Meet the Speakers

2023 Wisdom with WACUBO

Jon Giacomi, Associate Vice Chancellor for Campus Life Services, University of California, San Francisco

Jon Giacomi is the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Facilities Services at the University of California, San Francisco. Jon leads a diverse professional team of 420 engineers, custodians, landscapers, facility managers, fire inspectors, access controls technicians, project managers, and a variety of other specialties. Jon has been with the University of California for over 35 years working in Athletics/Recreation, Housing/Dining, and the UC President's Office. Most recently, Jon has served as the UCSF COVID-19 Recovery Director and on special assignment helping lead UC's systemwide insourcing efforts for the VP-Human Resources. Jon is also the inaugural co-chair of the UCSF Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Anti-Racism Steering Committee for the business and finance division of UCSF.

Ailene Estalilla, Chief of Staff, University of California, San Francisco

Ailene Estalilla is a connector, advocate and strategist, working in the academic healthcare industry for over 10 years. In her current role as Chief of Staff and Director of Compliance for the UCSF Police Department, Ailene executes on strategic, operational and cultural agendas calling for considerable changes in policing and public safety for UCSF. As a part of the leadership team, her most important objective is shaping a healthy, engaging, inclusive and high performing culture. She provides counsel and advice to the Chief of Police and senior leadership on objectives and initiatives that affect Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. In 2021, Ailene led the inaugural Vendor Diversity Event for UCSF Real Estate, with over 100 small businesses in attendance, laying a foundation for Real Estate’s commitment to their current supplier diversity program. She is the co-chair of the UCSF Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Anti-Racism Steering Committee for the business and finance division of UCSF.

Dr. Amanda Kraus – Assistant Vice President for Campus Life and Executive Director for Disability Resources at the University of Arizona

Dr. Amanda Kraus serves as Assistant Vice President for Campus Life and Executive Director for Disability Resources at the University of Arizona. UArizona’s Disability Resource Center (DRC) is one of the largest in the nation and considered an international model of progressive service delivery and student programming, uniquely positioned to approach campus access systemically. DRC often partners with the US Department of State and the Global Sports Mentoring Program to host and mentor international delegations of disabled people and professionals to impart best practice for service delivery as well as disability sport and culture. Dr. Kraus is also Associate Professor of Practice in Higher Education where she teaches courses on student services and disability and uses disability studies to inform research and teaching that challenges deficit or tragedy rhetoric on disability and frame disability in the context of social justice, shaped by dynamics of power and privilege.

Dr. Kraus is Immediate Past President for the Association of Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD) Board of Directors and has had the privilege of delivering keynote addresses and facilitating workshops at institutions such as, Duke, Wake Forest, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) and the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U).

Dr. Kraus also has extensive international experience. She has traveled twice for consulting engagements with Singapore Management University and once to Temasek Polytechnic Institute, also in Singapore. She was the featured speaker at l’Association Québécoise Interuniversitaire des Conseillers aux Étudiants en Situation de Handicap in Montréal, CA, the first plenary talk to be delivered in English in the organization’s twenty-year history and was an invited speaker for the US-Japan Collaboration on Disability and Self-Advocacy in Higher Education, co-sponsored by the US Embassy in Tokyo as well as American and Japanese disability organizations. Dr. Kraus was invited to join a delegation convened by the US Department of State to engage in dialogue on disability access in education and employment in Beijing, China, and again in Washington, D.C., and was recently invited to Macerata, Italy to present on disability services at the UnimcForInclusion week. Dr. Kraus is passionate about promoting disability access internationally, across a variety of legal and historical contexts, and having the opportunity to learn about the social and cultural implications for disabled people around the world.

Outside of work, Dr. Kraus is an avid wheelchair tennis player who previously served on the Board for the United States Tennis Association Southwest Section to elevate the visibility of wheelchair tennis and she currently serves on the Board of Visit Tucson to promote accessibility across the hospitality industry.

Dr. Kraus earned her MA and Ph.D. at the University of Arizona in Higher Education.

Vern Harner, MSW PhD, Assistant Professor, UW Tacoma School of Social Work and Criminal Justice

Vern Harner (they) received their BFA (concentrating in fiber arts) and MSW (focusing on mezzo/macro practice) from Arizona State University, and their PhD in social welfare from UW-Seattle. Their research focuses on trans and multiply marginalized communities, specifically quality of life and improving health and social care service experiences. As an instructor, Dr. Harner specializes in teaching not only LGBTQ focused social work, but also the history of the social work profession and foundational research methods. They’re honored to have received the UW Excellence in Teaching Award and be a Husky 100 in 2020. When not working, they enjoy crocheting and taking walks around the block with their rescue dog, Rook.

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