This story is part of a series celebrating the recipients of the 2024 Chancellor Awards for Diversity, given to faculty, staff and learners for their leadership advancing diversity, equity and inclusion on campus and in our communities.
Ailene Estalilla is all about uplifting others.
The chief of staff at the UCSF Police Department and mother of three does it every day, at work and at home.
When she joined UCSF in 2015, the university’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts stood out. “When I first came to UCSF, one of the things I noticed was that a lot of the work that occurred around diversity, equity and inclusion was focused on faculty and students, and there wasn’t a lot for staff to get involved with,” she said.
Estalilla, a first-generation Filipina-American, knew she needed to address it.
So, she got to work.
In addition to volunteering as the inaugural co-chair of the UCSF Finance and Administrative Services (FAS) Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility and Anti-Racism Committee, Estalilla helped organize a DEI-related speaker series, planned workshops focused on anti-racism and brought in restorative justice facilitator training for more than 50 supervisors and managers within FAS, including the UCSF Police Department.
“I think what people walked away with is really thinking about leading differently and how to connect differently with their employees,” Estalilla said. “I felt this was really important to build community within the police department but also have a space for our security staff to feel heard and valued.”
Estalilla is the recipient of the 2024 Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award for Staff, given each year to three UCSF faculty and staff members, students and trainees who have demonstrated outstanding commitment and service to the ideals of diversity, equity and inclusion beyond the scope of their job, area of research or training.
Jada Williams, MS3, was the 2024 student recipient of the 2024 Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award. Alicia Fernández, MD, was the faculty honoree.
Estalilla started at UCSF in 2015.
“I just feel really proud to be at an institution that works towards social justice and allows regular folks like me to be able to work on those passion projects and make impacts in our community, not only for my kids but for that future generation,” Estalilla said. “I do this work for them so that we can change our community and make a difference.”
Honoring Our Community
We salute members of our UCSF community for their leadership advancing diversity, equity and inclusion on campus and in our communities.