About

I am a National Poverty Fellow with the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. My research agenda focuses on the geography of poverty and the provision of nonprofit human services. Nonprofit human services include services such as food banks, homelessness shelters, affordable housing, transportation assistance, emergency cash assistance, and other critical services. I draw on theories from the sociology of inequality and economic sociology to analyze how market-based safety nets serve vulnerable populations. 

I have a line of research on the provision of nonprofit human services nationally to rural and poor Americans at the county level. In another project, I analyze the provision of nonprofit human services to Black, Hispanic, and Latino Americans at the county level. I also lead the first project to complete primary data collection identifying human services deserts. 

As part of my National Poverty Fellows placement, I work on the Data Science and Technology Team at the U.S. DHHS Office of Community Services (OCS). At OCS, I conduct research on the Community Services Block Grant and OCS discretionary programs such as the Rural Community Development grant program. The Community Services Block Grant is one of the largest federal nonprofit human services grant programs, supporting over 1000 Community Action Agencies in counties throughout the country. 

My placement within OCS allows me to directly apply my research findings on human services provision to inform federal human services policy. In my previous role in the U.S. DHHS Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, I provided staff support to the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services. I supported the work of the Committee on projects addressing the provision of federal human services programs, rural intimate partner violence, and rural homelessness. 

I am originally from Upstate New York, and I have also previously worked as a middle school English teacher in Durham Public Schools.