About

The status quo is just not my thing.

I like working in the in-between spaces - building bridges and busting barriers between research and application, individuals and systems, and the mind and society. 

Expertise: Culture, race, inequality, social and cultural change, organizational design, research-practice partnerships, higher ed leadership

Bio

I am a social psychologist with experience leading centers and teams within higher ed. I study and put into practice strategies to help people live, work, and thrive in today’s increasingly diverse and divided world. My expertise is in harnessing the power of culture to support organizational and societal change and disrupting cultural defaults that lead to bias and inequality. My research has been published in peer-reviewed journals, covered by national media outlets, and supported by leading foundations.

As Executive Director and Senior Research Scientist at Stanford SPARQ, I oversee the center’s team and projects. I partner with practitioners in criminal justice, education, economic mobility, education, health, media, and technology to leverage behavioral science insights to drive change. I prioritize an approach to research that is grounded in society’s most pressing problems and centers the perspectives of practitioners working to lead change on the ground. I create opportunities for researchers and practitioners to learn from one another in mutually beneficial partnerships. I also regularly speak and advise on how social science research on race, culture, and inequality can drive strategies for change.

Before Stanford SPARQ, I was Associate Director of Stanford’s Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CCSRE) and Stanford's Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE). I am a Stanford Ph.D. alum in Social Psychology.

Work experience

2022 - Present

SPARQ, Stanford University | Executive Director & Senior Research Scientist


2018 - 2022

SPARQ, Stanford University | Managing Director & Senior Research Scientist


2016 - 2018

SPARQ, Stanford University | Senior Research Scientist


2012 - 2016

Center for Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity, Stanford University | Associate Director


2011 - 2012

Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education, Stanford University | Associate Director


2009 - 2011

Stanford University | Postdoctoral Research Associate & Program Coordinator


2008 - 2009

Answerlab, Koski Research, EVB | Marketing Research Consultant

Education

2002 - 2008

Stanford University, PhD in Social Psychology

Teaching Fellow, Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity; Centennial Teaching Award; Graduate Research Award


1998 - 2002

Middlebury College, BA in Psychology and BA in Philosophy with honors

Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Psi Chi; award-winning writer; studied abroad at the University of Oxford

Photo: Sarah Deragon @ portraitstothepeople.com