Headshot of susy zepeda board of directors member at large

Board of Directors Member at Large

Dr. Susy Zepeda


Dr. Susy Zepeda was born in Monterey Park, California to two Mexican migrants from El Limón, Jalisco and Chínipas, Chihuahua. Raised primarily by her Mexicana mother, tías and tíos, and prima/os along with her two sisters in the Los Angeles area, she learned since childhood the importance of supporting community and holding matriarchal relations sacred in times of crisis and healing.  Susy remembers as a child often climbing the cerro and visiting el rio in her mother’s hometown in Mexico with instruction and guidance from her abuelita, Rosario. This journey infused Susy’s path of walking in prayer and armonía con la madre tierra.

In 2014, Susy joined the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies at the University of California, Davis as an Assistant Professor. As a self-identified queer Xicana Indígena her scholarly work is intentionally interdisciplinary, decolonial, and feminist in a community-centered and grounded way. Her research and teaching focus on: critical race and ethnic studies, Xicana Indígena spirit work, critical feminist of color collaborative methodologies, queer of color and Indigenous communities, decolonization, oral history, and intergenerational healing.  She received her Ph.D. from the University of California at Santa Cruz in Sociology with designated emphasis in Feminist Studies and Latin American & Latino Studies, a CLAD Teaching Credential from California State University at Dominguez Hills, and her B.A. from California State University at Long Beach in Sociology and Women’s Studies.