I am an associate professor in the College of Computing and Digital Media at DePaul University in Chicago, IL. I co-direct the Technology for Social Good | Research and Design Lab with Dr. Denise Nacu.

As for my research, I explore and design technologies used by geographically-bound communities to solve social issues in urban environments by considering social, cultural, and economic contexts as well as socio-technical infrastructures. My current projects explore how various Chicago communities use technologies to address issues such as violence, education, political efficacy, and economic development. The goal of my work is to design socio-cultural appropriate technologies that can be embedded in urban neighborhoods that encourage collaborative pro-social behavior.

I received my Ph.D. from the Technology and Social Behavior program at Northwestern University, which is a joint degree in Computer Science and Communication. I received my Masters in Computer Science focusing on Human Computer Interaction from the College of Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology. Before attending Georgia Tech, I received two Bachelors of Science degrees from Spelman College in Computer Science and Mathematics. Prior to returning for my Ph.D., I was an User Experience Engineer at IBM.

Recent News

  • May 2020: Our project (in collaboration with the Chicago Mayor's Office and Northwestern University) launched, which focuses on working with youth-serving organizations to provide meaningful opportunities to Chicago youth. My advisory role on the mayoral initiative is to create an equity-focused framework for data-informed, community conversations about local informal learning infrastructures. I have the pleasure of partnering with Natasha Smith-Walker at Project Exploration on this community-based work in the Austin community.
  • April 2020: I was awarded a Smart and Connected Communities NSF grant to design data-driven tools and social practices to support a city-wide equitable out-of-school time learning ecosystem in Chicago.
  • Nov 2019: Our CSCW paper (with Christina Harrington and Anne-Marie Piper)  was recognized with a Best Paper award.
  • Nov 2019: Jessa Dickinson presented our CSCW paper (with Mark Díaz and Chris LeDantec) about designing civic tech for resource constrained communities.
  • July 2019: I earned tenure and a promotion to associate professor at DePaul University.
  • June 2019: Our new NSF grant (with Denise Nacu and Nichole Pinkard at Northwestern) began, which focuses on designing a culturally responsive learning ecosystem for non-dominant middle school girls to engage in STEM.
  • ​more news...

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