Founded in 2021, the HSP Alumni Network (or āHANā) creates regular programming and unique networking opportunities for Alumni of the organization. HAN also serves as a key conversation partner for the HSP as we live out our vision and mission. They hold various workshops, talks, accountability groups, and networking events.
HSP Alumni Network
HAN History
In 2021, a group of HSP alumni gathered together to dream about how to continue to sustain the loving community that so many HSP students experienced during the summer session and the HSP’s many other programs. This began the process of creating what is now the HSP Alumni Network (HAN), an organization that is led by a council comprised of HSP alumni. In its first three years, HAN membership has grown to over 50 members, the council has created policies and procedures to support its infrastructure, council members have designed and led many virtual events, awarded microgrants to HAN membership, created a facebook community exclusively for HAN members, and launched the HAN writers workshop.
“Diligence, determination, courage, and commitment apply to the contributors animating and maintaining HAN. I believe they are energized by a deep sense of hospitality, making room to expand and employ all gifts offered.” Dr. Maria Fee, HAN founding member
“The Hispanic Scholars Network is a dedicated space for connection, reflection, and growth, fostering a community of support, and shared exploration of our potential in the world.” Anthony Cruz Pantojas, HAN Council member
HAN Council Members
Janay Salcedo-Kinsey
Janay, a native New Yorker and first-generation Dominican-American, is a psychotherapist at Manhattan Mindful. With a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary and a Master of Social Work from Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, she has spent the past decade exploring the intersections of storytelling, trauma, and community building. A core organizer at Common Ground Collective, she thrives on fostering vulnerability, deepening connections, and activating creativity through theology and practice. As founding President of the Hispanic Scholar Program Alumni Network, she cherishes gathering with alumni to reflect on the program’s impact on their journeys and vocations.
Talina Sarmiento Beck
Talina was born and raised in Mexico City. She came into the U.S. and has lived in Virginia since 2010. She is a deacon candidate in the United Methodist Church and graduated with a Masters of Theology from Wesley Theological Seminary in 2023. She currently works at the Chesterfield Public Libraries where her work and contributions aim to make library services more accessible and attractive to those in disadvantage in the community. She lives with her partner and their four boys at Chesterfield, VA where she enjoys time outdoors and cocina latina.
Mari Ramler
Mari Ramler is an Associate Professor of English at Tennessee Technological University, where she teaches courses in the rhetoric of religion, science, and technology. Her scholarship has been featured in Rhetoric Society Quarterly, Journal of Communication and Religion, Technical Communication Quarterly, Constellations, Textshop Experiments, Capacious, Dialog: A Journal of Theology, and Screen Bodies: The Journal of Embodiment, Media Arts, and Technology, in addition to the edited collections COVID Communication and The Routledge Handbook of Queer Rhetoric.
Larry Figueroa
Larry is an alumni of various HSP programs including summer sessions, the discernment workshop, and the Latinx Discernment cohort. In 2021, a group of alumni began the process of creating what is now the HSP Alumni Network (HAN) which Larry now serves as the president (2023-2026). Larry is a graduate of Western Theological Seminary where he earned his M.Div., and is currently a PhD student at Union Theological Seminary in Hebrew Bible.
Anthony Cruz Pantojas
Anthony Cruz Pantojas, MATS, MALS, BCC, (they/them) is a spiritual director and the Humanist Chaplain and Coordinator of Africana Spirituality at Tufts University. Anthony supports the exploration and development of ethical inquiry, promotes critical thinking and self-discovery, and inspires individuals to question and reimagine their inner and outer worlds.
Alumni Network Benefits
- Ability to join the Alumni Council and shape Alumni programming
- Invitations to smaller, regional gatherings in your area
- Invitation to monthly HSP Exchange series
- Visibility on website and relevant materials
- Special Alumni Network gathering at HSP annual events
- Opportunity to network with other alums
