About
The status quo is just not my thing.
I like working in the in-between spaces - building bridges and busting barriers between research and application, individuals and systems, and the mind and society.
Expertise: Culture, race, inequality, social and cultural change, organizational design, research-practice partnerships, higher ed leadership
Bio
I am a social psychologist with experience leading centers and teams within higher ed. I study and put into practice strategies to help people live, work, and thrive in today’s increasingly diverse and divided world. My expertise is in harnessing the power of culture to support organizational and societal change and disrupting cultural defaults that lead to bias and inequality. My research has been published in peer-reviewed journals, covered by national media outlets, and supported by leading foundations.
As Executive Director and Senior Research Scientist at Stanford SPARQ, I oversee the center’s team and projects. I partner with practitioners in criminal justice, education, economic mobility, education, health, media, and technology to leverage behavioral science insights to drive change. I prioritize an approach to research that is grounded in society’s most pressing problems and centers the perspectives of practitioners working to lead change on the ground. I create opportunities for researchers and practitioners to learn from one another in mutually beneficial partnerships. I also regularly speak and advise on how social science research on race, culture, and inequality can drive strategies for change.
Before Stanford SPARQ, I was Associate Director of Stanford’s Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity (CCSRE) and Stanford's Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE). I am a Stanford Ph.D. alum in Social Psychology.
Work experience
Executive Director & Senior Research Scientist (promoted from Managing Director in 2022) | Stanford SPARQ, Stanford University
2016 - 2018
Project Director & Senior Research Scientist | Stanford SPARQ, Stanford University
2012 - 2016
Associate Director | Center for Comparative Studies in Race & Ethnicity, Stanford University
2011 - 2012
Associate Director | Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education, Stanford University
2009 - 2011
Postdoctoral Research Associate & Program Coordinator | Department of Psychology, Stanford University
2008 - 2009
Marketing Research Consultant | Answerlab, Koski Research, EVB
Education
Stanford University, PhD in Social Psychology
Teaching Fellow, Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity; Centennial Teaching Award; Graduate Research Award
1998 - 2002
Middlebury College, BA in Psychology and BA in Philosophy with honors
Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Psi Chi; award-winning writer; studied abroad at the University of Oxford
Photo: Sarah Deragon @ portraitstothepeople.com