ATIXA is pleased to welcome five new members to our Advisory Board. The ATIXA Advisory Board is a strong, representational Board who collaborates to influence guidance and best practices in the field of Title IX. ATIXA relies heavily on our Advisory Board for writing, presenting, advocating, and ensuring that ATIXA provides services, resources, trainings, and memberships that assist all Title IX professionals in both the higher education and K-12 spaces.
Please welcome Kayleigh Baker, J.D., Zakiya Brown, M.Ed., Araiña Muñiz, M.B.A., Ryan Thompson, J.D., and Elizabeth Trayner, Ed.D., as our newest Advisory Board Members for 2021.
Kayleigh Baker, J.D., Title IX Coordinator & Compliance Administrator at University of North Alabama
Kayleigh Baker serves as University of North Alabama’s Title IX Coordinator and Compliance Administrator. She previously worked in the Title IX Office at The University of Alabama. Prior to working in higher education, Kayleigh was a prosecutor where she tried over a dozen criminal cases in front of a jury. She earned her J.D. from The University of Alabama School of Law and earned Political Science and Economics degrees from Ball State University.
Zakiya Brown, M.Ed., Chief Student Affairs Officer/Dean of Students & Title IX Coordinator at Lincoln University of Missouri
Zakiya serves as the Chief Student Affairs Officer/Dean of Students, Chief Diversity Officer & Title IX Coordinator at Lincoln University of Missouri. She joined Lincoln University of Missouri in January 2019, where she created the institution’s first Title IX Office, which included its violence prevention program. During her tenure, she improved the institution’s Title IX policy and reporting practices; she also improved student trust, increasing reporting and adjudication rates by 70%. Before her current role, she has served in higher education in many positions in student housing, student conduct, diversity and inclusion, and student engagement.
Zakiya holds a bachelor of science in economics, a master’s in educational leadership, and is currently an Ed.D. student. Her research focuses on improving sexual violence reporting among Black students attending historically Black institutions.
Araiña Muñiz, M.B.A., Title IX Coordinator & Director at Colorado State University
Araiña Muñiz (She/Her/Ella) currently serves as the Title IX Coordinator for Colorado State University. Muñiz has worked in higher education for over 20 years ranging from small private colleges to large public universities with a Muñiz’s breadth of experience includes the areas of Title IX, diversity, inclusion, equity, equal opportunity residence life, and human resources. Originally from Massachusetts, Muñiz obtained her undergraduate degree on increasing access and equity from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and an MBA from Framingham State University.
Ryan Thompson, J.D., Owner, Thompson Esquire PLLC & Affiliated Consultant, TNG
Ryan Thompson, J.D., joined ATIXA’s Advisory Board in 2021 after becoming a TNG Affiliated Consultant in 2020. Before forming his own law firm, Ryan was the Director for Equity & Inclusion, Title IX Coordinator and Civil Rights Officer at Niagara University. During his seven-year tenure at the University, Ryan was also a writing professor and the assistant general counsel.
Ryan has handled hundreds of cases, reports, and investigations. He has worked directly with the U.S. Office for Civil Rights (OCR) on Title IX matters, and, for the 1,600+ schools who have United Educators (UE) Insurance, Ryan is one of the select few sexual misconduct investigators to be pre-approved by UE, triggering the $10,000 reimbursement benefit per qualified case.
In addition to conducting investigations for schools, businesses, and government entities, Ryan routinely works as a hearing officer in Title IX and misconduct cases, as well as advises and consults for higher education institutions on such high-risk matters. He can also frequently be found on the ATIXA listserv. Prior to entering into the education sector, Ryan was an investigative journalist, newspaper editor and litigator in New York City and Boston. He has conducted hundreds of interviews in his career, and has maintained an objective and analytical approach that is focused on fact-gathering. He graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1999 with a degree in journalism, minor in biology, and from Brooklyn Law School in 2004.
Elizabeth Trayner, Ed.D., Title IX Coordinator at University of the Pacific
Elizabeth “Liz” Trayner, Ed.D., is the Title IX Coordinator at University of the Pacific (Stockton, Sacramento, and San Francisco, California). Dr. Trayner’s core values are social justice, integrity, community, serving others, respect, and continual improvement. Liz has a strong commitment beyond compliance. She is committed to providing a comprehensive approach to administering an equitable process for responding to sexual misconduct, discrimination, and retaliation. She has over 20 years of experience in a wide range of areas within higher education including 10 years as a Title IX administrator. Dr. Trayner has revamped campus sexual misconduct policies, processes, procedures, and educational programs on three campuses.
Dr. Trayner is committed to her own ongoing education. She has been participating in ATIXA and NABITA trainings since 2012 and has completed all levels of Title IX Coordinator & Administrator, ADA/504 Coordinator, Investigator, Decision-Maker, Advisor, Athletics, Regulations Implementation, and NABITA Training and Certifications. She is an alumnus of the Social Justice Training Institute, has participated in multiple White Accountability Groups, UndocuAlly Training, Mental Health First Aid Training, Restorative Justice Training, Disney Institute for Leadership Excellence, Brief Alcohol Screening and Intervention of College Students (B.A.S.I.C.S.) Motivational Interviewing Training, National Conference on Race and Ethnicity, and numerous sessions at local, regional, national, and international conferences to shape her to become the practitioner she is today. Additionally, Liz is a certified instructor for Green Dot Bystander Intervention, and Stop the Hate.
Dr. Trayner has presented on the regional, national, and international level on how to do more with less, choosing and training your advisors, virtual hearings, developing a more inclusive hiring process, tools for successfully supervising new professionals, working through institutional change, igniting best practices in addressing sexual misconduct, Title IX, universal design, minimizing bias in the hiring process, messages I’ve learned about race and ethnicity, dis/ability awareness, exploring spirituality, experiences of international students, leadership and supervision, domestic violence, human trafficking, developing a professional development plan, LGBTQ+ 101, breaking down the wall of identity stereotypes, Allies and Advocates training, and recruiting quality student staff.
Prior to her current role, Dr. Trayner has served at Mills College, San Francisco Art Institute, Willamette University, University of Southern California, Occidental College, California State University, Chico, and The University of South Dakota. Elizabeth received her Ed. D. in Higher Education Administration from University of Southern California, her M.M. in Vocal Performance, and her B.M. in Music Education both from The University of South Dakota. Liz has been an active member of ATIXA and has served on the working group for the Admissions Model Policy and assisted with documents for ATIXA’s TIXKit. Additionally, she co-presented a webinar on Virtual Hearings and has been a presented for multiple member-led Time with IX sessions. In 2020, Dr. Trayner founded the Northern California Title IX Administrators Network.