About Us
Jennifer Noble, PhD
President
Jennifer Noble is a native Californian of Sri Lankan and African American descent. She is a clinical psychologist who joined MASC in 1999. She graduated from California School of Professional Psychology in Los Angeles with an emphasis in Multicultural Community Psychology. Jennifer’s research interests include: factors that influence prejudice (such as cultural exposure) and racial identity issues. Her dissertation examined these topics and the multiracial population was central to the study. Jennifer currently provides therapy for children and adolescents the Reiss Davis Child Study Center and is an adjunct professor at Pasadena City College. In addition to her Presidential duties, Jennifer currently oversees MASC’s Teen Mentorship Project.
Contact: jnoblephd@mascsite.org
Farzana Nayani, MA
Vice – President
A multicultural educator and intercultural communication trainer originally from Vancouver, Canada, Farzana Nayani has conducted research on the identity development of multiethnic individuals. Farzana is an alumna of the University of British Columbia (B.A., B.Ed), the University of Hawai’i at Manoa (M.A.), and the East-West Center. Of Pakistani-Filipino heritage, Farzana has experience facilitating discussions about multiracial, multiethnic, and multi-religious issues facing families, youth, and the school system. Farzana has designed curriculum for the Smithsonian Filipino American Curriculum centennial project (http://www.filam.si.edu/curriculum/). She formerly worked as an Education and Training Consultant for LEAP, Inc., an organization supporting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders through leadership, empowerment, and policy. Farzana currently works as a Program Manager for SIPA (Search to Involve Pilipino Americans) developing educational programs and conducting workshops on entrepreneurial training and business development for ethnically diverse clients. She has been featured on DiversityInc, about working with multiracial and multiethnic colleagues.
Contact: farzana.nayani@mascsite.org
Jonathan Brent
Outreach Coordinator
Jonathan Brent is a first generation hapa of Japanese and European descent. The founder and former President of USC’s Hapa Student Community, he is currently a full time student at the University of Virginia School of Law. He is also an accomplished spoken word artist, having performed at various collegiate and professional venues, including the Village Gate Theatre in Los Angeles and Highways Theatre in Santa Monica.
Contact: jonathan.brent@mascsite.org
Roxana Dawidowski
Treasurer
Roxana is the daughter of a Jewish Polish Argentinean man and a Catholic Guatemalan woman of European and Native American roots. She was born in California; yet after living eleven years in Buenos Aires, Argentina she returned to USA with her family. She currently holds a BS in Business Administration from the Marshall School of Business, USC with an emphasis in Global Management and a minor in Psychology. She is fluent in Spanish and enjoys learning Italian and phrases in other languages. Roxana has worked and lived abroad in Sydney, Australia where she developed a further understanding of the cross-cultural management and international aspects of business – an area which is of great interest to her.
Contact: roxanada@mascsite.org
Nancy G. Brown
Board Member, Co-Founder, Former President
Nancy is a first generation American, born in New York City and raised in New Jersey, and is of German-Jewish heritage. Nancy is a clinical nurse specialist in mental health, having received her B.S. in nursing from Boston University in 1975, and her M.S. in Psychiatric Nursing/Community Consultation from UCLA in 1980. Nancy is a partner in an interracial marriage since 1977 and has two multiracial daughters. Her husband is African American, born in Texas. She co-founded and became president of MASC in 1987 and represented MASC as a founding member of the Association of MultiEthnic Americans (AMEA) our national organization, in 1988, and for many years thereafter. She held the position of Western Regional Vice-President since 1994. She was elected President of AMEA in May, 2001, and under her leadership AMEA held their first National Conference on the Multiracial Child in October, 2002. Nancy has been a co-author in two books; The Multiracial Experience by Maria P.P. Root (1996) and New Faces in a Changing America Edited by Loretta Winters and Herman DeBose (2003).
Rudy Guevarra, PhD
Advisory Board Member
Rudy Guevarra received his Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His research and teaching interests include comparative and relational Ethnic Studies, specifically histories of Asian Pacific Americans and Chicana/o-Latina/os, race and ethnicity, immigration and transnational migration, labor history, and multiracial/multiethnic identity. As a self-identifying Mexipino (mixed Mexican and Filipino descent), Rudy has written extensively on the subject, which was also the basis of his dissertation and upcoming book manuscript. He is co-editor and contributing author of Crossing Lines: Race and Mixed Race Across the Geohistorical Divide (Alta Mira Press 2005). His work has also appeared in Mavin Magazine and Urban Mozaik Magazine Online. Rudy is currently an Assistant Professor in the Asian Pacific American Studies Program (APAS) at Arizona State University. He is also an Affiliated Faculty member in the Department of Transborder Chicana/o and Latina/o Studies at ASU. In addition to his scholarly work, he is also owner of Multiracial Apparel, a clothing line dedicated to celebrated the mixed race experience (www.multiracialapparel.com).
Contact: rudy.guevarra@mascsite.org
A BRIEF HISTORY