EDUCATION

Ph.D., Physics, University of Texas, Austin, Texas (December 1997)
- Dissertation title: The Mott-Hubbard/Fermi-Liquid System La_1-xSr_xTiO₃
- Ph.D. Research Advisor: Prof. John B. Goodenough (Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, Dec. 10, 2019); and Ph.D. Dissertation Advisor: Prof. John T. Markert.

I am a community psychologist with over 28 years of experience at the intersection of health and educational behaviors of youth and women of color. I am currently the Executive Director of Pathway Programs at Cal State LA. Our campus unit is dedicated to  preparing  and transitioning K-16 students from the local service area to our campus so that they can persist and graduate with a degree that they can obtain a job with. This includes creating programming that addresses the cultural origins, developmental considerations and equity issues involved with serving groups of students whose age span from 5 years to early adulthood. I have also served as an evaluator to national organizations whose mission it is to increase health equity across the lifespan for people of color. I have also been a fellow at the nationally recognized Massachusetts Institute for College and Career Readiness where I co-created and implemented evaluation protocols for educational pathways that can impact the lifelong success of students across the country. Additionally, I continue to be and have been a board member for the last 12 years at El Nido Family Centers, a service organization that has been around since 1925 providing counseling and family support services to disadvantaged communities throughout Los Angeles County.