Through her work at the Center for Urban Research, Teaching & Outreach (CURTO), Angie Sandoval embodies “Be The Difference.” Guided by its three pillars of research, teaching and outreach, CURTO strives to affirm human rights and human dignity. By collaborating with community and campus stakeholders, CURTO fosters community while creating positive change.
Sandoval, the assistant director of CURTO, recently sat down with Marquette Today to share more about her journey and her work with CURTO.
Where did your passion for social work and social justice come from?
Growing up the oldest of eight taught me the kind of responsibility that makes you think about others more than yourself. I knew I wanted to help people, but I wasn’t sure how. Before coming to Marquette, I served two terms in Public Allies, an AmeriCorps program. During my first term, I worked at a shelter. I’d already earned my bachelor’s with a concentration in social work but was debating graduate studies in social work or a law degree. The shelter made that decision easy: I constantly saw policy barriers and had to tell people there was nothing I could do for them. People who needed help were slipping through the cracks, and we didn’t have the tools to help them because policy failed to address these barriers. I realized policy needed to change, so I started searching for public policy and political science master’s programs.
How did you get to CURTO?
I first came to Marquette as a graduate student in political science, where I was consistently drawn to issues of poverty, education and mass incarceration. During this time, I worked as a research assistant for Dr. Rob Smith, director of CURTO, studying Black women in leadership within corrections. I was drawn to this topic while taking a prison education course where I noticed that many of the corrections staff in leadership positions were Black women. After earning my master’s degree, I continued my research and began supervising interns. At the time, we had about 10 interns – now it’s closer to 30. As CURTO grew, I grew into my role. Today, I work full-time with the center continuing my research, supervising our interns and research assistants to support their work, building campus and community connections, as well as managing our newsletters and annual reports.
What’s your favorite part of your job?
My favorite part of my job is research. Because I believe that access to information is the key to community, I strongly advocate for transparency. This is why I research and share information. When I first came to Marquette for graduate school, I was surprised by how closely the university’s mission to “search for truth and the discovery and sharing of knowledge,” aligned with my own beliefs. My research project looking at Black women’s leadership in corrections has now expanded, and I hired my first two student interns to build the infrastructure for this research. We are creating a space for Black women to anonymously share stories about their work in corrections and I have a student research team looking at the history of carceral institutions and the criminal legal system in Milwaukee County through public archives.
What are you most proud of?
Even though research is my favorite, the most rewarding part of my job is seeing my past interns graduate, pursuing careers, attending graduate school and continuing the civic engagement work they began when they were students. I’m extremely proud of all of them and it means a lot for me to see them go so far and to be there through each step. It makes me grateful for the work we do when I hear about the fond memories they have from their work here at Marquette.
What are you looking forward to this year?
I’m most excited about Justice in Action. It’s a student-led social justice conference held each year in spring. It’s an on-campus event that brings together the Milwaukee community through workshops and discussion. It’s a great way to get outside of the Marquette bubble and engage with the Milwaukee community. I chaired this event last year, and I am eager to be a part of that team again this year. I am really looking forward to that; it’s such a fun experience. I think everyone can learn something there and have a bit of fun!
