Haley Brown

Hayley Brown is a justice and equity social scientist specializing in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the workplace. Currently, Hayley is a co-owner of Outlier Intelligence, LLC, a research and evaluation consulting company. For the last five years, she worked as the Senior Director of Research and Evaluation at the Anita Borg Institute for Women in Technology (AnitaB.org), leading the Evidence & Influence team responsible for internal research, evaluation, and monitoring. In this role, Hayley collaborated with 100+ tech companies to assess and enhance their structural equity, driving improvements in representation, career advancement, and inclusion for marginalized genders in the tech workforce. Before joining AnitaB.org, Hayley worked in academia, focusing on intervention research to promote faculty diversity. Her work at the GCSW focuses on workplace action research, aiming to combat discrimination and harassment and enhance access and belonging for historically marginalized groups. Her work centers on dismantling structural inequities and challenging traditional power dynamics to foster lasting positive change. Hayley received her MBA and MSW from University of Houston, and she holds an English bachelor’s degree from Rice University.

Tierra Murray

Hi, my name is Tierra Murray from Tennille, Georgia. I am a first-year PhD student with the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston. My current research interests include teen dating violence, intimate partner violence, curriculum development, mental health and wellness, and HIV prevention.

Oi Yee Agnes Ho, LCSW (she/her)

Agnes is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She received her MSW from the University of Houston and a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honors) Degree in Social Work from the City University of Hong Kong. Agnes serves as a Director of Student Wellbeing Office at Rice University and has previous experience in clinical counseling and outreach services in government and non-profit settings. Her research focuses on mental health disparities among marginalized adolescents and young adults. She is passionate about helping marginalized and diverse student populations, particularly first-generation students with limited income, and supporting their needs for well-being.

Ayesha Tariq

Ayesha Tariq born and raised in Pakistan, is an international PhD Student at GCSW.  She holds a Master's degree in Philosophy of International Relations. With her prior experience at the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Pakistan, she worked to rehabilitate internally displaced populations, especially women living in Pak-Afghan border areas. By managing numerous in-kind grants, she worked to strengthen communal resilience to Violent Extremism influence by increasing citizens’ engagement in their community’s decision-making, building acceptance within and across communities, and creating linkages between communities and the government to promote social cohesion. Along with extensive work experience in the development sector, she has also taught and mentored numerous undergraduate students in Pakistan. Her current research focus extends to communities with refugee conditions, aiming to amplify voices of their lived experiences, closely engaging with their culture, socio-political customs, and gender dynamics. She perceives the world through a gendered perspective, fueling her keen interest in delving deeper into the gender-differentiated experiences faced by vulnerable populations, especially immigrants and refugees. She is fluent in Urdu, Punjabi, and English, along with basic knowledge of Arabic.

Alexandra Hood 

Alexandra’s research is centered on addressing systemic racial injustices to advance equity, resilience, and emotional well-being for Black girls and Biracial girls. To frame her inquiry, she uses Black Feminist Thought, Critical Race Feminism, and Intersectionality to examine the influence of adultification on Black and Biracial girls’ identity development. Given Alexandra’s dissertation proposals specific focus on Black and Biracial girls with multi-system involvement, including the Child Welfare System, Juvenile Carceral System, Educational System, and Mental Health System, she has formed a collaborative partnership with a Travis County District Family and Dual Status Court and Judge to deepen the comprehensive understanding of multi-system involvement, and center Black and Biracial girls’ experiences. Alexandra is an adjunct faculty member and proud graduate of MSU Denver’s MSW program.

Umaira Khan

Sheroo Mukhtiar

Sheroo earned her MSW from Washington University in St. Louisa nd a BSW from Nirmala Niketan in Bombay. She has completed several leadership programs including Leadership Houston and the American Leadership Forum.  Sheroo has over 28 years of experience in non-profit leadership and has gained a wealth of knowledge, skills, and experience in managing and operating nonprofits, including program implementation, strategic planning, fundraising, and board development. She has operated as Executive Director for 5 different organizations before her current role as CEO for SERJobs.  As a result of these experiences, Sheroo is interested in exploring nonprofit leadership, organizational dynamics, and related issues.  She is passionate about developing resources that will enable leaders from within the nonprofit sector to lead and grow impactful organizations.

Virginia Richard

Virginia is a proud graduate of Xavier University of Louisiana and the University of Southern California. She also received a Masters in Theology and Ministry from Fuller Theological Seminary. She has worked as a math teacher and interventionist which fuels her interest in school-based research. Her research interests include racial/ethic identity development and cultural awareness and competency, specifically within the school context.

Andrew Robinson

Chelsea Sanchez

Chelsea Sanchez, LCSW is a native Houstonian and proud alumna of the Garland School of Social Work, where she earned her BSW and MSW. Throughout her practice experience, Chelsea has provided case management and mental health services to refugees, survivors of human trafficking, and children and families impacted by the child welfare system. She has presented for conferences and coalitions on building effective coalition partnerships, facilitated professional development regarding trauma-informed care, coordinated advocacy response teams for law enforcement operations, and taught as adjunct faculty at Baylor University. Her research interests include trauma, human trafficking, health and mental health equity, and global social work.

Gregory Gomez

Gregory is a dual degree (MSW/PhD) student at The University of Houston’s Graduate College of Social Work. He is interested in researching how mental health therapies, grounded in evolutionary biology and liberation psychology, can reduce substance use and improve life expectancy and whole being. He focuses on the healing of personal and collective identities, especially for the racially and ethnically othered and those who have been caged. Gregory received his undergraduate degree in biology from St. Mary’s University in San Antonio and an M.Ed. from The University of Notre Dame. In his free time, he is either cooking for his family or playing with his two young sons.

André Harris

André Marcel Harris is an individual living with sickle cell disease and a national sickle cell advocate. He has served on and currently serves on various sickle cell disease and rare disease-related advisory boards with pharmaceutical companies and government agencies. Mr. Harris moved to Houston, Texas in August 2020 for his MSW/PhD program at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. He completed his MSW internship as a Policy Analyst for the Texas Legislature and received his MSW in December 2021. His research interests as a PhD student broadly are the sexual and reproductive health of individuals living with Sickle Cell Disease. In Houston, he joined the Sickle Cell Association of Houston Executive Board where he heads up their legislative advocacy portfolio. He has experience in engaging in community discussion and presenting on sickle cell-related topics at symposiums, meetings, and conferences. He is a proud member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., for which he was appointed National Sickle Cell Liaison Director in 2021. Mr. Harris was appointed to the Texas Sickle Cell Task Force and Multi-Disciplinary Team of the Texas Department of State Health Services Sickle Cell Data Collection Program grant from the CDC in 2023.

Jesse Hartley

Jesse’s previous community, education, and professional experience brought her to pursue doctoral education at the Graduate College of Social Work. Jesse’s research examines the impact of historical and present-day structural violence, rooted in white supremacy and anti-Blackness, to disrupt hegemonic social work education and child welfare spaces. She is exploring social work’s unwillingness to address the field’s complicity in upholding and reinforcing white supremacy in the classroom and social welfare institutions. Employing interdisciplinary methods, Jesse aims to support the agency of marginalized individuals in the interest of dismantling (and ultimately abolishing) toxic systems. Jesse holds a Bachelor of Psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi and a Master of Clinical Psychology from Mississippi State University, and a Master of Social Work from Tulane University. She comes to Houston by way of New Orleans, Louisiana joined by her companion of ten years, her rescue dog Sadie.

Aly Kramer Jacobs

Aly Kramer Jacobs, LMSW is a doctoral student in the Graduate College of Social Work at the University of Houston. She has nearly 20 years of direct practice experience and leadership service in a non-profit violence prevention and intervention agency for survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Committed to supporting survivors in healing from experiences of trauma, her research interests center the vital need for programming and therapeutic initiatives that are empowering, effective, and culturally affirming for survivors of gender-based violence. In her free time, Aly enjoys working out and spending time with her husband, son, and two foster-fail dogs.

Tanya N. Rollins, MSW

Tanya Rollins received her BS in Psychology from Texas A&M University in 1990 and her MSW from Texas State University-San Marcos in 2007. She retired from the child welfare system after thirty years. She worked in roles as an investigator, intake specialist, intake supervisor, training specialist, training manager, and disproportionality manager. In her role as the Child Protective Services Disproportionality Manager for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, she was charged with examining the racial and ethnic disparities in the child welfare system while working with internal and external partners to eliminate the disparities. She was instrumental in the implementation of the Knowing Who You Are project in Texas. She has presented at numerous national, regional, and state conferences on poverty, child welfare, racial and ethnic identity, and disparities in the child welfare system. Ms. Rollins had the honor of working with Austin community leaders while participating in Mayor Steve Adler’s Task Force on Institutional Racism. She was recognized by the Austin Urban League and TexProtects Child Protection Roundtable for her advocacy work. She is a co-founder of the Travis County Race Equity Collaborative and a member of the Texas Taskforce for LGBTQI+ Youth in Care.

She is committed to engaging with individuals, communities, and organizations in efforts designed to confront oppressive systems and hold systems accountable for harm.

Katya Strohl

Katya’s research focuses on holistic health equity—specifically accountability in the use of government grants to outsource health and human service programs to Voluntary Health Organizations and Nonprofits. This passion is based on her career working within multiple government funding structures in nonprofits and community colleges.  She has seen both the positive and negative impact of these programs as a clinical case worker, program coordinator, and Americorps Member for a Boys & Girls Club, a student success specialist, and as an operational team member charged with expanding programs and increasing Diversity & Inclusion initiatives at a non-profit. Katya has her MSW from the University of Washington and an M.S. in Sports, Recreation, and Tourism from the University of Illinois.  

Anil Arora

Anil was born and raised in Denver, Colorado, and is a proud alumni of the University of Southern California where he earned his MSW. Anil was able to intern and then work in an agency (Wellness Works) that supported Veterans with holistic practices such as mental health therapy, acupuncture, tai-chi, pranic healing, and more. This opportunity spring boarded Anil's interest in advocating with Veterans and their council members for support. Anil enjoyed examining current practices for Veteran mental health through the VA or outside agencies and understanding the importance of community during the transitional period of leaving the military. Anil is passionate about seeing the impact of the individual veteran on the family unit and long-term housing.

Riya Bhatt

Marcus Brown

Marcus' research interest includes examining racial health disparities in mental health care, with a specific focus on the ways in which social determinants of health shape Black individual's access to mental health care and their related risk and resilience processes. His scholarly agenda is informed by his direct practice experience as a licensed clinical social worker where he worked in both inpatient and outpatient mental health settings with children, youth, and adults. Marcus is interested in teaching human behavior and the social environment, clinical social work practice courses, and research methods.

Sean Burr

Sean’s research is focused on the areas of suicide prevention and intervention. He is interested in exploring alternative evidence-based interventions that will allow communities to better respond to suicidality. His research focus is informed by his clinical work in Canada and the US where he observed individuals and their families unable to access quality mental health interventions for addressing suicide. Finding innovative ways to promote greater health equity in this area is a primary driver of his work. Sean graduated with a master’s degree from the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago and then completed a postgraduate fellowship in psychiatric social work at the Menninger Clinic in Houston. Prior to joining the program, he worked as a clinical social worker in community mental health in Edmonton, Alberta.

Holly Davies

Jody Gardner

Jody's research focuses on sexuality and intellectual disability, specifically the intersection between the two and the implications of negative perceptions from caregivers. Jody is interested in developing and implementing a progressive sexual health curriculum to enhance the quality of life among this population, decrease the prevalence of abuse and exploitation, and sexually offending behaviors.  Jody's scholarly agenda is informed by her work in residential settings for adults labeled with I/DD and co-occurring mental health diagnoses, as it became apparent during that time that there was a sizable gap in services related to the sexual well-being of these individuals. 

Elena Ionescu

Elena’s dedication is in the aging arena. Her research focuses on inclusive teaching, practices in the psychosocial care for older adults, healthy aging, conflict resolution, elder abuse, caregiving, dementia behavior, sexual health and sexual behavior among older adults, and geriatric mental health advocacy. Her passion is to promote successful aging by finding emerging lifestyles and proactive options for the aging ones.

Sangina Khudododova

I am originally from Khorog Town, a small city in the Eastern part of Tajikistan. I have done my Bachelor's in Education from Khorog State University. Later, I did my double Masters, MA in Education and Master of Teaching from Institute of Education, University College London in UK. Upon completion of the program, I joined teaching career, and as part of this profession, for the past 10 years, I have worked in contexts as diverse as, Kenya, Tajikistan, South Africa and the UK. It was due to this rich experience of working in different contexts, with young boys and girls from different cultural backgrounds, that I realized, the success of every child depends on the state of their mental health. Unfortunately, in the context of my home country, in Tajikistan adolescent mental health is neither taken seriously nor, has ever been studied. To fill that gap and bring awareness about the importance of adolescents’ mental health, to identify the major factors leading to mental health disorders among adolescents in Badakhshan (a region in the eastern part of Tajikistan) and make suggestions on how to address these issues, I am interested in studying Adolescents’ mental health in Badakhshan. Coming to GCSW UH was a dream to come true for me. I am hoping, with the support of my professors, through this PhD program, I will be able to contribute towards bringing social justice to the lives of young boys and girls in the remote area of Badakhshan-Tajikistan.

Ying Ma

Ying’s research primarily focuses on community-based gerontology, social work interventions in mental health and chronic diseases among older adults with disabilities, and LGBTQ aging. Her research agenda is driven by her teaching and research experience in the School of Health Care Management at Anhui Medical University as well as her direct practice with older adults with dementia in Hefei City, Anhui Province, China. She received her MSW from Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis in 2020. Ying is passionate about social work innovation education. As one of the founders of Hefei Community Governance School (NGO), Ying is committed to improving the quality of community social work practice with a focus on public health through education. She is interested in teaching social work research methods, social epidemiology, issues and theories on aging, and aging network services.

Limor Smith

Limor’s research focuses on how to reduce self-stigma among young adults with serious mental illness to improve their quality of life and mental health. Her dissertation examines whether self-stigma negatively impacts the development of young adults, leading to worse quality of life and mental health outcomes. Limor’s research will contribute to a conceptual model of self-stigma in young adults with serious mental illness and aims to inform future self-stigma reduction interventions. Her research objectives include contributing to the knowledge base on how self-stigma and resilience impact the development, mental health, and achievement of young adults with schizophrenia and mood disorders.

Helen Clancy (Spencer)

Alberto Cabrera