Dr. Ava Thompson Greenwell, Faculty-in-Residence
Dr. Ava Thompson Greenwell is an author, documentary filmmaker, podcaster, leadership life coach and journalism professor with more than 25 years of experience teaching reporting, writing and on-camera presentation at Northwestern University.
Greenwell is the author of Ladies Leading: The Black Women Who Control Television News. She also hosts Ladies Leading, the podcast.
She is the director of Mandela in Chicago, a documentary film about the city’s anti-apartheid movement that was broadcast in February 2021 February 2022 on WTTW, a PBS station.
Greenwell is executive producer of a documentary highlighting the contributions of Black women academics at Northwestern, scheduled for completion in spring 2023. In addition, the former television news reporter leads workshops on how to manage microaggressions in the workplace.
Dr. Myrna García, Faculty-in-Residence
Dr. Myrna García is an Associate Professor of Instruction in the Latina and Latino Studies Program at Northwestern University. She is also a college adviser in Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. As an ethnic studies scholar, she asks questions about the values and politics underlying history and archives used in its writing. Her research explores the youth activism undertaken by members of the Chicago chapter of the Center for Autonomous Social Action (CASA), one of the most important immigrant rights organizations to emerge from the Chicano Movement. CASA-Chicago youth in the 1970s conceptualized a “sin fronteras politics” as an imagining that brought ethnic Mexicans together, regardless of birthplace, generation, or citizenship status. Professor García demonstrates how sin fronteras was a precursor to the political ideology articulated in immigrant rights protests across the United States in the twenty-first century. She also discusses how CASA activists grappled with liberatory potentials of sin fronteras and its limitations for social change.
Dr. García is an educational leader with over two decades of classroom experience. She is passionate about teaching. Professor García’s courses include those studying the politics of knowledge production, social movements, and immigration. As an adviser, she is deeply committed to supporting students navigate university life. She also finds joy in helping students get started on their research journey. Professor García’s mentorship of undergraduates landed her on the “Faculty Honor Roll,” a recognition by the Office of Undergraduate Research. She empowers students to honor themselves as producers of knowledge and supports their research endeavors in Latinx Studies.
She leads meaningful community engagement and collaborative projects to amplify curandera [healing] histories. She serves on the Aquí en Chicago advisory committee at the Chicago History Museum. It is a project grounded in the historical preservation of Chicago’s Latinx community, and it fosters an intersectional understanding of the complexity of Latinx cultures, gastronomy, activism, and other dimensions. The committee is preparing to launch a Latinx Chicago exhibition at the museum in Fall 2025. Dr. García also co-led the Latinidades project at Mudlark Theatre. Under a Racial Equity and Community Partnership grant at Northwestern University, Professor García offered her expertise to build Latinx theatre-making and curriculum. She is a leader in diversity, equity, and inclusion work. In 2021, the university recognized Dr. García with the Daniel Linzer Award for Faculty Excellence in Diversity and Equity.
Dominique Peel, Resident Director (1838 Chicago, Jones, East Fairchild, West Fairchild)
Originally from the Chicagoland area Dominique pursued his bachelor’s degree in Speech Communication with a minor in Educational Psychology from Georgia State University. There he found his passion for student development while serving as the community council president residence life. This passion propelled through graduate school where he obtained his M.S.Ed in College Student Personnel Administration from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. During his graduate studies, Dominique served as a Graduate Residence Director in Residence Life and Community Standards at Harris Stowe State University. Prior to joining Northwestern Dominique held roles as a Residence Director at Texas State University and Huston-Tillotson University. His professional focus revolves around fostering a sense of belonging, promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives, and upholding community standards. Outside of professional endeavors Dominique enjoys spending quality time with family and friends, maintaining an active lifestyle through workouts, exploring new destinations through traveling, and engaging in community service alongside his fraternity brothers of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc.
Zack Mroz, Resident Director (626/636/640 Emerson, 1871 Orrington, Allison, Hobart, Rogers, Shepard)
Zack (he/him/his) joined Residential Services in May 2024 as a Resident Director for the South Area. Zack is originally from Michigan, where he attended Grand Valley State University and got his degree in Business Administration in 2020. Zack earned his master’s degree in Student Affairs in Higher Education from Miami University in Ohio. Prior to working at Northwestern, Zack served as a Residence Life Coordinator at Rutgers University. At the core of his work, Zack centers student support and development through a social justice lens. Zack enjoys theater, spending time at the lake, exploring all that Evanston and Chicago have to offer, and raising his puppy.