SIJ Student Founders

Giancarlo Abejero

Giancarlo Abejero, or “Gin,” as he is fondly called, earned his B.A. in History and Minor in Political Science at Cal Poly Pomona. Gin’s interests lie at the intersection of modern political, social, and intellectual history. He studies world empires, decolonization, post-colonialism, and the history of Civil Rights in a global frame. His engagement with the Civil Rights tradition dates back to high school when he first learned about the tragedy of Emmett Till and the wave of civil disobedience action it sparked, introducing a revolutionary strand of democratic thought in American consciousness. Gin continues to be motivated by student involvement in the Civil Rights Movements across the world. He hopes to study the connections and horizons of solidarity between Filipino and Black civil rights tradition in the era after decolonization. The work of Frantz Fanon, Edward Said, and Angela Davis are his philosophical and political cornerstones. Gin has been a recipient of the Kershaw Award for his dedicated service to the History Department and Ahimsa Center. In addition to co-founding the Student Initiative for Justice at Cal Poly, Gin coordinates The Democracy Institute’s 2023-25 Program on The Faces of Freedom.

Everett Elias

Everett Elias is a candidate for B.A. in History and Minor in Nonviolence Studies. As an intellectual historian, Everett studies the history of global political thought, moral philosophy, and the legacies of the American civil rights tradition, especially the impact of its commitment to radical nonviolence in an unevenly democratic world. As an educator, Everett’s work revolves around hope: the hope of creating equitable, diverse, and just learning environments that take into account the heavy burden of our social reality and disparities. He seeks to train younger students on the importance of civic engagement, anti-racist thought, and the desegregation of our intellectual and moral worlds. His commitment to the study of democratic politics and political nonviolence has been influenced by the work of Hannah Arendt, James Baldwin, Ta-Nehisi Coates, W.E.B. Du Bois, Michel Foucault, and Judith Butler—and of course, his mentor, Aishwary Kumar. Apart from heading the Student Initiative of Justice at Cal Poly, Everett serves as the Coordinator of Programs at Ahimsa Center and The Democracy Institute.

Jenaveve Gregory

Jenaveve Gregory is a student of Anthropology at Cal Poly Pomona. Her scholarship and interests lie at the convergence between political history, anti-colonial thought, and the landscape of contemporary democratic activism. From grassroots efforts in high school promoting equitable access for students to diverse language courses down to participating in social and civil rights movements, Jenaveve has always been passionate about fighting for the common person, the striving student, the silent worker. While building a strong trajectory in ethnographic research and sociology at Cal Poly, she continues to deepen her foundations in political theory, psychology, and philosophical anthropology. Jenaveve’s guiding ethos is that all change begins with one-on-one relationships, with a closely shared and collective cultivation of hope, community, and vision for a better world. She plans to continue building towards this shared vision alongside her mentors and peers, whose support, friendship, and encouragement gives her hope for the realization of a movement larger than us. A co-founder of the Student Initiative for Justice, Jenaveve serves as the coordinator of academic events at Ahimsa Center and The Democracy Institute. In 2024, she represented the Ahimsa Center at the Sonoma workshops of the Oxford Consortium for Human Rights.