Who Are We

Dr. Melissa Maceyko (she/her) is an experienced educator and researcher with degrees in Political Science, Linguistics, and Anthropology. Dr. Maceyko has conducted research on the role that understandings of identity, such as gender and sexuality, play in political access, engagement, leadership, and advertising in the United States and abroad. Her current writing project focuses on the role that interpersonal conversations play in effective social change and political action. Seeking to make academic work more applicable and accessible, Dr. Maceyko writes and speaks for popular as well as academic audiences and has organized multiple public education forums on topics ranging from environmental justice to abolition. Her focus on allyship has been driven by her research, teaching, and organizing experiences.

In addition to her role at the Center for Allyship, she serves as a professor in the Anthropology and Linguistics departments at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). Dr. Maceyko is also active in a number of professional organizations, most recently serving as a member of the California State Diversity and Public Policy committees for the American Association of University Women and as Co-Chair of the CSULB President’s Commission on the Status of Women. Through these positions she has created and delivered inclusivity and allyship trainings for a wide range of audiences. Drawing from her academic and research expertise, Dr. Maceyko has developed a unique language-centered approach to diversity and inclusion and allyship training.