The Adaljiza Sosa-Riddell Mentor Award is presented annually by the APSA Committee on the Status of Latinos y Latinas in the Profession to recognize the exemplary mentoring of Latino y Latina students and junior faculty each year. The award is named in honor of Adaljiza Sosa-Riddell, the first Latina to earn a PhD in political science. APSA was deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. Sosa-Riddell in August 2023. The Committee on the Status of Latinos y Latinas intend to honor her legacy and contributions to both the Latino/a community and the discipline as a whole at the 2024 APSA Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Giovanna is a doctoral student within the political science department at the University of California, Irvine. Raised in Southern California’s Los Angeles County she witnessed and participated in the immigrant rights movements and social justice protests of the last two decades. With the personal being political, she is determined to continue to be an advocate of historically marginalized communities of color. Her research focuses on education, affect, and the influence of emotions and non-institutional political behavior on Latinx youth’s group identity, mobilization, and belonging. Giovanna is also a 2023-2024 Spring Diversity Fellowship Program (DFP) fellow and a mentor through the APSA Mentoring Program.
“Since our first meeting, she has been an amazing resource for all my questions, concerns, and anxieties related to graduate school and relevant applications. She has also emphasized multiple times that she will continue to be available as my mentor after the official end of this program; our relationship is not limited to last semester. For these reasons, it feels like I have made a friend and long-term mentor through APSA,” states Isabella Marin, an undergraduate student at Yale University.
Marin continues, “Most importantly, Giovanna has been incredibly kind, approachable, and honest regarding her experience as a Latina scholar. This has made me feel like I have a big sister in political science, giving me a role model with a similar background in my field while also connecting me with someone to whom I can turn when facing difficulties unique to being a Latina in political science.”
The APSA Committee on the Status of Latinos y Latinas in the Profession once again thanks Giovanna for her tireless dedication to undergraduate students and offers its thanks for her commitment to bettering the political science discipline.