Research Team

Director, Policy and Research

Maryam Lucía Portillo, Ed.M., M.A.

maryam.portillo@austin.utexas.edu

Maryam comes to the RACE lab after a decade working as an administrator, teacher, and researcher in the field of Education. She has a passion for integrating research into practice and policy. Her desire to understand how intersectionality and structural inequalities impact communities of color led her to pursue an Ed.M. degree in research in the field of Prevention Science and Practice with a focus on program evaluation for school-based intervention programs from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She continued her research at Stanford University where she received a M.A. in Race, Inequality, and Language in Education with a focus on child and adolescent development. 

Having had the opportunity to become a mother several years ago, Maryam developed a keen interest in learning more about early childhood education, and became invested in learning about the practices and policies that optimize the social and emotional development of children in early childhood education settings. She is excited to be working with Dr. Ibekwe-Okafor in the research she is leading to inform social policies and practitioner-led interventions through the science of human development. 

Amber Fowler

Amber Fowler is a second year Ph.D. student at the University of Texas at Austin, in the Early Childhood Education program in the College of Education. Amber is an Austin Texas native and Early childhood educator who taught Kindergarten for 6 years. Amber is interested in racialized school closures and black early childhood experiences. She is also interested in teacher education programs and teacher agency in the classroom.

Chibuike Kalu

Chibuike Kalu is a first year Ph.D. student at the University of Texas at Austin, in the African and African Diaspora Studies Department. He is interested in the social and emotional development of children developing in rural Nigeria. Specifically, exploring the links between caregiver-child attachment, structural barriers, and child outcomes. He hopes to influence local and national development agendas to promote the wellbeing of young children in Nigeria.

Kam McQueen

Kam McQueen (they/them) is a junior at the University of Texas at Austin, majoring in Psychology and African and African Diaspora Studies. Kam is interested in becoming involved in research on the psychological effects of anti-black discrimination. They are especially interested in addressing the unique problems faced by black people due to systemic and interpersonal racism.

Joshua Moore

Joshua Moore is a junior at the University of Texas at Austin, majoring in Mathematics with a minor in Business. His main area of interest is using data modeling to help reform racial inequality in the public education system. Joshua wants to continue to make a difference through these actions and hopes to assist those who are most affected in our society.

Isabella Sanchez

Isabella Sanchez is a sophomore at the University of Texas at Austin, majoring in Government with a minor in English. Isabella is interested in contributing to research that informs social policies, specifically policies that focus on racial inequalities and racial justice in efforts to promote young children’s positive development. She aims to continue contributing to research initiatives that inform social policies, emphasizing the importance of the law as a tool for social change and equity.

Kynadi Jones

Kynadi Jones is a junior at the University of Texas at Austin, majoring in Psychology with a minor in Entrepreneurship and a certificate in Criminal Law, Justice, and Inequality. She is interested in reducing recidivism and first-time incarceration in Black and Brown populations through policy reform and effective intervention in prisons, communities, and schools. She aims to disrupt the school to prison pipeline by conducting research that leads to effective interventions and policy-level reform.

Ben Walton

Ben Walton graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Psychology and a minor in Educational Psychology. One of his primary areas of interest is understanding minority stress and how its onset at a young age influences minorities (particularly black men) as they age. He aims to continue research in the field to better understand which therapeutic and behavioral science principles could be most helpful to people suffering from minority stress in its many forms. 

Ilana Yoon

Ilana Yoon graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. Ilana is interested in exploring the relationship of gender and racial identity with mental health and life outcomes. She is especially interested in the further development of multicultural psychotherapy models and the broader utilization of culturally competent care.