Daniela M. Medina

Professor Daniela M. Medina was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, graduated with a BA in Journalism and worked @ CBS with correspondent Arnaldo Duran. Later, she participated in a couple of TV shows ‘Inside Edition’ & ‘Good Morning America’ where she interviewed a few celebrities whom she became friends with.

Since 2008, Daniela followed her passion and graduated with a master’s degree in sociology. Since then she became a sociologist & a professor. She taught over 200 college courses: sociology, criminology & psychology at many different universities in NYC: Berkeley, St. John’s, LIU, SUNY. Her most recent teaching position was at Vassar College.

​​​Prof. Medina has always loved to travel and she has visited over 90 countries. She’s fluent Portuguese, English, Spanish & conversational French. She also lived in Brazil and the UK.

​In the United Kingdom she received ABD for her research proposal. In her travels and cultural knowledge of the world have also assisted her students in becoming global citizens. In 2008 she took her students for an educational cultural exchange in China.

​Back home in NYC she has curated many projects in assisting the less fortunate ones with a partnership of local non-profit organizations: QCA, NYSCA, Bildner Center, Mundo Real & Cidadao Global.

To this day, she has continuously created innovative platforms for the NYC immigrant population. To name a few, one was a brochure that promoted a diverse culture of Queens under 7 train that hence the visibility of many minority businesses. And for this project alone, Daniela received an award by former mayor Bloomberg.​

Her projects are usually connected to the importance of small businesses especially of migrants’ contributions to the world economy.

​One of her projects is a stand up comedy where immigrants express their political frustrations with humor through cultural gaffes. And these days Daniela is interested and also concerned on how immigrants’ images are being represented around the world.

​​​​Furthermore, Daniela’s new passion is Green Economy. And she has become politically involved in assisting entrepreneurs and students in finding meaningful changes to protect our environment. Her most recent initiation was a summer paid internship in 2018/2019 that her SUNY students at Westchester College worked with Westchester Green Businesses. She has also assisted in curating many Earth’s Day Events and one of the events was endorsed by the United Nations.

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Prof. Medina as a sociologist knows how technology can modify behavioral changes to protect our planet. And she likes to be part of this green movement. In honor of her father who is now struggling with skin cancer. Daniela has decided to follow her dad’s footsteps for civic engagement that himself once was a politician.

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