Staff Profiles

Director

Dr. Barbara Ransby is the John D. MacArthur Chair, and Distinguished Professor, in the Departments of Black Studies, Gender and Women’s Studies, and History at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). She also directs the campus-wide Social Justice Initiative, a project that promotes connections between academics and community organizers doing work on social justice. She is a graduate of Columbia University and the University of Michigan, where she was a Mellon Fellow.

Dr. Ransby is author of two award-winning books: Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision (2003); and Eslanda: The Large and Unconventional Life of Mrs. Paul Robeson (2013). She is also author of a third book published in August 2018 entitled: Making All Black Lives Matter: Re-imagining Freedom in the 21st Century. The Ella Baker book was the recipient of 8 national book awards and recognitions including the Liberty – Legacy award from the Organization of American Historians; the Joan Kelly prize from the American Historical Association; and the James A. Rawley Prize (also from the AHA). In 2018 the Chronicle of Higher Education acknowledged the Baker biography as “one of the most influential books of the last twenty years.” Her second biography, Eslanda, was the recipient of the Letitia Woods Brown Memorial prize for the best book in African American women’s history from the Association of Black Women Historians. In 2017 Dr. Ransby was honored as “one of the top 25 women in higher education,” by the publication, Diverse Issues in Higher Education. She is also a recipient of the 2018 Angela Y. Davis Prize from the American Studies Association for scholarship in service of the public good. In 2020 Dr. Ransby received two honors. She was elected as a fellow to the Society of American Historians and received one of the inaugural Freedom Scholar’s Award from the Marguerite Casey Foundation and Group Health Foundation for “social and economic justice scholarship.”

She also was the editor in chief of Souls: a critical journal of Black politics, culture and society, and is a member of the editorial working group of the London-based journal, Race and Class, and the Editorial Advisory Board of the “Justice, Politics and Power” book series at University of North Carolina Press. She served as President of the National Women’s Studies Association from 2016 – to 2018.

Dr. Ransby publishes regularly in popular venues, which include: DISSENT, In These Times, Colorlines, The Nation, the Boston Review, Truthout, and the New York Times.

Dr. Ransby is not only a historian and writer but also a longtime activist.  She was deeply involved in the anti-Apartheid/ Free South Africa movement in the 1980s and later co-founded a number of organizations including: The Ella-Baker Nelson Mandela Center, Ella’s Daughters, and African American Women in Defense of Ourselves. She is a founding member of the national organization Scholars for Social Justice and works closely with The Movement for Black Lives and the multi-racial coalition, The Rising Majority. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Woods Fund of Chicago, and the grassroots Chicago-based, Equity and Transformation, (E.A.T.) a group that supports formerly incarcerated persons and those working in the informal economy.

Director of Special Projects

Bettina Johnson is a lifelong resident of Chicago and an alumna of both Chicago Public Schools and University of Illinois – Chicago. Prior to joining SJI, Johnson worked in direct service provision in the domestic violence sector followed by compliance work in the medical device manufacturing sector. Johnson is also a training lead and facilitator for prison abolitionist campaigns and organizations in Chicago and has coordinated several community and campus projects.

Finance and Administrative Manager

Lilian Paniagua Lepe is an accomplished finance administrator and Merit Award recipient recognized for her dedication, professionalism, and commitment to public service. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Urban and Public Affairs from University of Illinois Chicago, where she developed a strong foundation in public policy, community development, and organizational leadership.

Prior to her current role at SJI, Lilian served as a paralegal with Chicago Legal Aid, advocating for low-wage workers and helping them protect and assert their workplace rights. Her work demonstrated a deep commitment to equity, access to justice, and community empowerment.

Lilian remains actively engaged in the university community as a member of the Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Latinos at UIC, contributing to initiatives that support inclusion, representation, and advancement of Latino students, faculty, and staff. She is also continuing her education at the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois Chicago, where she is pursuing her master’s degree.

Program Director

Program and Logistics Coordinator

Lesly is a first generation Chicana, and proud daughter to undocumented immigrants. Her roots drive her passion and dedication for transformative immigration reform, social, and economic justice. Lesly is currently pursuing a Master of Public Policy at UIC. She serves as the Midwest Regional Power Squad Leader for Poderistas, an organization dedicated to organize, civically engage, and empower Latina professionals across the nation. Prior to her role at SJI, Lesly spent over two years working as a family-based immigration paralegal. Her paralegal role allowed her to directly work with the Chicagoland undocumented community to execute waivers of unlawful presence, U-Visas, asylum applications, and family petitions. With her refined knowledge on immigration law, Lesly served as an immigration expert for NeighborSpace Chicago’s 2025 Open House.

Associate Director of External Affairs and Communications

Julia earned a PhD in History from Rutgers University, where she studied commemoration, nationalism and public space, and how underground movements tell their own stories. Her previous work included program support, communications, and marketing for the Newberry Library and the Chicago Park District. Julia is committed to sharing research widely and expanding opportunities to learn beyond the university walls, from teaching students in prison to creating art exhibits rooted in her scholarship. She has participated in cross-border solidarity work and has assisted with activist archival projects in Mexico City and Chicago.

Financial Administrative Assistant

Abigail is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois Chicago, where she has been enrolled since Fall 2025. She is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Accounting with a minor in Economics. She serves as the Financial Administrative Assistant for Lilian Paniagua and assists with various financial tasks for the Social Justice Initiative (SJI), as well as events in SJI’s Chicago Justice Gallery.

In addition to her role at SJI, Abigail works as a Legal Assistant at a private immigration law firm, a position she began in 2024. She joined the Social Justice Initiative in the summer of 2025. Abigail has a strong passion for law and finance and plans to continue her education in graduate school after completing her undergraduate studies.