March 12, 2024 | By Nick Pfost
The Program on Intergroup Relations (IGR) is thrilled to welcome Patrick Kazyak-Albaladejo Muñiz as its new associate director for strategic partnerships and dissemination. They join IGR having most recently served as a program officer for Open Government Partnership. Following a competitive national search, Kazyak-Albaladejo Muñiz returns to the University of Michigan, where they received their bachelor’s degree.
“With their background, experiences, education, and passion, Patrick brings the complete package to IGR,” said co-directors Donna Rich Kapolowitz and Monita Thompson.
Kazyak-Albaladejo Muñiz received their Master of Science in urban planning with concentrations in international development and in housing and community development from Columbia University in the City of New York, and their Bachelor of Arts in sociology and Spanish from the University of Michigan. Throughout their career in international affairs, they built and fostered multi-stakeholder collaboration and partnership between local governments, local community organizations, and international NGOs to co-create locally-defined, ambitious and innovative commitments that seek to make governments more inclusive, responsive and transparent.
Earlier, as a student at Michigan, Kazyak-Albaladejo Muñiz was extensively involved with IGR, Student Life, and LSA. They served as a diversity peer educator in West Quad, an intergroup dialogue facilitator for IGR, a resident advisor, and a Comprehensive Studies Program Summer Bridge advisor.
Kazyak-Albaladejo Muñiz is a passionate research professional, data-driven and justice-centered. They will lead IGR’s strategic partnerships portfolio, which include offerings here on campus for U-M faculty, staff, and graduate students to become engaged with dialogic pedagogy, as well as leading the National Intergroup Dialogue Institute, which disseminates the Michigan Model of intergroup dialogue to higher education institutions across the country and internationally.
Read more