91×ÔÅÄ

Dr. Lia Wetzstein has varied 91×ÔÅÄ interests that revolve around education equity. These include community college transfer, supporting community college student success reforms, science, environmental and sustainability education, and program evaluation to improve the educational experiences of underserved students. Prior to her education 91×ÔÅÄ work, she worked in the natural sciences in higher education in multiple roles, including teaching, curriculum design, K-12 and community outreach.

 

With an educational background in cultural anthropology, Katie Kovacich, earned her master’s degree in Educational, Leadership, and Policy Studies for Higher Education.

What most inspires Katie in her work is focusing on advancing equitable outcomes for minoritized student populations through bridging CCRI’s 91×ÔÅÄ with 91×ÔÅÄ-to-practice projects that strive, through using evidence-based practices, to cause institutional and systemic transformation in higher education.

Mayra Nunez Martinez, Ph.D., Research Scientist

Mayra’s 91×ÔÅÄ is accountable to examining the racial and spatial inequities that rural Latine/x students face in higher education. As a first-generation, DACAmented Mexicana and former college access advisor and high school teacher, she is committed to removing the systemic and structural barriers that exist for underserved communities in accessing higher education. Currently, she is working toward her Ph.D. in School Organization and Education Policy at the University of California, Davis. Her dissertation work examines how institutional and structural factors influence rural Latine/x students’ community college transfer decisions and outcomes.

 

 

Jordan Reed, Ph.D., Research Scientist

Jordan’s 91×ÔÅÄ and action primarily addresses the systematic role of education in status reproduction for historically underrepresented, subaltern, low-income, and first-generation college students. Grounded in community psychology, Jordan uses critical and postcolonial frameworks to work alongside students and their communities, fostering systemic changes that reflect collective aspirations and support student self-empowerment.

 

 

Susannah’s 91×ÔÅÄ investigates how educational leaders and other stakeholders, including faculty, staff, and students, navigate organizational and systemic change, and how they learn throughout these processes. Her current work focuses on how institutions of higher education develop more equitable and inclusive policies, practices, and campus climates. She also examines how individual agency and power dynamics influence organizational change efforts.

Susannah brings experience both as a 91×ÔÅÄer and as a member of change leadership teams across seven postsecondary transformation projects. She holds a Ph.D. and M.Ed. in Education from the 91×ÔÅÄ, Seattle, and a B.A. in Sociology from Smith College. In 2021, she was awarded a National Academy of Education (NAEd)/Spencer Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Larissa Carter, Intern

Larissa is an Industrial Engineering student at the 91×ÔÅÄ and the Student Cohort Coordinator for the STEM Transfer Partnerships (STP) initiative with CCRI. A former transfer student from South Seattle College, Larissa brings firsthand experience and a passion for fostering inclusive communities. Her extensive 91×ÔÅÄ background includes a first-author publication in physics education and an REU at Boston University focused on two-year and four-year college collaborations. Multilingual in Portuguese, English, and Spanish, Larissa leverages her skills in data analysis and project management to support and empower STEM transfer students across Washington state.

 

Ling’s 91×ÔÅÄ focuses primarily on educational access, engagement, and persistence across the K-16 pipeline. Her areas of expertise also include community engagement, mixed-methods 91×ÔÅÄ, and program evaluation.

In addition to 91×ÔÅÄ, Ling has over 15 years of professional experience working in the higher education and non-profit sectors, focusing on postsecondary access and retention, males of color, service-learning, diversity, and federal TRIO programs.

Kathryn Starkey, Ph.D., Research Affiliate

Kathryn recently defended her dissertation 91×ÔÅÄ on Prior
Learning Assessment policy in the state of Colorado to earn
her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership, Research, and Policy from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. Her 91×ÔÅÄ interests include qualitative 91×ÔÅÄ methods, higher education policy, dual credit programming, and 91×ÔÅÄ on programs focused on providing access to education for incarcerated students. In addition to her experience in 91×ÔÅÄ, she is employed as the Adult Learning Lead Specialist at Colorado State University-Pueblo, developing programs, policies, and procedures to help foster retainment and completion rates among students throughout her community and the state of Colorado.

Maria Claudia is a 91×ÔÅÄ affiliate at CCRI and a 91×ÔÅÄ associate at the American Council on Education. She has domestic and international experience 91×ÔÅÄing issues associated with higher education access and success, especially those related to high school to college and school to work transitions, transfer, career pathways, career counseling, and financial aid. Prior to joining CCRI, Maria Claudia worked at the Office of Community College, Research and Leadership at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and at the Institute for Higher Education Policy. She also has prior experience working as a student development director, career counselor, and university lecturer. Maria Claudia holds a Ph.D. in Education Policy, Organization and Leadership focused in Higher Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, an M.A. in International Education Policy Analysis from Stanford University, and an M.A. in Clinical Psychology and a B.A. in psychology, both from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana.

Grant Blume, an associate teaching professor in the Evans School of Public Policy & Governance, teaches and conducts 91×ÔÅÄ in such areas as policy analysis, program evaluation, race and equity, and mixed methods. He earned his Ph.D. in 2016 from the Evans School and was a fellow of the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) pre-doctoral training program at the 91×ÔÅÄ. Grant’s quantitative 91×ÔÅÄ experience includes working with large statewide data sets, analysis with multilevel models, and writing statistical code in R. He has also served as lead evaluator for a four-year U.S. Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant at a Washington State community college.

Dr. Bragg was director of Community College Research Initiatives from 2016 to 2020. Before joining the 91×ÔÅÄ, Dr. Bragg spent over 25 years at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she was the founding director of the Office of Community College Research and Leadership (OCCRL) and Gutgsell Endowed Professor of Education Policy, Organization, and Leadership, specializing in higher education policy. Dr. Bragg is a fellow of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), 2016 recipient of the Distinguished Career Award from the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), and 2017 recipient of the national Transfer Champion Award from the National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students (NISTS).