Thank you for visiting my website. Here you will find a summary of my professional history and ongoing endeavors. If you would like additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me directly. You can anticipate a prompt response. 

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I am a political scientist concerned with the institutional, social, and policy mechanisms that shape local governance in minority communities. After successfully defending my dissertation in May of 2015, I graduated with a Ph.D. in Political Science from Texas A&M University the following August. While at Texas A&M I was affiliated with The Project for Equity, Representation, and Governance, a research collective now housed within the School of Public Affairs at American University. I also hold a BBA in Finance and an MS in Economics, both from the University of Texas at El Paso. During the course of my doctoral studies my major fields were  public policy and administration with race & ethnic politics serving as my secondary field. I joined the Center for Organization Research and Design at Arizona State University (ASU) as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in January of 2016. In the fall of 2017 I joined the School of Public Affairs at ASU as an Assistant Professor of Public Affairs. I am on the steering committee of the Center for Latina/os and American Politics Research and a faculty affiliate in the ASU School of Politics and Global Studies. 

 

Within the context of local governance, my broad research interests encompass the fields of political science, public administration, and public policy. My research examines the organizational and political determinants of various outcomes that ethnoracial minorities experience. Much of my work can be characterized as an effort to understand the theoretical and empirical implications of representation and diversity within service-providing institutions. I am also interested in the mechanisms that alleviate disparities in policy arenas that play a vital role in the broader incorporation of underrepresented groups. To date, my research has been particularly concerned with such mechanisms in the context of Latino communities.

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I am a proud product of El Paso, Texas.