Martina Giselle Ramirez

Martina Ramirez is the director of the Center for Teaching Excellence and professor of biology at Loyola Marymount University (LMU), as well as an expert on spiders. She has won multiple awards for her scholarship and mentorship, including the LGBTQ+ Mentor Award from LMU’s LGBT Student Services Office in 2016. She medically transitioned to female on December 22, 2016 and has never been happier.Alicia Partnoy is a poet, human rights activist, professor, and survivor. Her book, The Little School: Tales of Disappearance and Survival, was evidence in the trials against the genocide perpetrators in Argentina. She is the author, editor, or translator of 12 books. Partnoy was on the board of directors of Amnesty International USA and PEN West. She presides over Proyecto VOS-Voices of Survivors, an organization that brings survivors of state-sponsored violence to lecture at U.S. universities.