The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee in the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering is a group of community-elected faculty, staff, and student representatives serving as public advocates to represent the diverse needs and interests of our HCDE community. Through a range of initiatives, we help foster greater solidarity, care, and collective accountability within HCDE.

2024 – 2025 Representatives

Daniela Rosner

Faculty Representative & Committee Chair

I’m an associate professor at HCDE, co-chair of the HCDE MS committee and chair of the 2023-24 DEI committee. I’m excited to see the next phase of this committee activities help activate and sustain equity work throughout the department’s curriculum, programming, and engagement and fostering a deep curiosity about what HCDE students and community members outside the committee need. 

Ana Pinto da Silva

Faculty Representative

Ana Pinto da Silva is the Director MHCI+D and is an Associate Teaching Professor in UW’s HCDE program. Ana is committed to centering equity, inclusion and diversity as drivers for 21st Century innovation, advancing the role designers, engineers and researchers play in the development of future-defining innovation. Why DEI + HCDE: The collective challenges and opportunities extending before us as an HCID community require a reassessment of how we create and who we create for and with. Centering DEI+J is essential as we work collectively to reimagine the future, collaborating intensively to bring forward a more equitable, joyous and resilient world.

Sourojit Ghosh (G)

PhD Student Representative

My name is Sourojit Ghosh, but I go by G! I am a 5th year PhD candidate, and my membership on the DEI Committee focuses around designing an Inclusive Teaching Toolkit as a living resource for HCDE students and instructors!

René Capella

PhD Student Representative

As a parenting, nontraditional, first generation student, René relates personally to the complexity and value of higher education. They recognize the importance of access to mentorship, community, and resources. In 2020-2022, René led a Google Student Developer Club of ~400 with these values. This community created over 200 free educational resources including live events, videos, and templates reaching thousands globally. René's conference talks cover leadership around encouraging initiative through failure, anti-perfectionism, and creating psychologically safe communities. René's work with the DEI committee is just starting, and they hope to support and foster the same communities that embrace openness, safety, and resilience.

Bianca Stiles

BS Student Representative

I am dedicated to enhancing DEI in HCDE, with a particular focus on improving outreach to underrepresented, low-income communities. As a migrant, first-generation college student, and parent, I understand the challenges that deter equitable access to higher education. My focus will be to critically assess admissions criteria and expanding outreach to ensure equitable access for all, especially first-generation, non-traditional, and disadvantaged students. Leveraging my experiences as an HCDE Peer-Adviser and transfer student, I aim to ensure our community reflects a diverse range of perspectives, strengthening our academic environment.

Motolani (Mo) Shenbanjo

MS Student Representative

I’m a 2nd-year master’s student and the Affinity Group Lead for the HCDE GSA. As a Black man who has lived on three continents and identified as an immigrant, I have learned to appreciate the value of individual differences and the importance of amplifying marginalized voices in research/design decision-making. These principles are what I intend to infuse in my career as a designer, and also within the DEI committee by examining methods to increase the representation of students from historically underrepresented backgrounds in the HCDE program and utilize HCDE to support marginalized communities in Seattle.

Durva Gaikwad

MS Student Representative

I am a master's student in HCDE with a strong passion for user-centered design, accessibility, and leveraging technology to enhance the human experience. As an international student and a DEI advocate, I am committed to fostering a welcoming and supportive environment within HCDE. I focus on empathetic design practices that prioritize the needs of diverse user groups, designing impactful DEI initiatives, and advocating for students from historically underrepresented backgrounds. My goal is to contribute to a more inclusive and equitable community by researching best practices, planning meaningful workshops, and collaborating with student groups to ensure all voices are heard and valued.

Kathleen Rascon

Staff Representative

My name is Kathleen Rascon, Academic Services Director and PhD Advisor. My role on the DEI Committee focuses on admissions and current student policies, funding resources, and inclusive community engagement in HCDE.

Jane Skau

Staff Representative

I am passionate about creating an accessible and welcoming working and learning environment, especially for those who are neurodiverse and those with invisible disabilities. As the building coordinator, I am in a position to be able to work with Facilities, EH&S, and other UW departments to come up with solutions to issues in the building that impedes accessibility. Accessibility is sometimes left out of the DEI framework (or sometimes tagged on as DEIA), but I believe it falls under the umbrella of Equity. Tackling problems with accessibility in mind from the very beginning creates solutions that are equitable for everyone.

Alex Llapitan

Staff Representative

I'm the Master's and Certificate programs advisor in HCDE. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and a bi-racial, first-generation college student, I bring these perspectives to my work both in and outside of the DEI committee. I'm passionate about LGBTQ+ issues and mental health awareness, and I'm interested in the ways that both prospective and current students navigate their way to, and through the HCDE program, and work to ensure that it is accessible, inclusive, and equitable. In practice, this could be examining our admissions processes for biases, or exploring ways that we can recruit and retain underrepresented students.