My name is Ruby Mendoza and I am from San Jose, California. I am a transgender and first generation Mexican American scholar who derives from undocumented parents who struggled to survive in this Eurocentric, colonizing, and imperialist world. I am proud that I was raised by single mother: Velia Valentina Salinas.

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Personally, I reflect a scholar, activist, educator, and writer who is grounded and committed to social justice for the betterment of disempowered communities. Although I work in a disciplinary throughline of LGBTQ+ studies, rhetoric,  critical race theory, technical communication, and social justice, my work is  also tied to intersectional queer, transgender, and feminist voices of color. Through this approach, my work attends to multi-marginalized voices to begin mobilizing equitable change within and outside higher education.

My research, teaching, and community work derives from my personal embodied experiences. As I navigate my professional career, my ultimate goal is to provide educational resources to support disempowered communities neglected by cistems of oppression.