She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles. Her research and teaching interests include diversity and equity issues in youth studies, urban teacher education, and qualitative research methodologies. She has published in such journals as Teachers College Record, Journal of Educational Policy, Equity and Excellence, Race, Ethnicity and Education, and Urban Review. Her most recent research projects include: 1) Rendering Visible the Civic and Political Engagement of African Immigrants and 2) Strengthening the Bicultural Resiliency of African Immigrant Adolescent Girls in the Context of a Community-Based Organization.