Youth Development: The transition from early adolescence to emerging adulthood is a unique and critical time-period for exploring how social, cultural, and psychological process influence identity, and well-being. We are especially interested in learning about these experiences for marginalized youth.

Empowerment: Youth are capable agents with the capacity to engage with and shape issues pertinent to their lives. We study key processes, contexts, and setting that shape and influence young peoples’ agency and activism. And we often do it alongside them!

Social Justice: Our work explicitly focuses on and unpacks how systemic factors (e.g., racism, sexism, homophobia) are connected to young peoples’ well-being and agency. Furthermore, we partner with young people and communities to identify how such factors ought to be addressed to promote justice and transformational change. 

Community-Based: To ensure our work is culturally relevant and impactful, we take a community-driven approach that ensures young peoples’ voices as well as the key adults in their lives (family members, teachers, non-profit staff) are active partners and collaborators in designing research, interventions, and policies that are reflective of and grounded in their needs and values.