Since 2006, the Judith Gueron Fund Minority Scholars Program has supported doctoral fellowships and internships at MDRC with a goal of engaging and encouraging individuals from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in the education and social policy research communities. The fund is named for Judy Gueron, president of MDRC from 1987 to 2004.

Wonderful young scholars have enriched our organization by participating in the intellectual life of MDRC and by working with MDRC research staff. And they have gone on to do amazing things (including coming back to work at MDRC!).

Here’s an update on where some of them are today.

Adriana Villavicencio
Doctoral Fellow, Summer 2009

Adriana Villavicencio is deputy director at the Research Alliance for New York City Schools. In this role, Villavicencio helps to shape the Alliance’s research agenda and works to enhance relationships with external partners and key stakeholders. The Alliance is led by James Kemple, who spent more than 18 years at MDRC. 

Yana Kusayeva
Graduate Operations Intern, Summer 2013

Yana Kusayeva is an analyst at MDRC, currently serving as project manager of the Behavioral Interventions for Child Support Services (BICS) project, where she is also an operations co-lead for the Georgia study. She also works on cost analyses and implementation research in the Youth Development, Criminal Justice, and Employment policy area. Kusayeva has recently been appointed to serve on the Human Relations Commission by the Board of Supervisors of Alameda County to advise them on community issues, including education, employment, and public safety.

Nancy Acevedo-Gil
Doctoral Fellow, Summer 2013

Nancy Acevedo-Gil is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership & Technology at California State University at Santa Bernardino. Her most recent publications, which focus on the experiences of Latinx students as they navigate the higher education pipeline, started to develop while she was at MDRC and working on her dissertation. Acevedo-Gil is currently working with two California-based elementary schools to develop college consciousness among Latinx middle school students. 

Toni Castro-Cosio
Doctoral Fellow, Summer 2014

“After obtaining my PhD in Public and Urban Policy from the New School in May 2016, I started working at MDRC in the Low-Wage Workers and Communities Policy Area on a small loan project, which is closely aligned with the subject area of my research. Since then, I have been engaged in different capacities in other MDRC projects, including the Text Ed Demonstration project and Behavioral Interventions to Advance Self-Sufficiency-Next Generation,” writes Castro-Cosio.  “I have also had the opportunity to present my dissertation research at various conferences and seminars, including at the American Association of Geographers and NYU’s Institute for Public Knowledge. I’m also in the process of publishing my dissertation papers, for which I received MDRC support to do the fieldwork as a Judith Gueron Minority Doctoral Fellow.”

Danielle Cummings
Graduate Operations Intern, Summer 2014

In 2015, Danielle Cummings joined MDRC’s Youth Development, Criminal Justice, and Employment Policy Area, where she works as a data manager and statistical programmer. Her current projects include evaluations of YouthBuild, the Young Adult Internship Program, and Procedural Justice-Informed Alternatives to Contempt.

Anna Rodriguez
Undergraduate Intern, Summer 2015

“After graduating from New College of Florida in 2016, I worked on the presidential campaign in Iowa, supporting Planned Parenthood,” writes Rodriguez. “I then moved to DC as a communications fellow at Conway Strategic, a communications firm that works primarily with reproductive justice and LGBT organizations. After my fellowship, I started my law degree at UC-Berkeley, where I have been involved with pro-bono projects related to reproductive justice and sexual assault on campus. I am excited to continue my work in healthcare reform, which was a big component of the research I interacted with at MDRC.”

Raul Chavez
Doctoral Fellow, Summer 2016

Raul Chavez completed his PhD at UC Berkeley in 2017. He recently published Gueron-funded research that analyzed the role of family in Latino males’ occupational trajectories. He currently works on various youth research projects as a senior research associate with the National Council on Crime and Delinquency and manages side research projects on child development, child care policy, and youth homelessness.

Amber Jones
Undergraduate Intern, Summer 2017

“I am studying and interning in Kóln, Germany, within a social service agency that aids young girls and refugees,” writes Jones. “After I graduate this April from the University of Pittsburgh (with a bachelor’s degree in social work), I plan to teach abroad in South Korea or join the Peace Corps. My internship with MDRC has encouraged me to pursue a career on a more mezzo-macro level. I would like to travel for a few years before going into the field in order to further develop my cultural competency and knowledge of systems that may help me better serve my clients in the future.”

Rosalia Chavez Zarate
Doctoral Fellow, Summer 2016

Rosalia Chavez Zarate is a doctoral student in the Developmental and Psychological Sciences Program at Stanford University, where she is also a student in the IES Doctoral Training Program. Her research interests include studying remediation among students enrolled in community colleges.

Tommy Wu
Doctoral Fellow, Summer 2017

“I recently presented my dissertation research on the online mobilization of Chinese restaurant workers at the Association for Asian American Studies conference — research that I conducted during my time at MDRC as the Gueron Minority Fellow,” writes Wu. “The program also provided the resources for me to complete a chapter of my dissertation. I plan to complete my dissertation and go on the job market by fall of 2018.”

Lori-Ann S. Clementson
Graduate Operations Intern, Summer 2017

Lori-Ann Clementson is a Community School Director working with Frederick Douglass Academy III in New York City. As the Community School Director, she is responsible for the day-to-day management of the community school strategy in collaboration with school leadership and community partners. Prior to joining the Center for Supportive Schools, Lori-Ann was a Program Evaluator for the NYC DOE Division of Early Childhood Education’s Initiative Pre-K for All where she evaluated pre-K programs across the Bronx and Harlem in order to better support program leaders and NYC children. Lori-Ann earned a master’s degree in Sociology and Education Policy from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a bachelor’s degree in English and Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies from Tufts University.

Linsey N. Edwards
Doctoral Fellow, Fall 2017

Linsey Edwards, a doctoral student in the sociology program at Princeton University, is in the process of finalizing her dissertation, which examines the time implications of poverty. She has accepted a tenure track assistant professor position in sociology at New York University, which will begin in 2020.

To learn more about the Gueron Fund Minority Scholars Program, contact Crystal Byndloss at crystal.byndloss@mdrc.org.