Multicultural Alumni Partnership
Meet the 2021 MAP Scholars
Founded in 1994, the Multicultural Alumni Partnership (MAP) is dedicated to promoting diversity at the UW and in the UW alumni community, and are leaders in addressing issues of equality and equity through scholarships, mentoring, lectures and University community engagement. MAP is open to everyone; the only qualification is a passion for diversity and social justice.
MAP administers a number of awards and scholarships, and are proud to introduce the 2021 recipients here.
2021 MAP SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
Skyler Corbett-Hecocta
Alfredo Arreguin Scholar
Skyler Corbett-Hecocta (Paiute / Klamath Tribes) is a MLIS Graduate Candidate ’22, Northwest Folklife Slam Champion, and awardee of the University of Washington iSchool’s Dean’s Fellowship for Library Science. The founder of Moved By Words, a platform dedicated to finding and sharing new voices in writing communities, Skyler is currently working on building a network of archivists to distribute indigenous knowledge based on experience working with writers of color. Skyler has recently been published in “2020: Year Of The Asterisk” (University of Hell Press, 2021) for the essay “Like Crow with Red Wings When He Captured the Sun.”
Guillermina Gutierrez Martinez
I am Guillermina Gutierrez Martinez, currently in my fourth year here at the UW, majoring in History. I am the daughter of two immigrant farm workers and I am a product of their hard work and sacrifice for a better life. I came to the UW looking for a degree in Psychology, but a couple of history courses later it became clear what my major was going to be. Telling my parents, who were expecting their daughter to become a psychologist, that I was changing my degree to History was not an easy thing for me.
Growing up, my mom made sure that I was always with her when she was out doing volunteer work in the community. From there stemmed my passion to work for my own community. I started volunteering at a local learning center for students who were also in the position that I was in: children of immigrants who struggled to help their children with their homework. Going to college was my way of showing all those in my town that their children could “make it” one day, too. I am still passionate about helping people and during my time at the university I took on the role of orientation leader. That opened the door to tell new students about the how it does not matter what it is that they decide to major in, rather the experiences that they are able to gather from it. That is something that I look forward to doing with my own education — I hope to take my experiences during my time at the university and in this community out into my future career.
Waleed Khan
Owen G. Lee Scholar
Hello! My name is Waleed Khan (he/him), and I recently graduated from the University of Washington with a double major in Medical Anthropology and Global Health and Education, Communities, and Organizations. I am currently a first-year master’s student in the Leadership in Higher Education program and I am serving as a GSA for the Office of Student Diversity and Inclusion at the College of Education. Growing up in America, I have had the opportunity to live within the western environment, yet maintain my religious and cultural practices of a Muslim Pakistani household. Along with these identities, I also find a plethora of importance in my roles of being a son, brother to three siblings, friend to many, and a growing leader within my school and community.
Being a first-generation college student, child of immigrants, male of color, and coming from a Muslim Pakistani background, the values of servant leadership and advocacy, healthcare, intentionality, loyalty, and diversity have always been at the forefront of my work within both my personal and professional life. Since elementary school, I have had a strong connection to leadership and service. I love to build sustainable relationships, enrich the community, and empower the young generation to lead by authenticity. With this passion, I have had the honor to serve in various leadership roles at the University of Washington. I have served organizations such as First Year Programs, UW Alumni Association, PSA (Pakistani Students Association), (MSA) Muslim Students Association, and ASUW (Associated Students of the University Washington). Along with this journey, my double major allowed me to understand the social determinants of global health and the core principles of working within communities and organizations. I hope to leave spaces better than before, not through my title or position, yet through my vulnerability of improving the life of others.
Jose Maldonado-Morales
Dr. Jimmy Ray Simmons Scholar
I am Jose Maldonado-Morales and I am a first-generation student. I was born in Guadalajara in Jalisco, Mexico but raised in Renton. I am currently a sophomore and I plan to major in the education field. I’m intrigued to major in the education field because schools lack diverse representation. As an undocumented student I have faced many hardships and one of my biggest obstacles was attending college. My parents and I had hope and ambition for me to get a secondary education, but we also feared the financial part of attending college. It was a hard journey that I had to overcome by myself, but I was driven to make my family, friends, and community proud. I have always been into activism and advocacy because I know how it feels to be outcast by society. I hope to make a difference as a teacher. Creating a safe space for students through representation and experiences is something that can impact a student in their educational career. I hope to be an advocate for any undocumented, first generation, queer, and underrepresented students to support them in any of their career paths.
Anush Mughnetsyan
My name is Anush Mughnetsyan. I am from Armenia. I moved to the United States when I was 31 years old. While overcoming obstacles and challenges, I graduated from Bellevue College with an AA degree and transferred to the UW, where I chose to major in Geography and minor in Informatics. I have always wanted to learn new technologies with some artful touch, and that desire brought me to my studies of Geographic Information Systems in the Department of Geography.
Along with being a student, I had an active involvement in the life of the Armenian community of Seattle as a board member and a secretary. I had the honor to present my culture at the annual UW FIUTS Cultural Fest International Expo and Performance Showcase. I was lucky to meet fantastic people in the UW HUB, where I still work. But the most cherished of all is being among the Husky 100 students of the year 2020. Another essential part of my life is my work in a domestic violence organization where I help women strive, move on, get confidence, and believe that they can turn their lives around.
After graduation, I plan to work in the oil and gas industry and implement the skills I have in my career. After a short break, I intend to continue my education in graduate school and continue volunteering. I want to give back to my alma mater by participating in multiple programs organized by the UW Alumni Association, making students like me feel that Huskies always have each other’s back.
Judith Wanyonyi
Drs. Lois Price Spratlen and Thaddeus Spratlen Scholar
I am Judith Wanyonyi (she/her), a second-year BSN graduate student in the School of Nursing. I am a first-year generation college student, an immigrant born and raised in a small village in Kenya, East Africa. Growing up, I dreamt of getting into nursing school, but the financial constraints made my dream impossible. Luckily enough, I migrated to the United States in 2013, which created an opportunity to pursue my dream career. I enrolled at Bellevue College to pursue an Associate in Arts and Science with the primary goal of transferring to UW for a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree, a career that I have always wanted since I was young. Despite challenges and lack of resources, I worked hard and graduated with High Distinction, which enabled me to transfer to the University of Washington School of Nursing. As a single mother with limited financial resources, pursuing my nursing career at the UW has not been easy, but this has not deterred me from achieving my dream of becoming a Registered Nurse. I have remained focused on my studies with the primary goal of successfully finishing my BSN program to become a Registered Nurse.
For more information about diversity issues and programs at the University of Washington, please visit the Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity website.
