Dr. Fredi Avalos has served the community as a scholar and human rights activist for over 40 years. Chicanisma lies at the heart of her work in social justice, both in and outside the classroom.

As an invited scholar, she spent time learning about digital uprisings while researching the Zapatista National Revolutionary Army in Chiapas, Mexica. She is the CSUSM Faculty Fellow in Diversity and Cultural Intelligence and the Director of the Difficult Dialogue Project of North County. Her pedagogy, research, key-note presentation, community workshops, and public seminars center on issues of media and democracy, race, class, gender, intersectionality and social justice. She is the recipient of the CSUSM President’s Award for Inclusive Excellence and Diversity.