Meet the Team

Director

As the Director of the Center for Social Justice and Inclusion (CSJI) for almost three years at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, Shareia is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the center, including programs, events and the budget.  Prior to this role, Shareia served as Director and  Senior Program Manager in the Women’s Resource Center for over ten years.  She works collaboratively with internal and external constituents to support the women students, faculty, and staff.  

Her previous career focused on ending domestic and sexual violence at a local non-profit organization, where she held numerous positions, including volunteer coordinator, assault response coordinator, and victim advocate working in the local courts and police departments.  Now she is dedicated to retention efforts and supporting marginalized and underrepresented students as well as continuing the efforts to end violence against women.  

Shareia has served on several committees on campus and in the community, including the ECEC Board, MI-ACE Women of Color Collaborative, Bring Your Child To Work Day, and the Wayne County Counsel Against Family Violence.

She is an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Inkster Alumnae Chapter and is currently on the advisory council for campus chapter, the National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA), National Organization for Women (NOW), the American Association of University of Women (AAUW), and Students Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA).

Shareia loves traveling and spending time with her family.

Race, Ethnicity, and Intersectional Identities Program Manager

Jerrard Wheeler is the Intercultural Program Manager in the Center for Social Justice and Inclusion at UM-Dearborn. In this role he works to support students from marginalized and underrepresented communities in navigating the collegiate experience. Support can look a lot of different ways, you should ask him about it. 

Jerrard holds a Bachelor's of Science in Environmental Biology from Western Michigan University. After university, he served as an AmeriCorps volunteer in the Public Allies Metro Detroit program hosted by the Office of Metropolitan Impact at UM-Dearborn. In the program he served two years at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History executing educational programs that celebrated and elucidated the African American experience. He continued working at the museum beyond the terms of the program until he left to serve as a volunteer in Peace Corps Zambia.

In the Peace Corps, Jerrard served as an environment volunteer. He learned from, lived with, and worked with subsistent rural farmers in the Luapula Province in the Mansa district. Jerrard's primary activities included: integrating into his community, planting trees and promoting agroforestry, farming rice and tilapia, facilitating youth empowerment camps and art clubs, and eliminating stigma concerning people living positively with HIV. Jerrard was a leader in the internal Peace Corps community. He served as peer supporter and led multiple workshops promoting diversity and inclusion.

After completing his service in Peace Corps Zambia Jerrard traveled for 4 months, visiting Tanzania and Zanzibar, Egypt, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. Upon returning to the US, Jerrard returned to Public Allies Metro Detroit, and UM-Dearborn to serve as the Recruitment and Outreach Coordinator. IN this role he recruited over 200 local leaders to serve 10 months at non-profits in the Metro Detroit region. 

Jerrard loves music. He plays several different instruments including guitar and bass, among others. He's obsessed with techno and house music. He can be found at the beach and generally being active!

LGBTQ+ and Intersectional Identities Program Manager

Rory Joined the CSJI team in the summer of 2024, first as the Violence Prevention Program Manager and later as the LGBTQIA+ & Intersectional Identities Program Manager. He works to support LGBTQIA+ and gender-diverse students navigate the college experience – or as he puts it, “being the staff rep for the girls, gays, and theys on campus.” As a queer and trans man himself, he’s excited to be serving UM-Dearborn’s queer population!

Rory graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a degree in political & health advocacy, with an additional focus on online and graphic communications. Since then, he has worked in a variety of nonprofit and higher education institutions, with work spanning across mental health administration, youth suicide prevention, sexual assault prevention education, international poverty relief in global sacrifice zones, and labor movement organization and outreach. Rory is excited to get to use the skills and connections that he’s developed in his various roles to support UM-Dearborn’s students. With the unique challenges and traumas faced by queer and gender-diverse students, he hopes that he’s able to be an empathetic ear and reliable resource for them.

Rory is also currently completing his Masters of Divinity from the Methodist Theological School of Ohio, with a degree focus Eco-Chaplaincy. His ongoing research addresses religious trauma and the places that religion has been used to uphold oppressive systems and perpetrate violence against marginalized communities. As part of his work, he coaches churches and community groups on what it takes to be truly open and affirming of different marginalized populations. Feel free to ask him about his work!

In his free time, Rory is usually with his beautiful wife, Alex, and their veritable zoo of animals. You can find him studying, creating art, volunteering, playing DnD or online games like FFXIV, or touching grass

Student Program Assistant

Hello! Dina is a Junior at UM-Dearborn studying Psychology with a minor in Criminal Justice & Criminology. Her goal with CSJI is to create a sense of belonging to students of all backgrounds on campus. As an Arab American woman at the center, Dina's focus is to cement strong bonds and validate Arab voices, specifically Arab women. 

In her free time, Dina enjoys writing and reading poetry. She would love to swap poems with you! You can always find Dina with her headphones in, vibing to music of any genre (though let’s be honest, indie rock is the best). Although life gets hectic at times, Dina also always makes time for my loved ones. Oh, and ask her about her cat Willow and her kittens!

Student Program Assistant

Sydney is currently a senior at the University of Michigan-Dearborn majoring in Journalism and Media Production with a minor in sociology. Sydney has been working as a digital storyteller for about four years through the Mardigian Library under Experience+ and started working at CSJI this past year.

Sydney has a passion for media and storytelling. She believes that they have a big impact on how people view the world. She helped coordinate a film program for the FREEP Film Festival in 2024 for a documentary called Chasing Amy. She also organized a student film festival for the Campus Video Network as President of the student organization in 2024. She has done work on multiple short projects and is currently producing and directing her own short documentary, Uncovering: History of the Black Student Union. She is currently the Vice President of the Black Student Union, and she brings her passion for black empowerment to her role at CSJI. As Sydney got older, she often found that her interest in learning about societal topics crossed paths with film. During her time at university she's made a conscious effort to involve herself wherever film intersects with important topics within society.

When Sydney isn’t at work, you can find her reading comics, playing video games, or building lego sets. Sydney also got back into coloring recently as a tool for relaxation!