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Ariana Cantu’s 26-year career spans migration border issues, health care, housing, direct service, mental health, community organizing, advocacy, environmental justice restoration, and racial social justice education. Her applied research interests focus on spatial justice and community-led efforts aimed at strategizing transformative change through an asset versus deficit lens. A queer, Latine activist-scholar born in Burien, Washington, she began as a community organizer in People of Color (POC) led organizations in Seattle and King County, which she credits for her knowledge of social change. Her experience includes direct counseling practices with unsheltered youth and adults, managing programs for eviction and mortgage assistance, and supporting the development of permanent, affordable housing. Cantu has worked at community technical colleges in Seattle, aiding students with disabilities and training faculty in ADA compliance, and she directed the TRIO Project Finish Line, creating a Re-Entry Program for formerly incarcerated individuals seeking degrees. She operates an anti-oppressive organizational change consulting practice, providing strategic support to organizations and people, grounded in liberatory change practices. As an adjunct faculty member in the Honors College and College of Built Environments at the University of Washington, she co-instructs interdisciplinary courses on community inclusion and equity in the changing public realm. In 2022, she was awarded the Honors Community & Curriculum Innovation Scholar for her work developing a course on gentrification and neighborhood change.
University of Washington • Seattle, WA
Teaches and develops interdisciplinary courses on community inclusion and equity.
Standard Graduate School requirements for University of Washington apply to most departments listed unless specified otherwise by the program.