Staff
Laura Emiko Soltis, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Full-Time Staff
Dr. Laura Emiko Soltis is a human rights educator originally from rural Minnesota. Emiko is a proud public school kid and was raised in a loving biracial household. As the daughter of an immigrant and a road-construction-worker-turned-violin maker, she was exposed to immigrant realities, working-class wisdom, and music at a young age. Emiko's early work experiences alongside diverse groups of immigrant coworkers in restaurant work, janitorial services, and farm labor eventually inspired her to study interracial labor movements and human rights. Emiko received the Foundation Fellowship full merit scholarship at the University of Georgia, where she graduated summa cum laude and served in internships at the Human Rights Office at The Carter Center and in the U.S. Senate.
As a young scholar, Emiko focused her studies in international affairs on human rights, with a particular focus on peace and genocide studies. This focus lead her to study restorative justice and reconciliation efforts in Rwanda, Guatemala, and Hiroshima, Japan. During her doctoral program at Emory University, Emiko began refocusing her passion for human rights to local movements in the U.S. South, and began organizing cafeteria workers and working as a research assistant at the James Weldon Johnson Institute, where she transcribed interviews with women veterans of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). During this time, Emiko also served as the Area Coordinator for Amnesty International and worked tirelessly on the Troy Davis death penalty case. She also participated as an active member of the Student Farmworker Alliance, where she received her political education and solidarity training in South Florida from farmworker leaders from Mexico, Guatemala, and Haiti. Emiko eventually wrote her dissertation on the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ struggle for farmworker justice and its transnational advocacy efforts to combat modern-day slavery in the United States.
Emiko joined Freedom University as a volunteer faculty member in 2013. Following the departure of the founding faculty and the closure of Freedom University in June 2014, Emiko re-established Freedom University in Atlanta in September 2014. Emiko introduced a human rights framework to Freedom University’s mission and pedagogy, and began connecting undocumented youth to Black student movement veterans of SNCC and the Atlanta Student Movement. She also founded Freedom University’s social movement leadership training program to help empower a new generation of youth leaders, and expanded the curriculum to include a creative arts program, STEM classes, and mental health workshops in a year-long academic program. As an experienced social movement strategist, Emiko has worked to advance the undocumented student movement by building bridges between undocumented and documented student groups, and advocating for fair admissions policies in higher education across the United States. Emiko co-founded the Freedom at Emory Initiative, which led to Emory’s successful admission and financial support of undocumented students in 2015. She also played an instrumental role in the establishment of the Dream.US scholarship at Oglethorpe University, which now has a student population that is 10% undocumented. Emiko continues to serve as the Professor of Human Rights at Freedom University.
Outside of her work at Freedom University, Emiko recently served as the elected Editorial Officer of the Georgia Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights from 2020-2023, which published a report assessing Georgia’s civil asset forfeiture practices and its disparate impact on communities of color. As an active public scholar, she writes and lectures frequently on topics such as human rights advocacy, undocumented student activism, immigration and higher education, workers' rights and economic justice, and music and mobilization. As an organizer, Emiko has engaged in numerous direct actions for workers’ rights, racial justice, and immigrant rights, and has been arrested four times in the Kingian tradition of nonviolent civil disobedience.
For her longtime commitment as a human rights educator and interracial community builder, Emiko was awarded the Telemundo Héroe Luchadora Award and the Ashoka Fellowship in 2017 and the Ford Foundation Public Voices Fellowship in 2018. Emiko is an accomplished photographer, violinist, and vocalist, and performed with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus 2015-2021. She speaks English, Spanish, and Japanese, and enjoys dancing salsa, being a generous friend and auntie, and loving on her three scruffy rescue dogs: Bento, Churro, and Mochi.
Responsibilities: Administration (Fundraising, Budget, Board Relations), Faculty and Staff Management, Accounting, Program Operations, Know Your Rights Trainings, Legal Program, Human Rights Education and LeadershipTraining, Communications, Photography, Graphic Design, Web Design. 40+ hours/week.
Gabriela Solis
Student Coordinator, Full-Time Staff
Gabriela Solis Gonzalez is a DACA staff member and an undocumented community leader originally from Tijuana, Baja California, México. Gabriela believes Freedom University is crucial in the immigrant rights movement because it challenges the dominant “good immigrant” narrative by welcoming all undocumented young people, regardless of their GPA or whatever mistakes they may have made as young people, and sees them all worthy of dignity and their inalienable human right to education. Gabriela had a difficult time in high school as a low-income undocumented young person. She made unhealthy decisions that led her to drop out of high school her junior year. However, Gabriela was determined to return to high school, and successfully graduated in 2013.
Gabriela joined Freedom University as a student in the Spring of 2018, and was elected to serve as Secretary of the Student Committee in Fall 2018. Her commitment to holding herself and other students accountable to the highest standards of commitment and integrity made her a natural choice to serve as our part-time Student Coordinator. In this role, Gabriela recruits undocumented students from local high schools, ensures student wellbeing and retention, and coordinates safe student transportation to all Freedom University classes and events.
Gabriela also is involved in the local immigrant rights community and serves as a board member of the New Sanctuary Movement of Atlanta. Gabriela’s favorite part about Freedom University is its annual graduation ceremony, when students and their families get to celebrate their sacrifices and hard work in the safety of a beloved community. Gabriela is also a mother of a happy and curious seven-year old boy named Miguel.
Responsibilities: Student Recruitment and Retention, Student Well-Being, Teaching Assistant, Volunteer Ride Coordination. 30 hours/week.
Valeria Pacheco
Executive Assistant and College Prep Coordinator, Part-Time Staff (through August 15)
Valeria Pacheco is a Mexican-American writer from Houston, Texas. Valeria is a recent graduate of Emory University, where she earned a B.A. in Creative Writing and Psychology. Her writing and learning often centers the Latine community and their unsung stories, which led Valeria to work with the students at Freedom University who are doing the same. At Freedom University, Valeria is responsible for assisting the Executive Director in daily communications and coordinating the College Preparation Program. In this role, Valeria works closely with the Executive Director in internal and external email communications, serves as a valuable Teacher’s Assistant in the Human Rights to Education and College Preparation courses, and coordinates the Writing Tutor Partnership with Emory University and Agnes Scott College.
In addition to her work at Freedom University, Valeria works as an Object Learning Teaching Artist for the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. In 2022, Valeria worked as a 7th grade literature teacher at the Breakthrough Houston’s Connect site, helping bright low-income, first-generation students in their educational journey. She also previously served as English Language Learner Specialist tutor in the Emory Writing Center and a teaching assistant for several interdisciplinary courses in the college. Prior to her current role, Valeria served as the Writing and Tutoring Intern at Freedom University in the 2022-2023 academic year.
Outside of Freedom University, Valeria loves to curate uber-specific Spotify playlists, play Bananagrams, and check out a wide range of library books.
Responsibilities: Scheduling and communications for Executive Director, College Preparation and Writing Workshop Program Coordination, Teaching Assistant, Copy Editing. 20 hours/week.
Alejandra Franco, PhD
Executive Assistant and College Prep Coordinator, Part-Time Staff (beginning July 31)
Alejandra Franco is a researcher, writer, and educator from Southern California’s Eastern Coachella Valley, and is deeply committed to educational equity. Her background in this region, shaped by agricultural labor, vibrant migrant communities, and stark socioeconomic inequality, has instilled in her a profound understanding of the systemic barriers that many students face. As the proud child of immigrants, Alejandra’s early life was marked by intergenerational wisdom and a strong sense of place. These formative experiences now shape her commitment to building pathways for all students, particularly those from low-income and undocumented backgrounds, to achieve success and thrive.
Alejandra holds a Ph.D. in Hispanic Studies from Emory University, where her research centered on the lived experiences of Mexican migrant farmworker families in the Eastern Coachella Valley. Drawing on oral history, feminist and decolonial theory, and participatory methods, her dissertation highlights how migrant families navigate systemic exclusion, intergenerational knowledge, language brokering, cultural resilience, and digital inequality, tracing how these shape access to upward mobility, while cultivating care, resistance, and a sense of belonging. Her collaboration with local community members and the Migrant Education Program shaped the work. During her time at Emory, Alejandra served in multiple instructional and leadership roles, most recently as a Graduate Fellow for the Emory Libraries and the Emory Writing Center. In this position, she developed inclusive programming, supported first-generation and multilingual students, and facilitated research and writing workshops across disciplines. She also served as instructor of record for several lower- and upper-division undergraduate courses, teaching topics such as critical migration studies, U.S.-Mexico border studies, and migrant narratives and history. Her trauma-informed, student-centered pedagogy created affirming learning environments that empowered students to connect lived experience with academic inquiry.
Beginning on July 31, Alejandra will serve as the Executive Assistant and College Prep Coordinator. In this role, she supports the Executive Director with internal and external communications, coordinates the College Preparation Program, and oversees the Writing Tutor Partnership with Emory and Agnes Scott College. She also provides one-on-one mentorship for students working on college applications and essays, helping to nurture a college-going culture grounded in dignity, solidarity, and imagination. Her passion lies in supporting students in telling their stories, navigating admissions barriers, and envisioning futures rooted in dignity, joy, and community. Outside of Freedom University, Alejandra is a lifelong learning enthusiast and a strong advocate for accessible education. Her mission is to develop spaces to support and equip historically excluded students to reimagine—and transform—the systems that have sought to marginalize them.
Responsibilities: Scheduling and communications for Executive Director, College Preparation and Writing Workshop Program Coordination, Teaching Assistant, Copy Editing. 20 hours/week.
Faculty
2024-2025
Every fall and spring semester, Freedom University offers courses in five areas of study: Human Rights, College Preparation, STEM, Arts, and Mental Health. Faculty members in human rights and STEM course generally hold a PhD in their field, and faculty in the other areas are experienced practitioners in college admissions, the arts, and mental health and wellbeing. Faculty members teach one 60-90 minute course per week, and are offered $2,500 per semester for their professional services.
Sunny Brown, M.A.
Professor of American Sign Language
Sunny Brown is an energetic and dedicated educator who brings a wealth of experience to Freedom University. Known as "The Genius Incubator" in Georgia Charter Schools, Sunny thrives in her belief that every student possesses unique talents and potential. In her classes, she focuses on nurturing these individual strengths, fostering creativity, and encouraging innovative thinking. She believes in students developing their own genius and preparing for future success. With a passion for creating inclusive learning environments, Sunny’s teaching style is all about innovation, cultural awareness, and active engagement. Holding advanced degrees in Social Justice and Community Organizing from Prescott College and a rich background in ASL from Cincinnati State, Sunny has spent years fostering connections between language, culture, advocacy, and community.
Outside the classroom, Sunny has worn many hats—from youth pastor to DEI trainer to sports coach—showing a commitment to mentorship and social impact. At Freedom University, Sunny is excited to empower students to connect through the vibrant language of ASL while promoting a deeper understanding of the Deaf community.
Whitney Lewis, M.Ed.
Professor of College Preparation
Originally from southern California, Whitney has worked domestically and abroad as an admission professional, teacher, tutor, and college counselor for over 10 years. She is a graduate of Brown University, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts with Honors in English Literature. After several years as a high school English teacher, she pursued her graduate degree at the University of Georgia, where she graduated with highest honors with a Master of Education in College Student Affairs Administration.
Most recently, Whitney served as the Dean of Admission & Financial Aid at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta. She is highly engaged with the regional and national professional associations for college admission and a frequent panelist and presenter at conferences across the country. Deeply committed to advancing access and opportunity to high-quality college guidance for students from all backgrounds, Whitney has served as a graduation mentor with Communities in Schools in Atlanta. She commits a significant portion of each admission cycle to conducting workshops, outreach, and individual sessions for clients from backgrounds historically underrepresented or excluded from higher education.
Outside of work, Whitney loves reading and writing fiction, cooking new recipes, exploring different cities, and trying in vain to stop her rescue pup Scout from jumping on houseguests.
Independent College Admissions Professional
Megan G. Massa, PhD
Professor of Psychology
Megan is a queer feminist neuroscientist who practices student-centered, feedback-driven critical pedagogy grounded in compassion and accessibility. They earned a BA in neuroscience with a minor in English from Bowdoin College followed by a PhD in neuroscience with a graduate certificate in writing pedagogy from UCLA. A neuroendocrinologist by training, they are particularly interested in the effects of estrogens and androgens (e.g., estradiol and testosterone, respectively) on behavior and disease. Megan engages queer and feminist theories alongside scholarship from science and technology studies to interrogate how social frameworks contribute to the neuroscientific study of sexed physiologies (see: "Deconstructing Sex: Strategies for undoing binary thinking in neuroendocrinology and behavior").
Megan is a past recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship, NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, AAC&U Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award, and the Distinguished Teaching Award from the UCLA Academic Senate.
Assistant Teaching Professor of Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology, Emory University
Charmaine Mora-Ozuna, PhD
Professor of Mental Health
Charmaine Mora-Ozuna, de raices Mexicanas, earned her PhD in Counseling Psychology at the University of Georgia. She completed her predoctoral internship at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso within the El Paso Psychology Internship Consortium. Charmaine is a post-doctoral fellow at Emory University School of Medicine and serves on the Consultation-Liaison Service and the Nia Project at Grady Hospital.
Charmaine’s dedication to advancing Latinx Psychology led her to provide bilingual and bicultural services to Latinxs across various geographical and organizational settings including, rural, urban, and borderland towns. Her clinical and research interests focus on trauma and resilience, with a particular focus on gender-based violence. Charmaine’s dissertation captures the testimonios of Latina survivors of domestic violence and Latina service providers who supported these women on their healing journeys. As an advocate and leader across state and national organizations, Charmaine strives to decolonize psychology by making it accessible beyond the bounds of academia and helping prepare and protect the next generation of bilingual and bicultural clinicians. She cultivates inner joy by spending time with loved ones, traveling, dancing, and eating!
Postdoctoral Psychology Fellow, Emory School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Inés Rodriguez, MSW
Professor of Mental Health
Inés Rodriguez is a queer, first-gen, afrodominicanx who identifies as a healing justice facilitator and community-centered practitioner first and foremost. She graduated with her Masters of Social Work with a concentration in Community Partnerships from Georgia State University and has spent 12 years serving refugee families and systems impacted women, children and youth. Her sweet spot is coaching and supervision, self reflexive inquiry and praxis, crisis mitigation and case planning. Her favorite thing to do professionally is create emergent, resourceful, and restorative educational experiences - so we're in luck!
She has co-authored, Rompiendo Cadenas: Breaking Down Intergenerational Trauma in the Latinx Community, and co-founded the Atlanta Chapter of Sigma Lambda Upsilon/Señoritas Latinas Unidas, Sorority Inc. Inés became trained in the Healing and Rebuilding Our Communities (HROC) trauma healing curriculum under the guidance of elder and practitioner, Santa Sorenson.
Social Worker (MSW), Independent Educator and Facilitator
Laura Emiko Soltis, PhD
Professor of Human Rights
Professor Soltis graduated summa cum laude in 2006 with a bachelor's degree from the University of Georgia, where she was awarded the Foundation Fellowship. Emiko received her Ph.D. from Emory University and wrote her dissertation on the global human rights strategies and local music practices in the mobilization of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, an interracial farmworker organization in South Florida. Her research and teaching interests include social movement theory, U.S. immigration history, transnational activism, Freirian popular education, and music and social movements. Having served as a longtime student activist, Emiko is committed to mentoring undocumented youth and providing them with the knowledge and skills they need to be effective leaders in their own freedom struggle.
Executive Director, Freedom University
Benito Thompson, MS
Professor of Mathematics
Benito Thompson is a medical physicist, musician, and content creator with about 1.7 million followers across different social media platforms. He is of Jamaican descent and spent much of his early life in Nassau, Bahamas and then Houston, Texas before attending middle and high school in Georgia’s Gwinnett county. He then obtained a violin performance degree from Emory University where he studied under violinist Jessica Wu from the Vega String Quartet. Benito earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Physics from Emory University and his Master’s Degree in Medical Physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He then completed his medical physics residency with West Physics based in Atlanta where he still works today. Benito taught mathematics at Freedom University in the Fall of 2016 and is ecstatic to return!
Medical Physicist and Independent Educator
Natalie Villacorta, PhD
Professor of Creative Writing
Natalie Villacorta is a writer from McLean, Virginia. She writes both creative nonfiction and fiction, and her work appears in the Cincinnati Review, Hobart, Joyland, and is forthcoming in the Brevity. She teaches creative writing at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia. You can follow her on instagram @writingbeaver.
Director of the Center for Writing and Speaking and Assistant Professor of English, Agnes Scott College
Community
Consultants
Rafael Aragón
Public Speaking Consultant
Rafael is a graduate of Freedom University, originally from Sinaloa, México. Rafael is a respected undocumented youth leader in Atlanta and is currently a senior at Oglethorpe University, where he is studying psychology. Rafael joined Freedom University in the Spring 2017 semester immediately following the 2016 presidential election. Through his study of human rights and social movements at Freedom University, Rafael was inspired to participate in acts of nonviolent civil disobedience in defense of immigrant rights, and has served on the media teams of numerous direct actions at the Georgia Board of Regents. As a powerful public speaker, Rafael has presented on the undocumented student movement at colleges such as Middlebury College, Dartmouth College, Emory University, Morehouse College, and Spelman College, among many other venues. When he is not busy taking classes or helping train Freedom University students in public speaking, Rafael enjoys woodworking, photography, writing poetry, and challenging patriarchy and dismantling machismo culture through feminist praxis.