Team

Bernadette Sánchez is a Professor of Educational Psychology in the College of Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is an expert on the role of mentoring relationships in the positive development and education of urban, low-income adolescents of color, particularly Latinx and African-American youth. Her research is on the role of volunteer and natural relationships in youth’s educational experiences, the resilience and resistance of youth who are marginalized in U.S. society, and the racial and ethnic processes (e.g., racial discrimination, racial/ethnic identity) that impact the development of youth of color and their relationships with mentors. Bernadette has received funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) for her mentoring research and recently received a grant from the William T. Grant Foundation to evaluate a racial justice intervention for volunteer mentors of youth of color. She was a Distinguished Fellow of the William T. Grant Foundation, and she is currently an Associate Editor of the American Journal of Community Psychology and a Fellow of the Society for Community Research & Action (SCRA; Div 27 of the American Psychological Association). Bernadette is a member of the Research Board for the National Mentoring Resource Center and received an Ethnic Minority Mentoring Award from SCRA. Bernadette is a first-generation college student and received her B.A. in Psychology from Fairfield University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Community and Prevention Research from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

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Anna is a student in the Youth Development program at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). She earned her B.A. in Public Policy from the University of Chicago and an M.S. in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. Anna has worked as a researcher and project manager with the Clayton Christensen Institute, Community Based Mathematics Project of Philadelphia, and UChicago Consortium on School Research. Working with students as a STEM teacher for five years in Brooklyn and Queens and in out-of-school time programs in Philadelphia and Chicago led to her interest in positive youth development and mentoring. She is particularly interested in researching approaches that encourage young people to identify social capital assets in their communities and identities and investigating how cultural humility affects adults’ and young peoples’ abilities to build trusting relationships.

So Jung (Sue) is a doctoral student in the Educational Psychology—Human Development and Learning program at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). UIC is also her alma mater where she earned her B.A. in Psychology. Before beginning her doctoral studies, she worked on research projects examining STEM identity development and self-efficacy among girls in a Girls Who Code program, the formation and maintenance of trust in youth-adult relationships, and the role of cultural match between youth and adults in youth serving programs. She also interned in the Department of Learning, Evaluation, and Community Impact at the YMCA Metropolitan Chicago. Her research centers on contextual factors promoting positive youth development with a focus on learning environments and youth-adult relationships within and outside of school settings, youth mentoring, and program development and evaluation.

Jean is a doctoral student in Educational Psychology – Human Development and Learning at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Her professional experiences as a high school teacher and social emotional learning specialist in Chicago Public Schools fostered her research interests in the areas of school discipline, social and moral development, and educator-student relationships. Jean holds a B.A. in History from Bard College and an M.A.T. in History and Social Studies Education from Boston University.

Ramón is a second-year doctoral student in the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Community and Prevention Research Psychology program. Prior to attending graduate school, Ramón earned a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, along with a minor in Multicultural Leadership Studies. His research agenda is broadly focused on promoting well-being among Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (QTBIPOC) and identifying the factors that contribute to this population’s well-being. His current research examines the ways in which family, neighborhood, and school influence the educational and career aspirations of Latinx youth in Chicago. Outside of research, Ramón enjoys traveling and trying new foods, as well as spending time with his partner Randy and their cats, Nala and Reign.

Kay is a PhD student in the Community and Prevention Research program at The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). She earned her B.A. in Psychology from Saint Mary’s College at Notre Dame, with minors in Biology and Justice Education. Prior to starting at UIC, Kay was a Teach For America corps member, where she was a high school special education teacher in The Bronx. While in New York, Kay earned a Masters in the Art of Teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education. Her research interests include the role of family among underrepresented youth pursuing higher education, underrepresented students in STEM, mentoring for underrepresented youth, and positive youth development.

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Jade recently graduated from DePaul University with her B.A. in Psychology and Minor in Sociology. Jade has done research examining STEM identity, specifically looking at influential factors for women of color when pursuing higher education in STEM. Her focused research interest is on how the experience of underrepresented, first-generation folks’ interactions with larger institutions further influences mental health and well-being. Her research interests also include identity, belonging, and post-traumatic growth. During her free time, Jade enjoys spending time with friends/family, snuggling her pets, and exploring new coffee shops.

Antonio is an undergraduate senior attending Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU). He is a MARC-U STAR scholar studying Psychology with a minor in Mathematical and Statistical Modeling. His research interests involve supporting the positive development of underrepresented, low-income youth by examining ways to create meaningful educational experiences and by examining the relationship between community violence and mental well-being. Previous research experiences include looking at cognitive reflection and how it relates to gender and racial inequality in children, and also how visual-spatial ability relates to math proficiency in children.

Hailey is an undergraduate senior in the Honors College at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and is majoring in Psychology (BS) and Pre-med within the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Her research interest is focused on the dynamics of mentorship, specifically exploring relationships between youth of color mentees and their white mentors through artistic mediums. Hailey’s work aims to contribute valuable insights to the intersection of psychology and mentorship, reflecting her dedication to understanding and enhancing the experiences of underrepresented communities.

Ashton is an undergraduate sophomore attending the University of Illinois at Chicago(UIC). She is majoring in Human Development and Learning with a minor in Black Studies. Her research interests center in human development and social program development within poverty concentrated communities. She has great interest in expanding her knowledge on human research and interviewing techniques.

Amy J. Anderson, PhD – Assistant Professor, College of Education, University of North Texas, Denton, TX

Luciano Berardi, PhD – Director, TRiO Programs and Access Research, DePaul University, Chicago

Yarí Colón, PhD – Staff Psychologist at VA Caribbean Health Care System

Adina Cooper, PhD – Health Scientist, Centers for Disease Control, Division of Adolescent and School Health, Atlanta, Georgia

Lucia d’Arlach, PhD – Clinical Psychologist, North Valley Clinic, Albuquerque, NM

Rachel Feuer, PhD – Clinical Psychologist, Duke Adult Psychiatry Clinic, Durham, North Carolina

Andrea Flynn, PhD

Jessica Hudson, PhD – Clinical Psychologist, Private Practice, Chicago

Lynn Liao, PhD – Indigenous Services Canada

GiShawn Mance, PhD, Assistant Professor, Howard University, Washington DC

Andrew Martinez, MSW, PhD – Senior Research Associate, Center for Court Innovation, New York City

Lidia Monjaras-Gaytan, PhD – Assistant Professor of applied social psychology at Loyola University Chicago, affiliate of the institute of racial justice

Alison Mroczkowski, PhD – Formerly a Research Scientist at the Department of Research & Evaluation at the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago

Alex O’Donnell – PhD student at Clinical-Child Psychology program at DePaul University, Chicago

Thara Nagarajan, PhD – Staff Psychologist, Heartland Alliance, Chicago

Terrinieka Powell, PhD, Associate Professor, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Wendy de los Reyes, PhD – NICDH T32 Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Michigan

Claudio S. Rivera, PhD – Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago

Katrina Roundfield, PhD – Co-founder of AppaHealth

Jamie Wernsman, PhD – Clinical Psychologist, Thrive Psychology, Brentwood, California