currently completing a book on how increasing ethnoracial diversity in the U.S. shapes intergroup perceptions and attitudes in the 21st century.   

Dina has received research grants from the Russell Sage Foundation, William T. Grant Foundation, National Science Foundation, and the Carnegie Corporation of New York, and has been a Visiting Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences (CASBS) at Stanford and at the Russell Sage Foundation in New York.  

Arienne Thompson Plourde
Director of Public Relations for Moki Media

Arienne Thompson Plourde is a media professional with nearly 15 years of journalism and PR experience. Before joining boutique public relations firm MoKi Media as Director of PR in 2015, Arienne spent a decade at USA Today covering Hollywood, fashion and the intersection of race & pop culture, reporting from the Oscars, Golden Globes, New York Fashion Week and more red carpet events. Arienne was also a regular on-air contributor for NBC’s Today show and appeared as a pop culture expert on CBS, MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, TV One, Good Morning America, Entertainment Tonight and Access Hollywood, among others.

At MoKi Media, Arienne and her team service a robust roster of national and local fashion, entertainment, fitness and hospitality clients, including Shinola, Ann Taylor, Union Market, Flywheel Sports, barre3 and more.

Arienne is also an adjunct professor in American University’s School of Communication and joins Georgetown University’s adjunct faculty this fall, teaching a course on covering race and pop culture in the school’s journalism program.

Arienne is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, where she studied history and Japanese and holds a Master’s degree in journalism from American University. A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Arienne has lived in the Washington, D.C. metro area since 2005 and currently resides in northern Virginia with her husband Chris.

Dr. Kerry Ann Rockquemore
President and CEO of the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity

“I love the model that InterAction uses on campuses to create opportunities for students to share their stories, amplify their voices, and encourage the entire campus to have a new type of conversation.”.

Kerry Ann Rockquemore, PhD is Founder of the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity. The NCFDD is a professional development, mentoring and training community that serves over 97,000 graduate students, post-docs, and faculty members. Dr. Rockquemore is a former tenured-professor and author of The Black Academic’s Guide to Winning Tenure Without Losing Your Soul. As an expert on mentoring, she frequently travels to provide keynotes and workshops on campuses throughout the U.S.

Dr. Sahar Ullah
Performance Artist, Playwright, Scholar of Literature

Sahar Ishtiaque Ullah is a Lecturer in Literature Humanities at Columbia University, where she earned her Ph.D in Arabic and Comparative Literature. Her academic work and creative writing has been published in academic journals and digital humanities forums. Dr. Ullah is a recipient of the prestigious Presidential Teaching Award, the highest teaching honor at Columbia University. Committed to bridging her scholarship, the arts, and critical pedagogy, Dr. Ullah is also the Creative Director and Head Writer for Hijabi Monologues, a theatrical production that has toured over the last decade across the United States and internationally. Her work has been reviewed by media outlets including the BBC,The Stage, Exeunt Magazine, and The Asian Writer.

A proud South Floridian-Bangladeshi living in New York City, Ullah holds a BA in English, Religious Studies, and Political Science from the University of Miami and an MA in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago.

Pamela Young
Director for Academic Diversity and Inclusion University of Notre Dame

“I support the work of InterAction because I believe in its’ core values of inclusion and equity. As educator, attorney and consultant I know that there are multiple ways to deliver a message, in my opinion none more powerful that the use of theater. Hearing the personal narratives showcased by InterAction allows the community to learn about inequities and grow more inclusive.”

Pamela Young was appointed Notre Dame’s first director for academic diversity and inclusion in 2016. In this role, Young directs efforts within the academy focused on diversity and inclusion, working with partners across all academic levels to ensure the University fosters an environment in which everyone may flourish. Her key responsibilities center on coordination, training and development, recruitment, retention, and communications, and she acts as the point person for colleges and departments as they implement the diversity and inclusion plans developed in response to the Faculty Experience Survey.

Young came to Notre Dame from PNY Consulting in Holyoke, Mass., where she advised colleges, businesses, and individuals on issues related to Title VII, Title IX, ADA, and FERPA. Prior to that, she was director of institutional diversity and equity at Smith College, administering the college’s affirmative action plan, exercising oversight of diversity and equity policies, and conducting discrimination and grievance investigations. Her experience in higher education also includes approximately five years as human resources director at North Shore Community College in Danvers, Mass.

As an attorney, Young has consulted for the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination and, from 1997–2000, served as an assistant district attorney in Hampden County, Mass. She has been an assistant city solicitor and a member of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, as well.

After graduating with a B.A. in government from Dartmouth College, Young received her J.D. from the Notre Dame Law School. In addition, she holds an M.Ed. in educational leadership from Salem State College, and she completed the Institute for Management and Leadership in Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.