About Us

Denise Pike works at the IAS as project manager for Minnesota Transform. She is a public historian dedicated to linking inequalities in our present day with evidence of historical injustice. Her research interests and past work include the intersection of data, mapping, race, power, and urban history to address today’s disparities.

She received a Master’s in Heritage Studies and Public History from the University of Minnesota.

Angela M. Carter (she/her) is the Access and Inclusion Pedagogy Specialist for Minnesota Transform. As a Ronald E. McNair scholar, she became a first-generation college graduate in 2009 when she earned her BA in English from Truman State University. In 2019, Dr. Carter completed her Ph.D. in Feminist Studies at the University of Minnesota. She comes to MNT with over 15 years of experience teaching, researching, and advocating around experiences of injustice / inequity in higher education.

Most recently, Angela co-founded the Critical Disability Studies Collective, an organization that advances intersectional and critical inquiries around disability, ableism, and access at the University of Minnesota. Outside her professional endeavors, Angela loves cuddling with her dog Cricket, watching HGTV, and playing Beyoncé songs on her bass guitar.

Kristen Reynolds is a military brat whose family is from California by way of Mississippi and Louisiana. She earned her bachelor's in Biology (from Johnson C. Smith University) and her bachelor's and master's in English (from UNC Charlotte). She studies race, anti-blackness, and technology and the role the Black speculative can play in shaping alternative technofutures.

When not studying, she can be found writing dystopian speculative fiction that explores blackness, gender, climate crisis, and technology.

Dr. Michelle Garvey is an interdisciplinary educator-activist, specializing in environmental justice (EJ) theory, history, and activism. Incorporating its interconnected fields—Indigenous sovereignty, climate justice, food justice, reproductive justice, and queer ecology among them—Michelle educates through community-engaged projects that channel student scholarship and academic resources into the EJ movement.

As MNT’s Internship Coordinator, Michelle strengthens relationships between partners, students, and faculty. As MNT’s Education Assistant, Michelle develops programming grow EJ learning opportunities. Both positions align in her work with Minnesota Youth Story Squad—one of MNT’s several community partners—facilitating EJ activities for eight graders at Northeast Middle School in Minneapolis with undergrad interns from UMN.

Prior to MNT, she served as the Environmental Justice Program Director at HECUA. She continues to teach EJ at UMN in the Sustainability Studies department.

Ricardo Velasco is a social documentarian and cultural studies scholar who investigates cultural practices in post-conflict societies. His research focuses on cultural activism, memorialization practices and micro-scale movements for reparation and historical redress among Afro-descendant and displaced communities in Colombia. He uses audiovisual and new digital media as tools for making his work publicly accessible, and for the dissemination of the struggles and ways of knowing of the communities that contribute to his research.

As the Minnesota Transform Postdoctoral Research Associate, he is working on his book and digital project "Cultural Ecologies of Memory" (http://www.culturalecologies.com/). He is also teaching courses across different departments on cultural activism, Human Rights, social movements, and documentary cinema. His courses emphasize decolonial perspectives, centering cultural production from the global south, as well as issues of race, indigeneity and social justice.

Ricardo earned his PhD in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2020, and was awarded the Best Dissertation Award in the Humanities by the Graduate School. He is author of the documentary "After the Crossfire: Memories of Violence and Displacement."

Jasmine Baxter (they/them) is a full-time Media Specialist for Minnesota Transform. In this role, they manage MNT’s social media and weekly newsletter, as well as ongoing digital archival needs, partner website creation, and partner communication support.

Prior to MNT, they received their bachelor’s in Communication Studies from the University of Montevallo in Alabama. They will soon complete their master’s in Communication Studies at the University of Minnesota, which focuses on black, queer media and storytelling.

When not working or studying, they can be found reading fantasy novels, relaxing with their fur child, or learning songs from Guitar Hero III on their electric guitar.

Sebastian Alfonzo designes, produces, and manages media across Minnesota Transform projects and digital platforms. He specializes in finding creative ways to perserve, exhibit, and promote the work of Minnesota Transform partners. Sebastian is also a core-member of Serpentina Arts, a Latinx art collective and Minnesota Transform partner that he supports through digital communications, grant-writing, and organizing work.

Outside of his work with Minnesota Transform, Sebastian is a visual artist working between digital and analog means of still and moving image making. He has shown work at Northeast Sculpture, The Parkway Theater, and recently worked on a PBS Frontline film titled "Police on Trial".