Meet the Staff

Celiany Rivera-Velázquez, Ph.D., Manager

Celiany Rivera-Velázquez (she/they) is a bilingual queer Afro-Puerto Rican facilitator, scholar and commuity organizer. They are experienced in bringing together students, staff, and faculty from across New York City and the world to build and participate in transformative experiences that broaden students’ perspectives and support students’ academic and personal growth. She holds a Ph.D. in Communications from the University of Illinois (2011) and has worked in Student Affairs at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and New York University. As Director of the NYU LGBTQ Student Center, the Center became a vital hub, pioneering NYU Ally Week, which grew into a globally-recognized event celebrated across all NYU academic sites.

They were a faculty member at the Universidad de Puerto Rico and Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, working closely with students during adverse periods and crises such as Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the 2019 national protests, the 2020 earthquakes, and the COVID-19 pandemic. From 2021 to 2024, they worked at CUNY-Hunter College’s Center for Puerto Rican Studies, where she spearheaded several public-facing research projects. With an incredibly resourceful team of Puerto Rican, Dominican, Mexican, and Ecuadorian Research Assistants from Brooklyn College, Lehman College, and City College, they created pathways for them to pursue academic careers focused on gender, sexuality, and Latinidad.

Celiany Rivera-Velázquez’s recent publications include “Jayaera: The Multimedia Joy of Afro-Caribbean ‘Cuir Bliss’ (2008–2024)” in Feminist Media Histories (Vol. 10, No. 4, 2024), the co-authored “Introducción” with Carlos Decena in CENTRO Journal (Vol. 36, No. 2, Summer 2024), titled Caudal: Rasanblaj of Contemporary Feminist and Queer/Cuir Perspectives on Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, and “Caribbean Kiki: Dominican Draguéalo and Puerto Rican LaBoriVogue” in the same issue. Their scholarships and documentaries chronicles sexuality movements across the Spanish-speaking Caribbean and its diasporas.

Michelene Mallard-Billy, CUNY Office Assistant

Michelene (she/her) is the CUNY Office Assistant for the Center for Belonging & Inclusion, handling administrative tasks for all CBI umbrella departments providing programming support; as well as executing marketing and communications duties. Michelene was a College Assistant for the Office of Accessibility since 2014 and joined the Women’s Resource Center in May 2019. Michelene received her B.A. in Communications in 2012 from Miles College, an acclaimed HBCU in Birmingham, Alabama. She is currently a graduate student at The City College of New York’s Master of Fine Arts in Film Program, where her focus is to create and produce BIPOC documentaries and narratives centering marginalized communities, capturing the stately spirit of the culture.

Jade Brown-Godfrey, College Assistant

Jade (she/they) supports the centers’ overall operations. A mother of four children and two dogs, she is an alumna of BMCC and NYU and is currently completing her M.S. in Environmental Science. Their academic interests span interdisciplinary art, ecofeminism, fungal biology, community building, the deinstitutionalization of knowledge, and the philosophy of science. In their spare time, Jade finds inspiration in connecting with nature, painting, running, and playing the cello and piano.