Program coordinators

Throughout the three years of the program, students will be provided with opportunities to interact and participate in events are organized by CWGS.  Students will also have the opportunity to attend events and special invitation-only receptions with conference presenters, scholars, and performers on campus and in the Austin area.  Heading this leadership program is Juan Portillo, a CWGS Masters Program student.  This year, Jennifer Sapio and Ashley Boynton, two UT grad students, are supporting him and helping the program grow.

JUAN PORTILLO: 

Juan was born and raised in San Salvador, El Salvador.  After graduating in 2006 from UT Austin, he worked doing marketing for a Fair Trade company for a few years.  He is now pursuing a Master’s in Women’s and Gender Studies. Juan’s current research interest revolve around identity formation, experience as a legitimate knowledge base, and postcolonial feminist views on the media.

JENNIFER SAPIO:

Jennifer is a graduate student in the English Department, pursuing a doctorate in Medieval and Renaissance Studies.  She was born and raised in Austin, earned a bachelor’s degree at Barnard College (the women’s college at Columbia University) in New York City, and currently resides in East Austin with her human, canine, and feline family.  Jennifer is committed to studying marginalized voices in medieval manuscripts, as well as empowering contemporary young women to articulate and realize their visions through professionalization and service.

ASHLEY BOYNTON: 

Ashley is very excited to get to know the women of  Inspire as  an Inspire Program Coordinator!  She is a first year PhD student inCounseling Psychology at the UT College of Education, and has previously worked to coordinate mentoring programs for high school and college students in New York City, as well as taught English classes to elementary-level students in Paris.  She graduated from Colorado College with a BA in Neuroscience and is very passionate about empowering women to excel in the fields of math, science, and technology, as well as connecting women with role models and mentors who can help them reach their goals.

For more information, contact:

Juan Portillo
INSPIRE Coordinator
juanra85@gmail.com

Nancy Ewert
Program Coordinator
Center for Women’s and Gender Studies
newert@austin.utexas.edu