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Lata Murti profile photo 2021

Lata Murti

Host of Central Coast Voices

Dr. Lata Murti is co-host of Central Coast Voices, heard every Thursday afternoon on KCBX from 1:00-2:00 p.m. After receiving her Ph.D. in American Studies & Ethnicity from the University of Southern California in 2010, Lata has dedicated herself to education, particularly in the areas of diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging.

Since 2011, she has been a professor of sociology teaching both online and hybrid undergraduate classes to adult learners at University of Massachusetts Global (formerly Brandman University). In addition, she became the tutorial faculty for UMass Global’s Diversity Certificate and Competency courses beginning in Fall 2021.

Dr. Murti also writes and edits, with her work having appeared in a variety of forums, including SPARK—the online magazine of the National Center for Institutional Diversity—The Santa Maria Times, as well as books from Universal Publishers and Complexity Publishing, Inc. Her research on the intersectional experiences of juvenile school educators has been published as a chapter in a 2021 book from Springer Press titled Gender, Race, and Class in the Lives of Today’s Teachers-Educators at Intersections, which she co-edited with Dr. Glenda M. Flores.

Outside of teaching and writing, Dr. Murti has been deemed a community activist for her work with organizations such as the Santa Maria Branch of the American Association of University Women and the Santa Maria-Lompoc Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, in addition to her online workshops on cultural humility hosted by organizations throughout California.

When Lata is not teaching, volunteering, or writing, she enjoys spending time with her family, which includes her husband, her two kids, and her parents.

Lata's email: lata@kcbx.org

  • Join Dr. Lata Murti as she speaks with representatives from the Community Environmental Council (CEC), including Jen Hernandez, Climate Justice Manager with CEC, Alhan Diaz-Correa, Climate Justice Associate with CEC, and Javi Infante Varas, with Rooted Language Services. We will talk with them as their new air monitoring program is about to launch throughout Guadalupe and the Santa Maria Valley.You are invited to listen, learn and participate in the conversation today, Thursday, between 1-2 pm. Call in and be part of the discussion at (805) 549-8855 or email questions to voices@kcbx.orgBroadcast date: 3/16/23Central Coast Voices is sponsored by ACTION for Healthy Communities in collaboration with KCBX.
  • Join Dr. Lata Murti as she speaks with representatives from Corazón del Pueblo, also known as The Cultural and Creative Arts Center of the Santa Maria Valley, Abraham Melendrez, Executive Director, and Evelyn Ornelas, Creative Arts Manager. They will discuss their mission and work to promote creative expression in the performing, visual and literary arts, preserving the heritages that make multicultural futures powerful.You are invited to listen, learn and participate in the conversation today, Thursday, between 1-2 pm. Call in and be part of the discussion at (805) 549-8855 or email questions to voices@kcbx.org.Broadcast date: 2/16/23Central Coast Voices is sponsored by ACTION for Healthy Communities in collaboration with KCBX.
  • Join Dr. Lata Murti as she speaks with representatives from Central Coast Women’s March organizations, Michal Lynch, with Women’s March Santa Barbara, and Pam Gates and Patricia Solorio with Women’s March Santa Maria Valley. They will discuss their continued work supporting, advocating, and empowering all women everywhere, and provide information on upcoming marches.You are invited to listen, learn and participate in the conversation today, Thursday, between 1-2 pm. Call in and be part of the discussion at (805) 549-8855 or email questions to voices@kcbx.org.Broadcast date: 1/12/23Central Coast Voices is sponsored by ACTION for Healthy Communities in collaboration with KCBX.
  • Join host Lata Murti as she speaks with guests with Future Leaders of America, Daniel Gonzalez, Director of Organizing & Advocacy, and Ivette Peralta, Director of Annual Programs. They will discuss their vision of a world where every youth regardless of where they come from is empowered to take responsibility for their own destiny by becoming leaders in their own lives, their families, and community.You are invited to listen, learn and participate in the conversation, between 1-2 pm. Call in and be part of the discussion at (805) 549-8855 or email questions to voices@kcbx.org.Broadcast date: 12/15/2022Central Coast Voices is sponsored by ACTION for Healthy Communities in collaboration with KCBX.
  • Join host Lata Murti as she speaks with guests Jon Nibbio, Interim CEO of Family Care Network, Inc. (FCNI), Britney Page, Housing Navigator with FCNI, and Caity McCardell, Community Resources with FCNI. They will discuss the importance of therapeutic foster care and family support services to improve the lives of children, youth, and families affected by trauma on the Central Coast.You are invited to listen, learn and participate in the conversation, between 1-2 pm. Call in and be part of the discussion at (805) 549-8855 or email questions to voices@kcbx.org.Broadcast date: 11/10/2022Central Coast Voices is sponsored by ACTION for Healthy Communities in collaboration with KCBX.
  • Join Lata Murti as she speaks with guests Jeff Wade, co-chair of San Luis Obispo (SLO) Food System Coalition (FSC) and Executive Director of Slow Money SLO, Shannon Klisch, co-chair of the SLO Food System Coalition and Academic Coordinator with UC Cooperative Extension in SLO and Santa Barbara Counties and Brent Burchett, Executive Director of San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau, SLO Food System Coalition Steering Committee Member. They will discuss the health and economic importance of building and maintaining a strong, sustainable local food system.You are invited to listen, learn and participate in the conversation, between 1-2 pm. Call in and be part of the discussion at (805) 549-8855 or email questions to voices@kcbx.org.Broadcast date: 10/13/2022Central Coast Voices is sponsored by ACTION for Healthy Communities in collaboration with KCBX.
  • Join Lata Murti as she speaks with guests Courtney Haile, Executive Director of R.A.C.E. Matters SLO and Project Visionary for the RACE Matters Belonging series, and Julie Lynem, board president of R.A.C.E. Matters SLO County and journalism lecturer at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. They will discuss the upcoming Belonging 2022 series and their work to amplify the voices of Black and other People of Color in an effort to build an actively anti-racist Central Coast.You are invited to listen, learn and participate in the conversation, between 1-2 pm. Call in and be part of the discussion at (805) 549-8855 or email questions to voices@kcbx.org.Broadcast date: 9/8/2022Central Coast Voices is sponsored by ACTION for Healthy Communities in collaboration with KCBX.
  • Join host Lata Murti as she speaks with guests, artists Stephanie Krouse, Mireya Pina, and Christina Hernandez. They will discuss the importance of public art to our communities.You are invited to listen, learn and participate in the conversation, between 1-2 pm. Call in and be part of the discussion at (805) 549-8855 or email questions to voices@kcbx.org.Broadcast date: 8/11/22Central Coast Voices is sponsored by ACTION for Healthy Communities in collaboration with KCBX.
  • Join host Lata Murti as she speaks with guests from the Buddhist Church of Guadalupe, Sensei Naomi Nakano, and Alice Utsunomiya, the former Obon Festival Chairperson and current Church President. They will discuss the history of Buddhism on the Central Coast and the upcoming Obon Festival.You are invited to listen, learn and participate in the conversation, between 1-2 pm. Call in and be part of the discussion at (805) 549-8855 or email questions to voices@kcbx.org.Broadcast date: 7/7/22Central Coast Voices is sponsored by ACTION for Healthy Communities in collaboration with KCBX.
  • Join host Lata Murti as she speaks with guest Margaret Nakamura Cooper of Santa Maria. They will discuss the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, as Margaret herself experienced it, and what today’s Central Coast residents can learn from the history of Japanese American internment.You are invited to listen and learn from this conversation, Thursday, between 1-2 pm.Broadcast date: 6/30/22Central Coast Voices is sponsored by ACTION for Healthy Communities in collaboration with KCBX.