Peers Offering Wellness Education Resources (POWER)

What is the POWER Initiative?
A core mission of both UCI Graduate Division and UCI CARE is to create a campus culture that fosters a safe and healthy community through personal empowerment and allyship.

A core mission of both UCI Graduate Division and UCI CARE is to create a campus culture that fosters a safe and healthy community through personal empowerment and allyship. The POWER Initiative aims to further this mission by creating opportunities for UCI graduate students to engage in creating safe spaces that allow for individual growth and community connection by becoming POWER Ambassadors. 
POWER Ambassadors will be trained by Graduate Division and CARE staff. Competencies include:
  • Understanding the role of equity, safety, and wellness in promoting self and community empowerment.
  • Implementation of workshops and events focused on wellness and harm prevention.
  • Referring students to appropriate campus resources when needed.
  • Acting as a CARE and Graduate Division liaison.
  • Promoting CARE and Graduate Division events.
Program requirements
  • Currently-enrolled student in a graduate- or professional-level academic program at UCI.Able to commit to a full academic year of involvement (from October 2024 to June 2025) including attending all scheduled training and meeting sessions.
    • Sessions for the fall quarter detailed below.
    • Orientation and training: Saturday, October 5th from 9:00am to 5:00pm.
    • Biweekly meetings: Wednesdays from 12:00pm to 1:00pm on weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10. (10/09/2024, 10/23/2024, 11/06/2024, 11/20/2024, 12/04/2024)
    • OPTIONAL: Office hours/drop-in time Wednesdays from 12:00pm to 1:00pm on weeks 3, 5, 7, and 9.
    • Participants can anticipate meetings in the winter and spring quarter to also be held on Wednesdays from 12:00pm-1:00pm, dates pending.
  • Develop, market, and implement a minimum of one workshop or event focused on harm prevention and/or wellness for the winter quarter.
  • Develop, market, and implement a minimum of one workshop or event focused on harm prevention and/or wellness for the spring quarter.
  • Participate/volunteer in major CARE events.
  • Promote CARE and GPSRC programs and events.
  • Promote wellness surveys disseminated by CARE and Graduate Division.
  • As needed, assist in referring students to appropriate campus resources.
  • Act as a Graduate Division and CARE liaison.
*Please note that during the course of your participation in POWER, if we become aware that you are named a respondent in an SVSH (or SDH) case OR have engaged in behavior or actions that do not align with the work and mission of the CARE Office or of the POWER program, you will be required to step down from your position in the POWER program.
 
Compensation
Participants who meet all program requirements will receive a $750 stipend for the academic year. A third of the stipend will be paid out at the end of each academic quarter. Failure to fulfill the program requirements may impact stipend.
 

Training Curriculum and Outcomes

  • Equity, safety, wellness training, and program development
    • Recognizing the role of equity, safety, and wellness in individual and community empowerment
    • CARE services and programs
    • Campus, community, and national resources
    • Bystander intervention
    • Trauma-informed practices and response
    • De-escalation and/or crisis intervention techniques
    • Identity and bias/Cultural Wellness
    • Boundary-setting and buffering vicarious trauma
    • Inclusive program design
    • Workshop engagement and facilitation
  • Develop community workshops and events
    • Understanding accessibility and inclusion in workshop and event design
    • Recognizing the connection between safety and personal and professional development
    • Create, implement, and promote community workshops focused on harm-prevention and wellness advocacy.

Application

Apply today! Complete the application here.

Applications are due by 11:59pm on September 2. 

If you have questions you reach out to the coordinators listed below.

Program Coordinators

Kaeleigh Hayakawa, Graduate Academic Counselor – Graduate Division

Nikitha Vancheeswaran – Graduate Student Intern

Maddy Verdin, Violence Prevention Coordinator – CARE

Karen Friedlander, GPSRC Operations Manager – Graduate Division

Phong Luong, Director, Wellness and Inclusion – Graduate Division

Ambassador Bios

Precious Araujo

I am a third-year Psychological Science Ph.D. student in the Psychological Science Program. I hold a Bachelor of Arts Degree and a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Psychological Science from UCI. My work focuses on identifying positive psychosocial factors that may buffer the effects of prolonged stress (e.g., parent-child separations) and trauma (e.g., domestic violence) on mental health in understudied populations, with an emphasis on perinatal mental health. I aim to foster resilience in disadvantaged communities by understanding what role psychosocial forces play in their physiological processes and psychological health outcomes. I aim to continue to positively impact the graduate student community at UCI through the POWER Initiative by implementing resilience-building workshops and informed action on campus to advocate for and support the mental well-being of our graduate students.

Reid Berry

My name is Reid Berry (they/them) and I’m a first-year PhD student in the Department of Sociology. I’m broadly interested in aging and life course transitions, intergenerational friendship, and transgender health and social/family life. Through POWER, I hope to help other graduate students balance school and personal life, as well as develop effective communication skills to work through conflicts in all domains of life. When I’m not at school, I like to play curling (the ice sport) and board games!

Sofia Altieri Correa

My name is Sofia Altieri Correa, and I am a second-year PhD student in Biomedical Engineering at UC Irvine. My research focuses on using computational fluid dynamics to investigate cardiovascular diseases. I aim to better understand how biomechanics contribute to disease progression, using a combination of computational models and experimental data. As a mentor in several UCI programs, including the Graduate International Connection and Next Gen Pathways, I am passionate about supporting graduate students, by helping them navigate academic and personal challenges. Through my involvement in these programs, I aim to promote wellness, inclusivity, and a sense of community, particularly for those facing cultural adjustment. In my free time, I enjoy hiking, cooking, yoga, and participating in various wellness initiatives on campus. I look forward to continuing my efforts to foster a supportive and thriving academic community in POWER.

Annie Dinh

My name is Anhthu (Annie) Dinh. I am a 4th-year PhD student in the Biomedical Engineering Department. In my free time, I like gaming, reading, and watching movies, and I’ve recently gotten into playing the guitar and knitting/crocheting! 😊 As a POWER ambassador, I am committed to helping others become more aware of and proactive in their mental wellness, and destigmatizing mental health. I would like to develop and implement programs on imposter syndrome, handling stress and anxiety, and mental wellness for women in STEM.

Dashane Fugate

I am DaShané Fugate (she/her). I am a second year PhD student in the Culture and Theory program. My research interests are related to wellness, black feminist thought, embodiment, and spirituality. As a POWER Ambassador I hope to explore questions related to wellness: what does it mean to be well? Who gets to be well? How do social conditions influence one’s ability to be ‘well’? In my free time I enjoy yoga, hiking, and spending time with loved ones.

Daniela Gaebler

My name is Daniela Gaebler. I am a fourth-year PhD student in the Department of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry and my research focuses on improving therapy approaches for the treatment of ovarian cancers. As a POWER ambassador, I aspire to positively impact the academic community of graduate students by providing education about wellness resources, offering peer-to-peer support and by fostering personal empowerment in workshops. In my free time, I like to hike, go horse riding, or just relax at the beach.

Berkay Guler

Berkay Guler is a second-year PhD student in the Networked Systems program at UC Irvine, focusing on machine learning for networks and communications. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Bilkent University, Ankara. As a POWER ambassador, Berkay aims to enhance the well-being of the UCI community. Outside academia, he stays active through judo, soccer, playing the guitar, and enjoys meeting new people, traveling, and cooking.

Maryam Hassani

I am Maryam Hassani, a third-year Ph.D. student in Informatics. My research focuses on the intersection of health and technology, specifically using technology to enhance healthcare experiences for individuals from marginalized and stigmatized communities by integrating both technical and human aspects of technology. Driven by my passion for well-being, I have participated in projects aimed at addressing mental health challenges among college students. As a returning POWER Ambassador, I am committed to creating safe spaces for my peers through events and workshops that initiate open dialogue and provide support.

Leslie Liu

My name is Leslie Liu (she/hers) and I’m a doctoral student in the Department of Chemistry. My research focuses on the compatibilization of immiscible polymer blends to improve the recyclability of mixed plastic waste streams. As a POWER ambassador, I will advocate for harm-prevention and wellness. I aim to facilitate safe spaces for allyship and support in the graduate community.

Sophio Machavariani

My name is Sophio Machavariani, I’m a 2nd year grad student in the Department of Logic and Philosophy of Science. I work on topics in legal epistemology, evidence and proof in law, formal and social epistemology, philosophy of science. By being involved in the POWER initiative, I hope to provide support to graduate students; increase their awareness of wellness and other campus resources and provide guidance and support by organizing workshops on topics like wellness, harm-prevention, mindfulness.

Egor Sofronov

I am Egor Sofronov, first year student in comparative literature Ph.D program, whereto I was brought by a calling to help understand, preserve and transmit arts and letters, in particular as an inheritance reactivated by deconstruction, having left a trace in aesthetic sense, and in a continuing reverence for revelation.

In 2014–2019, I was a co-founding member of Union of Convalescents, a group welding performance art, social work, advocacy, and knowledge production, around the question of mental disorder and critical, alternative psychiatries, where wellness was sought to be nurtured.

I am honored to be chosen in this POWER cohort, assuming a responsibility as a man in spreading awareness and beneficial peer leverage in order to contribute to a campus and a commons where injury, harm, abuse are to recede, if not be overcome, and trauma is acknowledged, so that as a whole an improved disposition is conjured, better conducive to study, thriving, resilience.

Chloe Tran

My name is Chloe Tran (she/her). I am a first year Masters of Public Health student at the Joe C. Wen School of Population and Public Health, concentrating in Global Health. I received my bachelor’s in Psychology with a minor in Human Development from UC Davis in 2024, focusing my undergraduate research on peer relationships and extracurriculars on de-stigmatizing mental health. As a POWER Ambassador, I aspire to create a positive impact at UC Irvine by promoting wellness resources and fostering a safe space for students during their graduate journey. I look forward to organizing workshops and collaborating with fellow POWER Ambassadors throughout the academic year.