KELAN KONING, CSUN SEED Leader & Lecturer, Department of English, lives and breathes student support and considers herself truly blessed to have engaged in this heart work on the California State University, Northridge campus for nearly 25 years in roles in the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), Chicano/a Studies, and as writing faculty in the English department.  For over six years she also had the opportunity to deepen and share her learning and knowledge as a Professional Development Coordinator with 3CSN and Unite-LA focused on supporting colleges in the California Community College system in their goal of increasing student success. While in this role with 3CSN, she was introduced to the work of the National Seed Project.  When she heard work was being done in this area on the CSUN campus, she was ALL IN!

Her work is focused on creating stronger classroom and campus communities and destigmatizing mental health and neurodiversity. She has presented widely across California on supporting students through community-building, metacognition, Reading Apprenticeship, Trauma-Informed Pedagogy/SEL, and identity work. Kelan’s poetry has been published in The Northridge Review and Chapparal, and she has a chapter entitled “Mad Lyrics: Toward an Embodied, Community Responsive Pedagogy of Care” forthcoming (August 2024) in Mad Scholars: Reclaiming and Reimagining the Neurodiverse Academy.

In her downtime, she immerses herself in art and travel.  She enjoys a peaceful and creative life with her brilliant spouse, Rogelio, mother, Judy, and furbabies, Arya and Charlie, in the Los Angeles suburbs.