Executive Board (2023-24)
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 is a junior in Jonathan Edwards College and a prospective History of Science, Medicine, and Public Health (HSHM) major. 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 the President of American Sign Language at Yale (ASLaY) and is passionate about ASL and Deaf culture. 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.
vice president: ALEXIS SYE
Alexis (she/her) is a junior 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 involved in the disability community in several roles. In addition to being the Vice President for Disability Empowerment for Yale, Alexis is the head Peer Liaison for Student Accessibility Services, a Disability Peer Mentor, and an ASL tutor. She is also the Vice President of American Sign Language at Yale, the undergraduate Scholarship Chair of Delta Alpha Pi (a disability honor society), and leads the undergraduate working group on disability through the Yale Disability Studies Network. In her free time, Alexis enjoys reading, weight lifting, and baking.
treasurer: George KAradzhov
George (he/him) is a junior 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.
Board Advisors (2023-24)
advocacy advisor: josie steuer ingall
Josie is a senior in Timothy Dwight College and an Urban Studies major and Education Studies program scholar. She is working on a thesis about the emergence of the American public school in the Reconstruction-era South. She can be reached at josephine.steueringall@yale.edu and would be extremely happy to talk to you about community organizing, Edna St. Vincent Millay, or her favorite restaurants and places to see live music in New Haven.
senior advisor: joaquín m. lara midkiff
In addition to his work with DEFY, Joaquín serves on the Oregon Disabilities Commission and the Board of Directors for Cherriots Mass Transit. Since 2021, he has been a fellow with the MacMillan Center. He studied Latin American history and evolutionary biology at Yale University, where he chaired the Native & Indigenous Association and served as President DEFY (2021-2022). He is honored to continue the work of championing accessibility in higher education.
graduate advisor: mafalda von alvensleben
Mafalda (BK ‘22) is completing an MPH at the Yale School of Public Health. She has worked as the productio
n manager of the Yale Scientific Magazine, is project manager for STEAM (trying to put the art back into STEM!), and writes and recites nonsensical poetry with her spoken word group Teeth. She is a former President of DEFY (2020-2021). If you have any questions, please contact her at mafalda.vonalvensleben@yale.edu.
faculty advisor: katie trumepener
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.
