Center for Women & Gender Equity Team
The CWGE is located on the Ground Level of Augustine Hall. We also invite you to join our weekly programs virtually, and stay updated for more events via our social media!
STAFF
Director of the Center for Women & Gender Equity
Sharon Sobotta, M.S., M.F.A.
Sharon K. Sobotta is an advocate, a writer, a journalist, a mom and a doula. She has dedicated her professional career to advocating for gender and racial equity, inclusion and diversity while amplifying the voices of marginalized populations. In addition to directing the Center for Women & Gender Equity, Sharon reports on issues ranging from the impact of the pandemic on prison populations, education and voting access to the impacts of racial and gender injustice on Pacifica KPFA.
Sharon has an MFA in screenwriting from Augsburg University in Minneapolis, an MFA in nonfiction from Saint Mary's College of California, and an MS in social responsibility from Saint Cloud State University, and is a candidate to receive her MFA in non-fiction writing from Saint Mary's College of California in 2023. Sharon aspires to bring the complexities of gender as it intersects with other aspects of our identities to the forefront in a manner that moves and open hearts and minds to new levels of nuanced understandings of intersectionality through story sharing, intentional programming, advocacy, and meaningful conversations.
ssobotta@stmarys-ca.edu
Office: 925-631-4171
Cell: 510-684-1233
sharonksobotta.podbean.com
SOCIAL JUSTICE PRACTITIONER CONSULTANT
Wanda Johnson
After losing her son, Oscar Grant at the hands of BART Police Officer Johanes Mehserlee in 2009, Wanda Johnson dedicated her life to advocating for a more just world that is free of racism, racial profiling and police brutality. This year Wanda Johnson is the social justice practitioner in residence for the Center for Women & Gender Equity. She will lead and facilitate monthly workshops on how to effectively make our voices be heard in our quest for a world that is free of racism, sexism and oppression.
Student Specialists
Gwen Penalber '25 (They/She)
As a senior approaching the end of my time here at Saint Mary’s College, I reflect on the spaces of belonging that made me proud of the person I’ve become. The Center for Women and Gender Equity has supported me since the beginning of my journey in higher education at a predominantly white institution. As a freshman, I became involved with the CWGE as a community engagement student partnered with the Center through my interest and prior experience advocating for a plethora of intersectional issues of gender. I underwent a sort of culture shock when I came to SMC, having just left my warm, vibrant, Latine community. I felt my intellect, and even lived experience, were challenged by classmates and professors alike. But the CWGE reminded me where I came from, raised to be self-assured and resilient by Chingonas. Still, I could hardly see myself and my experiences as a Chicana reflected by the wider community. I sought a sanctuary, where my identity and experiences would be valued, when I was paired with the Center for Women and Gender Equity. Ever since, I’ve been given the freedom and support to develop programs based on praxiological moments in my education and experiences in our campus community.