I am an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Boston University and a fellow in the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation at the Harvard Kennedy School. My research interests lie at the intersection of political psychology, racial inequality, and voting behavior. My research examines how members of historically marginalized groups (through their race, class, and/or gender) develop psychological and social resources to engage in the political process.

My research has been published in Politics, Groups, and Identities, Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law, Politics & Gender, European Journal of Politics and Gender, and the Oxford Handbook of Political Participation. I have numerous awards for my scholarship, including from the National Science Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, and the American Political Science Association. In 2025, I was the recipient of the Best Paper on Intersectionality from the Women, Gender, and Politics Section of APSA.

I have also written articles for The Washington Post’s Monkey Cage Blog and its predecessor, Good Authority, and my research has been featured in USA Today, Forbes, The Bay State Banner, and Capital B News. I am a co-editor of the New Directions in African American Political Psychology edited volume, under contract with the University of Michigan Press. I am frequently called upon as an expert to speak on Black voters, voting rights, voter suppression, civic engagement, racial justice, and the intersection of race and politics.

I earned my Ph.D. in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles. I am a proud alumna of Spelman College, a historically Black women’s college in Atlanta, Georgia, where I was a UNCF/Mellon Mays Fellow.

I am listed as an expert on Women Also Know Stuff and the Black Media Expert Directory.