Research Mentees

Kimi Xiong is a M.S.Ed. student in the Education Policy Division at the University of Pennsylvania. She's interested in outdoor education, specifically, the promotion of outdoor experiential education among Chinese educational institutions. Kimi’s interests are motivated by her experience as a teenage camper and now camp director, serving students from public elementary and middle schools in Shenzhen, China, with diverse economic backgrounds. In her work, Kimi strives to promote creativity, academic concepts, and critical thinking in the design of school retreat events. She holds a B.S. in Environmental Science and a minor in Education from the University of Washington.

Frances James is a M.S.Ed. student in Education Policy at the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education. She's interested in educational policies that expand access to adult basic education, post-secondary education, and career pathways, especially for adult immigrants in the United States. Frances has worked on the administrative side and as an educator in adult education institutions in Memphis, D.C., Philadelphia, and Murcia, Spain. She also has public policy development and implementation experience in over 10 countries including Liberia, Ethiopia, Uganda, Malawi, Pakistan, and Kyrgyz Republic. She holds a B.S. in International Studies from Rhodes College.

Owen Vadala is an M.S.Ed. student in the Education Policy division at the University of Pennsylvania. His research areas lie in multiple intersecting areas across K-12 and higher education contexts, including (1) the prison-to-higher education pipeline, (2) student and faculty social movements within higher education, (3) community college financial and career outcomes, and (4) political polarization within education. Each research area coincides with his goal of revitalizing the great equalizer purpose of higher education. He holds a B.S. in Secondary Education from the University of Maine and an M.A. in Higher & Postsecondary Education from Columbia University Teachers College. 

Cecilia Dye is a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, where she completed an M.S.Ed. in Education Policy. While at Penn, she supported Jennifer on several research projects and worked as program coordinator for Penn Reading Initiative, a literacy mentorship program at the Netter Center for Community Partnerships. Prior to Penn, Cecilia taught elementary school in New Orleans. Her research interests include equitable funding, special education, and community-school partnerships. Cecilia holds a B.A. in English from Kenyon College and currently works as a Public Policy Fellow through Leadership for Education Equity.