Reflections on racial justice key issues, challenges, and solutions from Ford School PhD alumni | Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
Type: Public event

Reflections on racial justice key issues, challenges, and solutions from Ford School PhD alumni

Date & time

Nov 17, 2021, 4:00-5:30 pm EST

Location

This is a Virtual Event.

Join the Ford School community for a virtual panel discussion to mark the 20th anniversary of the joint PhD program. 

Center for Racial Justice director Celeste Watkins-Hayes will moderate a panel of Ford School PhD alums reflecting on key issues, challenges, and solutions around racial justice. Following the panel, attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a virtual networking session with fellow PhD alumni, current doctoral students, and other attendees.  

Panelists

L’Heureux Lewis-McCoy, PhD ‘08

L’Heureux Lewis-McCoy is an associate professor in the Sociology of Education program in the Department of Applied Statistics, Social Science and Humanities at New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development. He holds a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Sociology from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI (2008) and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA (2000).

His central line of research concentrates on educational inequality particularly focused on the intersecting roles of race, class, and place. His first book, Inequality in the Promised Land: Race, Resources, and Suburban Schooling, examines the experiences of low income and racial minority families’ attempts at accessing school-related resources in an affluent suburb. He is currently fielding a multi-site ethnographic study in Westchester County that examines residents’ experiences with housing and schools. His larger research interests include race and racism, gender justice, and community mobilization. His research has appeared in multiple edited volumes and academic journals such as Urban Education, American Educational Research Journal, and Ethnic & Racial Studies. He is a frequent media contributor and public speaker. His insights have been included in Ebony Magazine, The Grio, The Root, US World News Report and on channels such as CNN and Al Jazeera.

Prior to joining NYU Steinhardt, he held an appointment as an associate professor of Sociology and Black Studies at the City College of New York–CUNY and was a member of the doctoral faculty at the CUNY Graduate Center.

Alexandra Resch, PhD ‘08

Alexandra Resch is the Director of Learning and Strategy in Mathematica’s Human Services unit. Since joining Mathematica in 2008, Alex has focused on education research and has specialized in developing the capacity of programs and local organizations to generate and use evidence to improve their programs. From August 2018 - October 2019, Alex served as an interim Senior Program Officer on the Measurement, Learning, and Evaluation team for the K-12 Strategy at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In this role, Alex contributed to the development of a measurement and evaluation framework for R&D in education. Dr. Resch holds a PhD in Economics and Public Policy from the University of Michigan.

Kennedy Turner, PhD ‘19

Kennedy A. Turner is the Director of Graduate Education and Fellowships at Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA). In this role, Kennedy supports high achieving, low-income students in reaching their educational and leadership goals. Before joining LEDA, Kennedy earned her PhD in Public Policy and Sociology from the University of Michigan. Her research explored the racial identity development of Black college students at elite public institutions. Prior to Michigan, Kennedy earned her BA in Political Science from Howard. 

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