OBJECTIVE STATEMENT

I (she/her) am an Afro-Jamaican, first-generation, low-income (FGLI) doctoral candidate in the Sociology of Education program at NYU Steinhardt. My work is grounded in the belief that rigorous, community-engaged research can illuminate structural barriers and shape more just educational systems. My dissertation, Antiblackness in the Academy: Afro-Caribbean Students Navigating U.S. Higher Education, investigates how Afro-Caribbean college students experience and resist antiblackness across institutional and cultural contexts. Want to learn more?

In addition to my doctoral work, I serve as the Communications and Outreach Specialist at the Research Alliance for New York City Schools where I implement a range of strategies to engage stakeholders in the Research Alliance’s work and promote the use of evidence in NYC’s education system. I also contribute to multiple studies at the Research Alliance, including an interdisciplinary project aimed at illuminating the structural, educational, and mental health factors driving high school non-completion for NYC youth.

I am an alumna of Vassar College, where I earned a B.A. in Biochemistry, Educational Studies (with Departmental Honors), and History.  At Vassar, I deepened my commitment to equity-centered research and teaching while working with nonprofits in Greece and Poughkeepsie, NY, leading race education workshops for children, teaching in K–12 and college classrooms, and conducting lab and field-based research across multiple disciplines.

My scholarly interests stem from a deep curiosity about the complexities of the Afro-Caribbean experience—particularly how Afro-Caribbeans and their children, both U.S. and foreign-born, navigate a society marked by antiblackness, racial misrecognition, and xenophobia. These questions are not only academic but personal, shaped by my own positionality and observations of the relational tensions and solidarities between African Americans and Afro-Caribbean communities. Through my dissertation and broader work, I aim to generate contemporary insights into the educational and sociopolitical realities of Afro-Caribbean students in the U.S.