Carol Johnson, director of the Arkansas Fair Housing Commission, believes Associate Professor Ranko Shiraki Oliver “puts into practice her civic and moral obligation to help others.”
Oliver’s service on the commission’s planning committee is a testament to her desire to help others as she works to provide fair housing and lending outreach to the Latino community. She also serves on the Arkansas Advisory Committee reporting to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and is a mentor in the Immigration Section of the Southeastern Association of Law School, advising other scholars on their immigration law research and presentations. Last year Oliver worked with the Mexican Consulate and the U.S. Department of the Interior National Park Service to coordinate a day-long program entitled “Mexico 2010 – Perspectives on Immigration in Arkansas: A Legal Forum.”
Oliver is the advisor to the Bowen Hispanic Law Students Association and works with the UA Little Rock Disability Resource Center. She also is a mentor for the American Bar Association’s Commission on Mental and Disability Law. In addition, she serves as a member of the board of directors of Integrity Inc., a Little Rock-based nonprofit agency providing a variety of health care, rehabilitative, and child care services to Arkansans.
She has participated in Spanish-language broadcasts on AETN to discuss immigration and volunteered to assist Latino voters in last year’s elections.
She received both J.D. and B.A. degrees from UA Little Rock.