
Ophelia Akoto

Christian Bijoux
Chris Bijoux is a PhD candidate in the Economic and Racial Equity concentration at The Heller School at Brandeis University. He received an MPH in Health Management & Policy from Drexel University and a BA in Psychology from CUNY City College. Chris currently serves as Deputy Director for Equity and Racial Justice at the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform (CJJR) at Georgetown University. As a Senior Fellow at Georgetown University and member of the CJJR senior leadership team, Chris advances a race equity framework in all CJJR’s programs and initiatives, including the Crossover Youth Practice Model, Breakthrough Series Collaborative, and a new juvenile justice system assessment project in Tulsa, OK. Chris’ research interest includes the exploration of effective antiracist approaches for improving the life outcomes of legal system-involved youth, particularly racially marginalized youth.

Habiba Braimah

Aaron D. Camp

Kaitie Chakoian-Lifvergren

Ofa Liz Ejaife
Ofa Liz Ejaife is a doctoral candidate in the Economic and Racial Equity concentration at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management. She received an MA in Community Psychology and her BA in Psychology, both from the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML). Prior to her doctoral studies, Ofa worked as a program manager at Suffolk University Law School. She also previously worked as a program evaluator at the Center for Community Research and Engagement at UML, focused on various community-based projects, such as: advancing wellness in the workplace, reducing crime and recidivism, promoting cultural competence in healthcare delivery, amongst others. Currently, Ofa’s research explores occupational landings by race/ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation, and social determinants of Black sexual minority women’s health and well-being.

Fernanda Escobar

Zachary Hylton

Jonathan Jacob

Teresa Kroeger

Kaili Mauricio

Jamie Morgan

Janelle Ridley
Janelle Ridley is a doctoral student in the Economic and Racial Equity concentration. Ridley has dedicated her career to serving youth in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She has been a social worker, a teacher, and the founder of Transition HOPE, a program designed to give system-involved youth purpose, pathways, and encouragement.
After a 16-year career serving youth, she is excited to tackle research critically with a goal of finding the next direction for her work and youth services in general. She hopes her time in the doctoral program will “… allow me to think about the direction for HOPE and for the work moving forward. And joining the staff at Heller is exciting because I get to share what I’ve learned over the past 16 years with other young people… sharing the positives, but also the negatives to this work – the joys you get when you know you make an impact, and the burden you carry when you see that these systems are so dysfunctional.” Ridley received her undergraduate degree from Lasell College.

Emily Su Ni Thoman

Vilma Uribe
Vilma Uribe is a PhD student in the Economic and Racial Equity concentration at The Heller School at Brandeis University. She received an MA in Conflict Resolution and Coexistence from The Heller School at Brandeis University and a BA in Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies and Comparative American Studies from Oberlin College. Vilma currently serves as Director of Policy and Systems Advocacy at REACH Beyond Domestic Violence, where works to address systemic and legislative barriers and to expand the ecosystem of support for survivors of domestic violence. Vilma’s research focus is on policy-based approaches to support the collective economic power of survivors of violence and people of color.