The Rev. Louis Gaffney Endowed Chair and the College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) Leadership Committee on Intersectionality and Justice (LCIJ) invite you to Building Solidarity: Organizing and Resistance Across Marginalized Communities. Solidarity is vital to social, political, economic, and human rights movements. While marginalized communities are often pitted against one another by structural forces, they have a long history and vibrant contemporary practices in building solidarity for mutual liberation. We are honored to present four women of color leaders who have been engaging in community organizing across different marginalized identities and communities.

Date: May 18, 2026 (Mon) 5-7PM. (A reception will follow after the event.)

Place: Seattle University Pigott Auditorium.

Presenters:

Dr. Patricia Romney

Third World Women’s Alliance

Dr. Patricia Romney is a psychologist who currently practices as a psychotherapist for elders and their families. She also works as a leadership and retirement coach for academic professionals. Her co-edited volume Understanding Power: An Imperative for Human Services was published in 2017. Her book We Were There: The Third World Women’s Alliance and the Second Wave of Feminism, in October 2021. In 2022 she was named a “Massachusetts Commonwealth Heroine.” Her blog “Positively Joyful Aging” is published bi-weekly on Substack, and her current activism focuses on building community and cultivating leadership among social justice activists.

Elianne Farhat

TakeAction Minnesota

Elianne Farhat has been organizing people power into winning campaigns for more than 20 years. In 2018, she became TakeAction Minnesota’s Executive Director. Since then, members have led campaigns winning transformational change at the state and local levels including paid sick days, prescription drug regulations, healthcare access expansion, renters’ right to repair, and smaller class sizes. Elianne is the first in her Lebanese father’s family to be born in the United States and of Lakota (Standing Rock) descent on her mother’s side. She currently lives in Saint Paul with her partner and three young children.  

Laila Saliba

Washington for Peace and Justice

Laila Saliba was raised in the Pacific Northwest and is a descendant of Palestinian genocide survivors. She serves as Chair of Washington for Peace and Justice (WA4PJ), a Palestinian-led state advocacy organization. WA4PJ's Cut Ties with Genocide campaign, in coalition with Jewish Voice for Peace, targets the Washington State Investment Board to divest from companies complicit in the occupation of the Palestinian people. The campaign encouraged the State Treasurer's office to rework its ESG policy in a way that appeared to render its Caterpillar bond holdings a violation, resulting in $52 million in divestment. WA4PJ has also championed, in coalition with JPV and CAIR, to advance genocide education legislation, get justice for Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, and lay the groundwork for $1.2 billion in divestment legislation.

Dr. Choua Xiong

Solidarity Holds Our Unity Together (SHOUT)

Dr. Choua Xiong is an assistant professor of Hmong Studies and Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Informed by her organizing as a motherscholar in community-based educational spaces, schools, and higher education, Choua leads various participatory action research (PAR) projects that center the perspectives of minoritized communities and the roles they play in educating youth about schooling, political participation, and belonging. Her research has been funded by national foundations including Spencer Foundation, National Science Foundation, National Endowment for the Humanities, Fulbright-Hays, and AmeriCorps. Dr. Choua teaches courses that examine displacement, race and racialization, gender, and non-state community and home-making.