Emily Maurin-Waters is a Ph.D. student in the Social Welfare Department at the Luskin School of Public Affairs, UCLA. She employs community-engaged, participatory methods to critically examine how problems in social policy are constructed and the impact of these constructions on marginalized communities. Additionally, Emily has extensive expertise in state and federal policy related to domestic and sexual violence, carceral systems, and queer and trans communities. She has consulted for organizations such as the Transgender Law Center, GLSEN, the Center for Urban Pedagogy, IDEO, and the LGBTQ Institute on Intimate Partner Violence. Emily holds a Master of Social Work and a Master of Public Health from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (2015), and a Bachelor of International Relations from the University of Southern California (2010).
Elan C. Hope, Ph.D., is Vice President at Policy Research Associates
(PRA). PRA is a woman-owned small business with a mission to “create
positive social change for people and communities through technical
assistance, research, and training.” Dr. Hope is an expert in youth
development, racial justice, and well-being. She is an award-winning
author of over 65 articles that explore how young people challenge
oppression and create positive change in their communities. Prior to
joining PRA, Dr. Hope was an associate professor of psychology and a
university scholar at NC State University. Dr. Elan Hope is a native of
Prince George’s County, Maryland and earned her Bachelor’s degree in
Psychology from Smith College and her PhD in Education and Psychology
from the University of Michigan. Following graduate school, Dr. Hope
completed a post-doctoral fellowship (sponsored by the William T. Grant
Foundation) in Comparative Human Development at the University of
Chicago.
Laura Wray-Lake is a Professor in Social Welfare and Human Development
& Psychology at UCLA. She received her PhD from Penn State
University (2010) in Human Development and Family Studies, a master's in
psychology from Bucknell University (2004) and a Bachelor's of Arts in
Psychology at Wake Forest University (2002). Her research focuses on
adolescents' and young adults' civic engagement to understand how and
why young people from different backgrounds and contexts become engaged
in social and political change. Dr. Wray-Lake is a member and Elected
Board member of the Society for Research on Adolescence and is also a
member of the Society for Research on Child Development and the Society
for Social Work and Research. She is an Associate Editor of the Journal
of Research on Adolescence, and received the Midcareer Award for
Research Excellence from the Society for Research on Adolescence in
2020.
