Chey is from the Baltimore area. She graduated from Bowie State University with a B.S. in Sociology. She worked as an Administrative Coordinator at Johns Hopkins University for 2 years and was an Executive Assistant for 5 years at a small family office prior to that. Chey has a pet bunny. Her hobbies include traveling, watching TV shows, and cooking. She is part of a women’s walking club.

Dr. Jimmy Ellis is passionate about experiential learning, internships and early career development, and helping students be their best. With nearly two decades of experience in higher education, Jimmy has led strategic planning, program design, and curriculum development at public and private institutions. His strategic direction has expanded experiential learning portfolios to include DC internship programs, undergraduate research, student teaching, and faculty-led experiences in the nation's capital.

At UCDC, Jimmy strongly advocates for a culture of belonging and inclusion, which is crucial for the program’s mission and the community's success. He champions experiential learning as a powerful tool to equip individuals with the skills to address complex challenges and drive positive change. Jimmy is deeply committed to integrating experiential learning principles—learning, reflection, action, and growth—into all aspects of UCDC. He works with talented colleagues to build equitable, sustainable, and joyful pathways from California to DC and bring the city’s vibrancy to students via unsurpassed curricular, internship, and residential experiences that only UCDC can provide.

Before UCDC, Jimmy served as Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education at American University, where he led efforts to create a synergistic network of programs, services, and curricula, ensuring exceptional educational experiences for all students. His efforts in reorganizing academic advising over a multi-year period led to the closure of gaps in Black and Hispanic students' self-assessments of belonging and the elimination of retention gaps by race. Jimmy co-created the American University Experience (AUx) courses, a curricular sequence incorporating anti-racist pedagogy and practices. These courses fostered a community of learners ready to engage in meaningful dialogues about diversity, equity, and inclusion. His portfolio at AU also included academic advising, tutoring and academic support, academic coaching, assessment and evaluation, student-athlete support, and student success, retention, and thriving initiatives.

Jimmy holds a PhD in Public Administration and Policy from American University, a Master’s in Student Affairs in Higher Education from Colorado State University, and a Bachelor’s in Finance and Multinational Business Operations from Florida State University. Growing up, Jimmy moved frequently and has called South Korea, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Hawaii, and Colorado home before moving to Washington, DC in 2011. In his free time, he loves going on adventures with his partner and two kids, watching and playing sports, and spending as much time as possible outdoors.

Kim Y. Jones, a native Washingtonian, is an experienced leader, advocate, and attorney with 20+ years of non-for-profit leadership experience. Kim has devoted her career to: 1) developing, operationalizing, and fundraising for community based programs; 2) providing technical assistance to non-profit organizations in the area of capacity building, compliance, and effective program monitoring; 3) effective policy advocacy in support of stakeholders and community priorities.

Kim holds a Bachelor of Science from Northeastern University and Juris Doctorate from the District of Columbia School of Law (now the David A. Clark School of Law at UDC) and is a member of the DC Bar and the US District Court of the District of Columbia. Kim is the recipient of several honors including the Eugene and Agnes Meyer Foundation Exponent Award for Excellence in Non-Profit Leadership and the Advocate for Justice Award by David A. Clarke School of Law (formerly Antioch School of Law/D.C. School of Law), awarded to an alumni dedicated to serving the public interest.

Kim formerly served in several Executive Director roles where she was responsible for improving organizational efficacies through program improvements, automation and compli-ance. Past positions held were as Executive Director of One Common Unity, The Washington School of Psychiatry, The Advocacy Center of Louisiana, Inc., in New Orleans, LA and Execu-tive Director/Co-Founder of Advocates for Justice and Education, Inc. in Washington, DC. She has been responsible for building and maintaining sustainable organizations over the course of her career. She has contributed to the conceptualization, development and capacity building of several non-profit organizations including School Talk, the DC Alliance of Youth Advocates, Cybertorial, Asian American Lead, Columbia Heights Family Support Collabora-tive, Columbia Heights Youth Club, Friends of the Anacostia Public Library and countless others.

In her spare time, Kim serves on the the Financial Policy Committee of Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Congregation and Board of Directors Cybertorial, Inc.  She served four (4) years as volunteer General Counsel to the Nation’s Capital Child Development Center in Washington D.C. Kim is passionate about the development of leaders in the non-profit sec-tor and has been coordinating Black Female Executive of Washington since 2020, an organi-zation committed to supporting the professional development of Black Female Leadership in the non-profit organizations.

Tanya Golash- Boza was appointed by the University of California, Office of the President as the third executive director of the University of California Washington program on October 3, 2022. She is a Washington, D.C. native and a Professor of Sociology at UC Merced.

Dr. Golash- Boza has chaired the UC Academic Senate Committee on Affirmative Action, Diversity, and Equity, the UC Merced Committee on Diversity and Equity, the American Sociological Association’s Section on Racial and Ethnic Minorities, UC Merced’s Reserve Committee on Academic Promotions, and the UC Merced Department of Public Health.

Dr. Golash-Boza has a deep commitment to undergraduate education and to equity and inclusion. She has taught numerous courses and published several books on race, racism, and immigration. She served as Chair of Undergraduate Studies in Sociology and founded the Racism, Capitalism, and the Law Lab at UC Merced. In 2019, she was the recipient of the UC Merced Senate Award for Excellence in Faculty Mentorship. In 2013, she received the UC Merced Academic Senate Award for Distinguished Scholarly Public Service.

Tanya Golash-Boza is a proud graduate of DC Public Schools. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, College Park in Philosophy and her masters and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.