I am an Assistant Professor at Salem State University in the School of Social Work. I completed my Ph.D. in Social Welfare at UCLA and a Postdoctoral Associate position in the College of Education at the University of Florida. My work centers a liberatory praxis that connects my research, teaching, and activism as I work in various collectives to dismantle the institutional conditions that (re)produce racism, violence, and trauma throughout educational systems. My work bridges participatory action research with mixed methods to critically examine dominant frameworks for discussing and addressing institutional trauma to inform community-driven solutions. My work is informed by my experience as a middle school teacher at a zero-tolerance charter school in Brooklyn and as a certified trauma counselor for survivors of violence in Detroit.

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I believe that in order to effectively intervene in and prevent institutional causes of harm research should center community knowledge that leads to collective action. In particular, I have expertise in photovoice, a participatory action research methodology, and am currently evaluating social change outcomes following the use of photovoice projects worldwide. 

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