Using a critical and participatory approach, my research concerns young people’s engagement in resolving local and global social, economic, and environmental injustices.
Currently, I am the Associate Executive Director for Research at the Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York where I lead a team responsible for investigating key issues on child and family well-being in New York City, producing an array of data resources, and conducting community-based assessments of the most pressing needs and important community assets. These projects complement data available at data.cccnewyork.org and elevate the voices of community members, service providers, and other experts, especially when public data are lacking.
My research experience covers multiple child and family policy topics, including children’s rights, gender equality, children’s participation in local governance, neighborhood safety, housing, sustainable development, and preventing commercial sexual exploitation of children. Through partnerships with child-centered community development agencies, I’ve conducted research in New York City, as well as throughout Europe, Latin America, West and North Africa, and South Asia.
I also collaborate with the Children’s Environments Research Group in Center for Human Environments where I directed the Article 15 Project and other research initiatives where I gained expertise in designing and implementing participatory research with children and their caregivers. I have taught at the City University of New York, including Brooklyn College, Hunter College, and the School of Law. I have been a member of the New Media Lab at the Graduate Center and chaired the Nature, Ecology & Society Network’s annual colloquium.
I received my PhD in Environmental Psychology from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and BA in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles.
