Ed.D. University of California, Los Angeles, Education – 2018

B.A. Stanford University, Psychology – 2011

A.A. Santa Monica College, Psychology and Anthropology – 2008

I am passionate about helping people apply insights from psychology research to improve motivation, equity, resilience, and academic achievement. My area of expertise is the social psychological factors that can support–or undermine–our motivation, resilience, and sense of social connectedness. These factors include:

• beliefs about the malleability of ability (growth mindset),
• sense of belonging or belonging uncertainty,
• perceptions of the value and cost of engaging in tasks,
• a sense of purpose and passion,
• experiences of social identity threat (or worries about being judged negatively based on your identity),
• experiences of bias (implicit or explicit), and
• experiences of trauma.

I help educators, education leaders, managers, and product designers understand how to apply this knowledge to their context so that they can improve student motivation, persistence, and achievement; reduce equity gaps and implicit bias; improve job satisfaction and productivity; and develop more engaging experiences.

I believe that our capacity to thrive as a society depends on how well we train our educators and leaders to build inclusive environments that foster a fearless passion to learn, curiosity, and empathy and compassion for others.