Lauren Christine Mims, PhD is a freedom dreaming researcher who studies the brilliance of Black children and their families in order to guide the development of new research, policies, practices, and narratives that both identify and ameliorate inequalities facing Black children and their families. 

Dr. Mims is an associate professor in the Department of Applied Psychology at New York University's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. During the Obama Administration, she served as Assistant Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans. 

Dr. Mims' career has been devoted to creating spaces for Black children to tell their truths, whether that be on a big stage at the White House or at a small table in a school library or classroom. She has been inspired by all the waymakers in her life who helped her engage in creative problem solving throughout her life and, as such, she has audacious dreams of ensuring every Black child is supported, affirmed, and provided opportunities that support their ability to flourish. She was named a Diverse Issues in Higher Education 2024 Emerging Scholar, a list that recognizes “the very best of the U.S. academy.”

Dr. Mims earned her doctorate in Educational Psychology: Applied Developmental Science at the University of Virginia School of Education. Dr. Mims obtained a B.A. in English and Psychology from the University of Virginia in 2012 and a M.A. in Child Development with a concentration in Clinical Developmental Health from Tufts University in 2014.

Hi! My name is Dulce Maria Lopez Alvarez, and I am a first-year doctoral student in the Developmental Psychology program at NYU Steinhardt. I was born in Querétaro, Mexico, and raised in an immigrant household in North Carolina, as such, my first-hand experiences have informed my passion for exploring how context shapes the immigrant experience. My research interests are to examine how power structures tied to race and gender shape undocumented youth’s identity development, civic engagement, and resistance. Outside of academics, I enjoy spending time with friends and family, as well as, reading, working out, and painting!

Hi! My name is Elisha Arnold, I am a second-year Ph.D. student in the Developmental Psychology program at New York University. My research interests center around supporting Black youth by examining protective factors and exploring the cultural contexts that shape their academic experiences and overall wellbeing. Originally from California, I have a deep love for the beach and spending time outdoors. In my free time, I enjoy practicing yoga and visiting museums to further my interests in art and culture!

Hello, I am Heather Bishop, a Counseling Psychology Ph.D. Student at Wayne State University and a School Psychologist. I am passionate about helping Black children within the Detroit community in any way that I can, which has been the driving force of almost everything I’ve done for the past six years. From volunteer work to starting self-esteem and social groups for Black girls in Detroit Public Schools. I am passionate about sharing truth for girls of color. I believe that girls of color are brilliant and have the tools to thrive and succeed. I enjoy working with children and teens in private practice. I also provide family therapy and parenting education to help the whole family achieve stability and wellness. Outside of the therapy/school space, I find joy in decorating my apartment, listening to music, and spending time with my family and friends. 

My name is Morgan Boyd and I am a second year doctoral student in the developmental psychology program at NYU Steinhardt. I received my B.S. at Carnegie Mellon University studying developmental psychology and creative writing. My research interests focus on unveiling the tools and methods needed to maximize Black children's academic success (and happiness!) with a particular focus on utilizing educational media like books and televisual programming. I am also passionate about teaching all children about racism and its implications so that they may grow up in spaces where people are cognizant of the systemic issues that may negatively impact the development of an otherwise motivated child, while emphasizing the fact that given the proper resources and respect, people of any race are capable of anything.

Hi, my name is Whitney. I am pursing a MA program for Counseling for Mental Health and Wellness. As a Haitian-American who grew up in Brooklyn, NY, I feel most at home when I'm with my family, whether on trips or playing board games indoors. Recently, photography, scrapbooking, and listening to music have brought me joy. I'm passionate about the mental health and well-being of adolescents in the Black community, particularly in addressing the gap between the community and the mental health services they need and deserve.

Raven graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in May 2023 with a B.S. in biology with a minor in psychology. She will be attending NYU’s Gallatin Graduate School in Fall 2024, studying psychology and African American studies. Her research interests include exploring hip-hop music and culture to understand racial identity development in African American youth and young adults. Aside from her work in psychology, Raven has been doing hip-hop dance for seventeen years and is entering her fifth year as a choreographer. 

My name is Amina Patricia Anekwe; I am a Junior studying History and Spanish at the NYU College of Arts in Sciences. I was born and raised in West Orange, New Jersey. I am a first generation-American from Jamaica and Nigeria. I am passionate about making education more comprehensive and holistic, so that young black girls like me can grow up feeling empowered with the knowledge of how the world came to be and knowing the possibility they have to make a difference. My safe haven AKA Homeplace is my grandmother’s house in Brooklyn, New York. Recently what brings me joy is meeting and getting exposed to people of all different cultural backgrounds and comparing our disparate experiences.

Hey y’all! My name is Kamsie! I’m a junior at NYU Steinhardt studying Global Public Health and Applied Psychology with a minor in Chemistry. Being from Houston, Texas, I have been exposed to a lot of different cultures, which has inspired my passion in studying the developmental and social psychology behind the Black community, especially its impact on the nuclear family construct, the communities we grow up in, and the lifestyle that is practiced due to those "nitty-gritty" social and developmental attributes we pick up from our environment. Outside of the lab, I enjoy lifting weights, shopping, cooking, traveling, and trying new restaurants!

Hello! I'm Vic and I'm currently a junior studying Applied Psychology. I'm originally from the Bronx and what initially made me interested in Psychology is how much it affects my own community and I want to start being apart of that change in my community.  Being an Afro-Latina, I know how both my communities are impacted by the strains of mental health and it is why I want to go into research later on in my career. I also love music, music and fashion and love to go on adventures throughout the city as well! 

Dr. Brianna A. Baker is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Mental Health Implementation Science at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, where she is based at the Center for Innovation in Mental Health. She earned her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University, and completed her clinical predoctoral residency at Yale School of Medicine.

Dr. Baker’s work sits at the intersection of racial trauma, family systems, and public health. Her research explores the intergenerational transmission of trauma and resilience in Black families, with particular attention to mother–daughter relationships, gendered racial identity development, and structural barriers to well-being. She is especially committed to developing innovative, community-informed interventions that promote healing, prevent family violence, and strengthen mental health outcomes in historically marginalized communities.

A lifelong athlete and multi-marathoner, Dr. Baker is also passionate about the connection between mental and physical health. Her lived experience as a Black woman distance runner fuels her interest in movement-based, culturally responsive approaches to healing and wellness. She often integrates this mind-body perspective into her research, writing, and advocacy.

Dr. Baker’s work has been supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholars Program and the American Psychological Association’s Minority Fellowship Program. Her writing and commentary have been featured in national outlets such as Runner’s World and Refinery29, where she elevates conversations around mental health, race, and equity through both scholarship and storytelling.

Dr. Marketa Burnett is a developmental psychologist who joined UConn as an assistant professor of HDFS and Africana Studies in August 2023. Through her work she strives to disrupt deficit-based narratives of Black girls and Black families and instead center their strengths, resilience, and resistance. Marketa is a proud native of Greensboro, North Carolina– a city rich in Black history and tradition. On February 1, 1960, the Greensboro Four sparked a nationwide sit-in movement at Woolworth’s lunch counter. Today, it is home to the International Civil Rights Center and Museum.

     In 2017, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology & African, African American, and Diaspora Studies from UNC Chapel Hill. She credits her time as a Ronald E. McNair scholar for introducing her to the many opportunities available to make meaningful social change through research. She would go on to complete her Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology at UNC Chapel Hill. With support from the Ford Foundation, she launched the I PERSIST Project (Identifying Predictors of Engagement, Resilience, Socialization, and Identity in STem). In this project, she interviewed both caregivers and adolescent Black girls to examine the developmental mechanisms that influence Black girls’ STEM identity and persistence over time. Marketa continued her training at the University of South Carolina as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow where she investigated how religious coping factors might shape identity development and well-being among Black families.

     Currently, Marketa investigates the psychological and contextual factors that shape Black girls’ identity development and their educational trajectories. In addition, she explores the ways Black family processes (e.g., socialization) mitigate the effects of educational inequality and promote resilience and resistance among Black youth. Marketa sees her research as storytelling. She intentionally partners with Black youth and families in the co-construction of knowledge to accurately represent their stories and center their ideas and solutions.

     Outside of work, Marketa enjoys watching game shows (especially Jeopardy!), buying more books than she has time to read, visiting local wineries, and trying out new recipes in the kitchen.

Dr. Addison Duane (she/her) is an assistant professor at Sacramento State dedicated to centering and amplifying the brilliance of children in middle childhood. As a former elementary school teacher, her research highlights the strengths and assets of elementary children of color and their communities to support learning and development. Additionally, she partners Dr. Mims in her work to join the ongoing investigation of education as liberation. Duane earned her M.A. in Curriculum & Instruction from the University of Colorado and her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Wayne State University.

Dr. Marline Francois obtained her PhD in Family Sciences and Human Development at Montclair State University. Her research interest is exploring the psychological well-being of Black adolescent girls who experience gender and racial discrimination in schools. Marline is also interested in developing a culturally sensitive intervention to improve the mental health outcomes of Black girls. 

Eunique Jones Gibson is a creative visionary, cultural architect and social activist who develops award winning campaigns & products that ignite conversation, introspection & social change. She began her career in online advertising with Microsoft and over the past decade she has worked with a variety of companies such as American Family Insurance, Nickelodeon, Genworth Financial, BET, the Oprah Winfrey Network and Custom Ink to name a few.

Always socially conscious with a burning desire to effect change, Eunique began exploring and developing ways she could marry her business acumen with her artistic passions and the results were tremendous. In February 2012, following the death of Trayvon Martin, Eunique created her first photo awareness campaign – I AM Trayvon Martin. The campaign spread through social media and online news outlets around the world and inspired others to use their voice to highlight social injustices and the need for change.

In 2013, Eunique launched Because of Them We Can® an award-winning campaign and platform that reaches millions of people monthly as it uplifts and amplifies positive news. Launched during Black History Month with a mission to empower the next generation to honor the legacy of their ancestors, the campaign featured photographs of adorable children channeling leaders, activists, and celebrities, past and present. It has evolved into a positive platform for Black Excellence that reaches millions of people each month. It’s latest — a subscription box that teaches kids Black excellence and history on a monthly basis.

Throughout her travels promoting Because of Them We Can, Eunique met fellow dreamers and started thinking, “What if we had a space where we could build our dreams and at the same time, build our village?” So, she created it. In 2018, Eunique launched Dream Village, a co-working space for dreamers that allows them to build a supportive community in both physical and virtual spaces. The space hopes to bring back the village values that every community needs. The very first Dream Village opened right outside of DC in Hyattsville, MD in February 2018.

A native Marylander, Eunique received her Bachelor’s degree from Bowie State University. She is a ADCOLOR Rockstar, a Root100 honoree, a White House Champion of Change and has been featured on numerous media outlets, including MSNBC and O Magazine. She credits her biggest support and inspiration to her husband Christopher and their children, Chase, Amari and Sage.

Jameka Hartley, Ph.D is an interdisciplinary Black feminist poet and scholar. She is an Assistant Professor of History, Philosophy and Social Sciences and currently holds a Schiller Family Assistant Professorship in Race in Art and Design at the Rhode Island School of Design. Her work centers on issues of Black motherhood, popular cultural representations of Black women, child to adult outcomes and stigma. Her simultaneous identities of being a daughter and a mother shape both her life and her scholarship. Her work has been published in the International Review of Qualitative Research, Women’s Studies Quarterly and can be seen in the recent anthology, Maternal Connections (Demeter Press). 

Professor Leath studies variation in the family and school-based experiences of Black youth and young adults, with a particular emphasis on how Black women and girls use personal and cultural assets to offset the harm of living within a white supremacist capitalist patriarchal society (RIL sistah hooks). She directs the Fostering Healthy Identities & REsilience (FHIRE) Collaborative, which includes undergraduate and graduate students, as well as a range of community partners in the St. Louis Area who are invested in Black women and girls’ wellness.

Dr. Leath has several current lines of research: the interconnected effects of academic ability, social connectedness, and psychological wellbeing on Black women and girls’ educational trajectories; the role of social determinants of health (i.e., educational access and neighborhood contexts) in shaping sociocultural practices within Black families; Black women and girls’ beliefs about freedom and radical healing; and how Black parents integrate their sociopolitical awareness into their parenting practices to develop healthy relationships with their children.

The FHIRE Collaborative strives to co-create mutually beneficial and sustainable community partnerships, with the goal of leading research and social programming initiatives that directly improve the wellbeing of Black women and girls through developmental science.

Dr. Renae D. Mayes is an associate professor in the Department of Disability and Psychoeducational Studies. She is a licensed school counselor and national certified counselor with experience in K-12 schools along with specialized educational settings.  She completed her Ph.D. in Counselor Education at The Ohio State University, where she was a Todd Anthony Bell Fellow. Dr. Mayes completed degrees at the University of Maryland, College Park (M.Ed. in School Counseling) and University of Missouri (B.S. in Middle School Math and Social Studies Education), where she was a McNair Scholar. Dr. Mayes was also Gates Millennium Scholar as an undergraduate and graduate student. Informed by Critical Race Theory, Critical Race Feminism, DisCrit, and bioecological systems theories, her research agenda centers around the academic success and college readiness for gifted Black students with dis/abilities and Black girls. Mayes’ research details the experience of students and families navigating schools while also providing recommendations for dismantling systems of oppression through policy and practice. Further, Dr. Mayes has extended this research to include implications for leadership, advocacy, and collaboration for school counselors and school administrators.

As the leader of Girls For A Change (GFAC), Angela has been recognized in the local Richmond, VA press as Top 40 Under 40 (2010), by a coalition of girl serving groups in 2015, recognized by President Obama as a White House Champion of Change (2016), received the Nonprofit Partner of the Year (2018) from the Metropolitan Business League, and Richmond Times-Dispatch 2019 Person of the Year Honoree. Angela is an Ambassador for who she calls “at-promise” (as opposed to “at-risk”) girls and a serial innovator. Angela is committed to “Preparing Black girls for the World …and the World for Black Girls.”

In 2016, Patton led her national Board of Directors and staff to refocus and retool the program structure to more accurately reflect GFAC’s goal to work with Black girls. The organization is now able to disseminate its programs using GFAC’s unique, replicable approach.

Angela’s TEDWomen talk describing a father-daughter dance for incarcerated dads and their daughters has been viewed over 1,000,000 times to date. She has been an in-demand speaker, speaking for corporations, at conferences, and at colleges and universities throughout the country. Angela is a contributing author to the book Finding Her Voice: How black girls in white spaces can speak up & live their truth, co-authored by Faye Z. Belgrave, PhD and Ivy Belgrave. The book is available on Amazon, at Target, and at many small, Black-owned bookstores across the country.

Angela is a member of SisterFund and still finds time to serve on the board of Orchard House Middle School for Girls, volunteer for various organizations, and serve as a technical assistance consultant with MENTOR Virginia.

When she isn’t inspiring change, advocating for gender equality, and empowering girls, she is hanging with her family, enjoying festivals and concerts with her husband and motivator, Adofo Ka-Re and their loving children, Imhotep and Asani. Her interests include spending a day at the spa, visiting the Caribbean islands, cardio kickboxing, watching documentaries, and attending dinner parties with close friends.

Dr. Jasmin Brooks Stephens is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology (Clinical Science area) at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Brooks Stephens earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Houston and completed her clinical predoctoral residency at Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital.

Grounded in strengths-based approaches, Dr. Brooks Stephens’ research program characterizes the unique social and contextual risk factors that shape the mental health trajectories of Black youth and emerging adults, with a focus on suicide vulnerability and racial trauma. Her work also aims to identify cultural protective factors that promote resilience and positive psychological well-being for diverse Black communities. The ultimate goal of her research is to develop and implement culturally relevant interventions, programming, and policies that target the reduction of racism-related stress, suicide, and health disparities within Black communities. Her work has been supported by several national organizations including the NASEM Ford Foundation, the American Psychological Association’s Minority Fellowship Program, and the P.E.O. Foundation.

Welcome! I am Kimberly Stokes, a recent graduate of the Counseling Psychology program at Wayne State University. My research focuses on wellness practices and intergenerational forms of care for Black mothers. As a former educator, I taught in Brooklyn, NY, and the metropolitan Detroit. Currently, I am a psychotherapist focused on culturally-grounded therapeutic treatment. I earned an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from Wayne State University. As a proud HBCU advocate, I am a double alumna of Howard University with an M.Ed. in Elementary Education and a B.A. in English. I find homeplace in the company of my “sisterfriends” and playing with her brilliant new nephew!