Leyna Co

Assistant Director, Scholars & Fellows Programs; Program Director, Hodson Scholars

As a first generation graduate born and raised in Los Angeles, Leyna’s (She/Her) experiences motivate her work in student support and engagement. She is passionate about creating and enhancing equitable educational opportunities and spaces, as well as providing holistic support and empowering students throughout their academic journeys. Her advising philosophy is rooted in building trust-based relationships, centering students’ experiences, and fostering intentional spaces for personal development.

Leyna joins Johns Hopkins University after previously serving as a Manager of Community-Engaged Learning at Brown University’s Swearer Center for Public Service. Through her previous role she advised undergraduate students in investigating public, civic, and social justice issues they were passionate about through the integration of academic study with community-based learning, research, and action. In addition to her work in higher education, Leyna has several years of experience working within education based nonprofits. She spent time working directly in the classroom with students ranging from 4th to 9th grade, as well as alongside community as a youth outreach coordinator developing and facilitating sexual violence prevention education for high school students and adults across the Greater Boston Area.

Leyna obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). She also obtained a Masters in Education in Human Development and Psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) where she focused on ethnic-racial identity development and understanding how individual and contextual factors interact to inform adolescents’ development and adjustment.

In her free time, Leyna loves dancing, long FaceTime calls with friends/family, and building community through cooking and shared meals (maybe one day she will make you her lumpia). You can also find her endlessly adding new music to her many playlists and engaging in a healthy dose of reality tv.