Vera Institute of Justice

Elizabeth was a research analyst with Vera’s Center on Youth Justice (CYJ). Her research interests included youth violence, juvenile delinquency, and disparities within the education system, particularly the school-to-prison pipeline and the invisibility of young women of color in these spaces. Elizabeth possessed genuine interest in working with vulnerable populations, as well as empowering youth in urban communities.

Prior to Vera, Elizabeth ran the Women’s division of the Kings Against Violence Initiative Program, a hospital, school, and community-based organization that provides young people with productive and safe alternatives to engaging in interpersonal violence but empowering them and cultivating their untapped potential. She gained research experience at NYU School of Medicine, working on a randomized clinical trial, recruiting soon-to-be-released opiate-dependent persons from Rikers Island jail and following them post-release to evaluate the effectiveness of Extended-Release Naltrexone as an opioid treatment at release from jail. She also worked on a community-based intervention with churches in New York City to test the effects of a church-based lifestyle intervention on blood pressure reduction among African Americans with uncontrolled hypertension. She received her bachelor’s degree in sociology from the College of the Holy Cross and her master’s in social work from Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service.