I study the effective practices of adults who work with youth, especially those that support the development of youth’s social-emotional skills and ethnic-racial identity. I am interested in how adult leaders attend to their own SEL and identity development, especially as they and the youth they work with confront systemic inequities due to racism and xenophobia. My research is applied and has led to training curriculum that facilitates the implementation of effective practices in youth-serving organizations. My goal is to improve the quality of experiences that youth have in programs by supporting adults to develop skills, attitudes, and practices that enhance their work.

Understanding the complex processes of interaction between leaders, youth, and contexts can shape the quality of programs offered to under-served youth and thus the opportunities they have to develop the social and emotional skills and positive racial and ethnic identity that will help them to them to critically examine societal inequities and create collaborative solutions for a more just world.