Executive Board (2024-25)
Our board can be reached at defy.board@gmail.com. Please address all general inquiries and media requests to this email and copy individual board members as necessary.
president: chisom ofomata
Chisom (she/her) is a senior in Jonathan Edwards College and a History of Science, Medicine, and Public Health (HSHM) major on the pre-med track. She is excited to support Yale’s disability community and work with DEFY to make the institution more accessible for current & future students and staff. She hopes to work towards this goal in her roles as a Student Accessibility Services (SAS) Peer Liasion and a Disability Peer Mentor. Outside of DEFY, Chisom is able to explore her passion about ASL and Deaf culture through her roles as the President of American Sign Language at Yale (ASLaY) and an ASL tutor. She is also the Treasurer of Dzana Dance and a member of the Nigerian Students Association, Delta Alpha Pi, and Black Pre-Health Students at Yale. In her free time, she enjoys reading, watching movies, and spending time with her friends and family.
[ID: Chisom, a Black woman with shoulder-length black mini twists, smiles at the camera. She is wearing gold-rimmed glasses and gold hoops. She has on a dark purple turtleneck and a black blazer. There is a brick building in the background.]
vice president: ALEXIS SYE
Alexis (she/her) is a senior in Pauli Murray majoring in the History of Science, Medicine, and Public Health. Alexis is passionate about disability rights issues and hopes to one day work in the intersection of disability, public health, and law. On campus, Alexis is the Vice President for Disability Empowerment for Yale and American Sign Language at Yale, the Head Peer Liaison for Student Accessibility Services, an ASL tutor, and a member of Delta Alpha Pi (a disability honor society). Outside of campus, Alexis is a current fellow at the Coelho Center for Disability Law, Policy, and Innovation at Loyola Law School, and she has previously worked with the Minnesota Disability Law Center and Generation Mental Health. In her free time, Alexis enjoys reading, weight lifting, and baking.
[ID: Alexis, a white woman with long brown hair, smiles at the camera as she sits on a pink couch in front of a leaf-covered wall.]
treasurer: George KAradzhov
George (he/him) is a senior in Pauli Murray College double majoring in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry (MBB) and Anthropology. He is passionate about the intersections between medicine and law and how both can be used to advocate for disability rights. This year, he is excited to work with Yale’s disability community and push Yale toward being more accessible for everyone. Outside of DEFY, he is the treasurer for American Sign Language at Yale (ASLaY), the undergraduate Service Chair for Yale’s disability honor society Delta Alpha Pi, a member of the Yale Hunger and Homelessness Action Project’s (YHHAP) Advocacy committee, a site leader for the Elm City Echo, and a volunteer with the Community Healthcare Van. In his free time, he enjoys playing the guitar, weightlifting, and, inevitably, reading.
[ID: George, a white male with medium-length brown hair and a beard, smiles at the camera. He is sitting at a table with pizza and green bottle in front. He is wearing a brown button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and brown round glasses.
faculty advisor: katie trumpener
Katie Trumpener is Emily Sanford Professor of Comparative Literature and English, as well as a member of Film and Media Studies, and of Jewish Studies. She works on European literature, film and visual culture. She is eager that Yale increase access and support for disabled students and faculty—and that it continue to remember all those for whom the pandemic is not yet over.
[ID: Katie, a white woman with long, curly brown hair, sits in front of full bookshelves smiling.]
