Meet Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Board

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Meet Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Board

Date Revised: February 13, 2024

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Advisory Board guides SPARK’s efforts to increase representation of communities of color in autism research. It is a diverse group of scientists, clinicians, and community leaders who provide guidance on strategies to build partnerships, increase awareness, and promote participation in research among underrepresented racial and ethnic communities. SPARK uses their input and experience to inform efforts for outreach and engagement of all groups traditionally underrepresented in research.

Learn more about SPARK’s  commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.


Jairo AranaJairo Arana began his journey as a self-advocate when, after being diagnosed later in life with ASD, he participated in University of Miami and Southeastern and Nova Southeastern University Center for Autism and Related Disorder (UM-NSU CARD) Jobseekers Program. He was recommended to participate in the University of Miami Mailman Center for Child Development’s Project Self-Advocate Leadership Training Program (SALT). After graduating from the SALT Program, he became a trainer for Project SALT and a consultant for the University of Miami Mailman Center for Child Development. He was also the UM Mailman Center for Child Development’s first Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) Self-advocate trainee. He graduated from UM Mailman Center’s ETLP (Emerging Transformational Leadership Program, under LEND) and participated in the Florida Developmental Disabilities Network Collaborative Leadership Program. He won the UM-NSU CARD Outstanding Self-Advocate Award for 2019. He has been a guest panelist at 26th Annual CARD Conference, Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) 2020 Conference’s Emerging Leaders Panel, CARD’s Success Across the Spectrum: A Panel Discussion with Autistic Adults, and A Ride Away Webinar: Employ to Empower for Ann Storck Center. He holds Bachelor’s Degrees of Arts and Science in Communication in Motion Pictures and English, Creative Writing, from University of Miami and works full-time at the UM Mailman Center as a Clinical Program Coordinator and assisting with UM Mailman Center’s leadership pipeline program.


Julie AzumaJulie Azuma. When Azuma’s daughter, Miranda, was diagnosed with autism at six, Azuma left a career in the apparel industry to begin an online niche business, Different Roads to Learning.  At the time, there were few online resources and fewer resources to support the education of children on the autism spectrum.  In creating Different Roads to Learning, Azuma sourced and created products related to evidence-based interventions that would help ASD children learn language and help professionals shape their behaviors. The company has published over 20 titles relating to autism and created several apps and proprietary products.  Different Roads has been a global resource to parents, teachers, and therapists for 28 years.

She is the Senior Vice President of the Japanese-American Association, serves on the Board of Governors at the Japanese-American National Museum, and is a board member of the Association of Science in Autism Treatment. She is one of the leaders of a Japanese-American Oral History Project funded by a grant through the US Parks Department. She is the regional membership chair of the US-Japan Council.

Azuma served as chairperson on the board of Asian Women in Business for 15 years.  She was chair of the Foundation Board of Eden II, an agency that educates and serves individuals diagnosed with autism.  She is a past board member of the Coalition of Asian Children and Families and several other Asian American organizations.


Brian BoydBrian Boyd, Ph.D., is the William C. Friday Distinguished Professor in Education and interim director of the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He was previously the Director of the Juniper Gardens Children’s Project at the University of Kansas. Boyd is quite engaged in research that involves the most vulnerable and often marginalized populations. As a special educator by training, much of his research has involved the development and evaluation of evidence-based practices that could be implemented within school and home contexts. His more recent work has focused on how issues of implicit bias and race affect the outcomes of children with and without disabilities. Boyd’s research has been continuously funded by federal agencies such as the Institute of Education Sciences and the National Institutes of Health. He is past Vice President of the International Society for Autism Research. He also serves on multiple national boards that are dedicated to improving the outcomes of autistic persons and those from historically underserved communities.


Marc EastonMarc Easton was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. After his undergraduate work at Northwestern University, he moved to New York City, where his passion for data science led to careers at such prestigious firms as UBS, Marsh and McLennan, Constellation, and the City of New York. His analytical and technical acumen was leveraged across multiple sectors and industries, including management consulting, investment banking, risk management, commodities, and, currently, pension management. He now lives in Baltimore with his wife and four-year-old son, who is a person living with autism. He is a strong believer in the transformative power of advocacy and collectivism as an instrument of socio-economic change.


Grace HuertaGrace Miranda Huerta is the mother of two adult children and a son-in-law with developmental disabilities. She is a graduate of the University of Southern California and co-founder of the Exceptional Family Center in Bakersfield, California. Huerta is also vice president of The Arc of California Board of Directors and chairperson of El Arc de California.

“The diagnosis of my children began my desire for knowledge. The success of my children depended on my learning how to navigate the array of services that they needed. Thanks to the experience I gained as a Kern Regional Board member and other school district parent advisory board opportunities, I began the journey of learning from others. I was fortunate to be introduced to The Arc of California Partners and Policy Making advocacy program. The Arc trainers increased our advocacy skills and showed us how to harness the passion we individually possess towards a unified collective action. Sharing and equipping others on how to champion for their children is a true privilege.”


Sandy MagañaSandy Magaña, Ph.D., M.S.W., holds the Professorship in Autism and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities in the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin and is the Director of the Texas Center for Disability Studies and the ACT LEND program. She received a Master of Social Work from California State University, San Bernardino, and her Ph.D. from the Heller Graduate School of Social Policy at Brandeis University. Dr. Magaña completed post-doctoral training from the NICHD-funded Post-Doctoral Program in Developmental Disabilities Research at the Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison. She was a faculty member in the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Social Work for 12 years and later served as a Professor at the Department of Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her current research includes investigating racial and ethnic disparities among children with autism and developmental disabilities and developing culturally relevant interventions to address these disparities. She has received funding for her research from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research.


Morenike OnaiwuMorénike Giwa Onaiwu, Ph.D., is a global activist-scholar, author, and community leader who is passionate about human rights, justice, and inclusion. A proactive, resourceful professional and disabled person of color in a multicultural, neurodiverse, serodifferent family, Onaiwu, who is American-born to immigrant parents, possesses undergraduate and graduate degrees in International Relations, Education, and Interdisciplinary Humanities. Onaiwu is involved in various social justice advocacy endeavors including neurodiversity, public pedagogy, multimodal learning, anti-HIV stigma, participatory research, technology, disability justice, and racial and gender equity.

Onaiwu’s executive experience includes board membership of a number of national research, disability, advocacy, and family service organizations, chairperson of both a large Health Resources and Services Administration-funded local planning body and an international National Institutes of Health-funded community research network, and leadership roles within various entities in addition to a current appointment with the federal US Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, two consecutive terms as a Humanities Scholar at Rice University, and several years as Founder/Principal Operator of a grassroots nonprofit, Advocacy Without Borders. Onaiwu is a lifelong learner who is constantly growing and changing (hopefully for the better!) and whose greatest accomplishment is raising six wonderful children (biological and adopted and all of whom have various disabilities).


Silvia Pereira-SmithSilvia Pereira-Smith, M.D., FAAP, is a board-certified Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrician and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Medical University of South Carolina. She provides subspecialty evaluation and ongoing care for children with autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, and other learning and behavioral conditions. Because she is trilingual with fluency in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, she focuses on those for whom English is not their first language. In addition to participating in various types of research projects related to neurodevelopmental disorders, Pereira-Smith has also been involved in national-level work to disseminate training about racism and its impact on child health. She is currently the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director for South Carolina Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities and serves on the inaugural Executive Committee for the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Council on Healthy Mental Emotional Development.


Jenny Mai PhanJenny Mai Phan, Ph.D. (she/her), is a Research Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders at Children’s National Hospital. She holds a Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from Iowa State University and completed her postdoctoral fellowship training at the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Phan is a self-advocate, mother, and researcher and serves as a public member of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC). Her interdisciplinary research focuses on the interplay between stress response systems, pubertal development, and mental health, with a particular interest in studying the adolescent experience of neurodiverse youth. She is also interested in early puberty and sexual health education strategies and their impact on neurodiverse and gender-diverse youths’ mental health and relationships with their caregiver. Phan identifies as an Asian American, autistic (and neurodivergent), and a first-generation scholar.


Vijay RavindranVijay Ravindran is the CEO and Founder at Floreo, a virtual reality therapy platform for the neurodiverse. He began his career as a software engineer and went on to make significant contributions at Amazon during its early stages, where he played a vital role in the company’s growth and technology infrastructure including leading the launch of Amazon Prime.

Later, as Chief Digital Officer at The Washington Post, he led new product innovation in the ever-evolving digital media landscape. Vijay has been actively involved in startups and philanthropic causes, particularly in education and journalism. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia.


Andy ShihAndy Shih, Ph.D., joined Autism Speaks in 2006 after its merger with the National Alliance for Autism Research, where he served as chief science officer. Shih has held various leadership roles in the organization throughout his tenure, including senior vice president of public health and inclusion. In his current role as chief science officer, Shih is responsible for the science portfolio, including grantmaking, the MSSNG genomic research project, and the Autism Care Network.

Shih holds a Ph.D. in molecular cell biology from the New York University School of Medicine. His research background includes published studies in gene identification and characterization, virus-cell interaction, and cell-cycle regulation. He was instrumental in the cloning of a family of small GTPases involved in cell-cycle control and nuclear transport, and he holds three patents.


Imayrin Padua SotomayorImayrin Padua Sotomayor was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico. From an early age, she worked in numerous jobs, from summer camp leader, to retail in the tourist area in Old San Juan, and later as a domestic violence counselor and an English teacher for students — kindergarten through community college. She graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with a major in Drama and a minor in English. She later received Master’s in English Curriculum. As an avid reader, she enjoys books about women’s rights, psychology, mental health, and biographies, and has published her poetry and a memoir.

Ima, as she likes to be called, is also a bipolar disorder patient and a suicide survivor.

In 2019, she moved from Puerto Rico to Massachusetts with her family to have better access to mental health services for her and her son with autism. She hopes she can help Latino communities to end the stigma associated with mental health by sharing her story and by participating as a volunteer in support groups online.


A photo of Jamie UpshawJamie Upshaw, M.S., M.A., is the Founder/Executive Director of Autism Urban Connections Inc. (AUC Inc.), the first and only African American and minority family-focused Autism 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organization in Pennsylvania. Ms. Upshaw has nearly 20 years of combined experience in the criminal justice and special education fields. Jamie and AUC Inc. have a mission to provide education, support, advocacy and empowerment to families. She works to ensure that all families receive the individualized supports and education to access valuable resources and services that enhance the quality of life, and break down barriers, while addressing the disparities in our most marginalized communities. Jamie is also a proud parent of a 12-year-old son diagnosed with autism.


Olajide WilliamsOlajide Williams, M.D., M.S., is a Professor of Neurology and Vice Dean of Community Health at the Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is also Vice Chair of the Department of Neurology and a specialist in the treatment of stroke and cerebrovascular diseases. Williams is an attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and a clinical neurologist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. He attained his medical degree from the University of Lagos, Nigeria, and completed his neurology residency and neuromuscular fellowship training at The Neurological Institute of New York. Williams also holds a Master of Science degree from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

Williams is a world-renowned leader in stroke disparities and community-based behavioral intervention research. He is founder and chair of Hip Hop Public Health, an internationally-recognized organization that creates and implements multimedia public health interventions that target and engage young people in the health of their families and communities.


Lily YipLily Yip is a passionate parent advocate and mother of two adult children, Nicole and Eric, who have autism and intellectual/developmental disabilities. She is of Chinese descent and speaks fluent Cantonese. She is a graduate of the class of 2018 Leadership Somerset, the class of 2018-2019 New Jersey Partners in Policymaking class, and the 2019-2020 Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities program.  She leads a parent support group called New Jersey Parents of Exceptional Adults. She is a council member of Somerset County’s Children’s Interagency Coordinating Councils and SPARK’s Community Advisory Council. Her professional background is in information technology, and she holds a B.A. in Computer Science and an M.S. in Information Systems. Her interests include music, travel, cooking, and photography.