Jessica Ordaz

Jessica Ordaz is an Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder. She received her doctorate from the University of California Davis in American History. During the 2017-2018 academic year, Ordaz was the Andrew W. Mellon Sawyer Seminar postdoctoral fellow at the University of Washington, which focused on comparative racial capitalism. Her first book, The Shadow of El Centro: A History of Migrant Incarceration and Solidarity, was released in March 2021. Her second project will explore the multifaceted history of veganism and plant based foods throughout the Americas, focusing on colonization, food politics, and social justice. This research will illuminate the wider and transnational history of Latinx veganism and how communities of color have engaged with questions of animal, human, and plant relations for centuries.

Ordaz is also the Veggie Mijxs Denver Metro Co-organizer. The goal of the collective is to center women, non-binary, femmes, and trans BIPOC while providing a safe place for folks to explore decolonization and plant based food justice. Read more about Veggie Mijxs here: https://www.veggiemijas.com/meet-the-organizers