Before I returned to school to earn my M.S.W., I worked in a number of social work-related positions including field organizing for political campaigns, volunteer coordinating for non-profits, and teaching in a daycare center, a position I held off and on for over 12 years.

As an early childhood educator, I saw firsthand how caregivers and teachers can impact child development. My interest in examining early childhood education was inspired by Dr. Walter Gilliam from Yale, who first studied and documented high rates of preschool expulsion in the United States in 2005. Ultimately, I would like to contribute research to the early childhood field to help agencies and caregivers be more aware and responsive to the needs and barriers faced by marginalized children and families. More specifically, my interests include facilitators and barriers to accessing child care, professionalizing the early childhood workforce, and disciplinary practices that are harmful to child development.

Research Interests

Early childhood education and child care, access, program quality, and disparities in discipline including expulsion, suspension, and seclusion