Staff

Distinguished NAID Center Scholars

Dominique Kun serves as a Distinguished Global Community Scholar at the UCLA NAID Center. Her appointment recognizes her international, philanthropic, entrepreneurial, and interdisciplinary leadership, including her role in establishing the UCLA–Oxford Initiative on Indigenous, Migrant and Frontline Communities (IMFC) through collaboration between the NAID Center and the University of Oxford.
Her work connects scholarship with practice across regional development, institutional resilience, sustainability, migration, artificial intelligence, and international cooperation. She contributes to research, policy initiatives, educational programs, and international partnerships involving UCLA, Oxford, and global community networks.

Dr. Maria Dubravka Pineda serves as a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the UCLA NAID Center. Her appointment recognizes the international and interdisciplinary character of her academic and professional work and her experience spanning scholarship, education, policy, and practice.
Her work brings together regional and urban planning, enterprise risk management, sustainability, artificial intelligence, migration, and institutional decision-making, with an emphasis on translating research into practical value for policymakers, organizations, and communities.

Jail Ixel Cruz García serves as Senior Visiting Advisor for Strategic Partnerships and International Cooperation. Based within a broader transnational support network in Mexico, she helps strengthen relationships connecting the NAID Center with institutions, communities, partners, and initiatives across borders.
Her work supports international cooperation, partnership development, institutional coordination, and the expansion of collaborative networks connecting UCLA NAID research and initiatives with partners in Mexico and beyond.

Adhila Akbar contributes specialized artificial intelligence expertise to the UCLA NAID Center as part of its broader network of UCLA faculty, researchers, graduate students, and external experts.
Her work has included the development of AI agents for the NAID Center, supporting new approaches to research access, knowledge organization, public engagement, and the application of emerging technologies across Center initiatives.

Juan Contreras manages the UCLA NAID Center's website and digital publishing activities, supporting the presentation and organization of the Center's research, publications, programs, media, and institutional initiatives.
For website questions, updates, or digital content inquiries, please refer to Juan Contreras, UCLA NAID Website Manager juanuclax@gmail.com.