I am a professor, researcher, and consultant for social change.
As an interdisciplinary scholar-practitioner, I teach across advocacy, public policy, and urban planning with a focus on race, class, gender, and place at NYU. My scholarly research focuses on political economy, spatial politics, and social movements in post-PROMESA Puerto Rico. Whether in the classroom, the field, or in consultation with social justice leaders, my work is grounded in critical pedagogies, participatory action research, and organizational capacity building for social change.
Teaching + Research
How can everyday people be change agents and co-creators of knowledge and action for social justice?
In the classroom, I translate this inquiry into place-based learning experiences—such as an immersive field course in Puerto Rico or a community-engaged learning course in partnership with New York City government agencies and nonprofits. As a qualitative methodologist, I developed the Story Circle Interview Method in 2020 as a participatory data collection instrument designed to shift power dynamics, foster relational ethics, and center community knowledge. My current research applies a relational, decolonial lens to Puerto Rico’s escuelas rescatadas (rescued schools) movement, investigating how communities reclaim closed public schools as vital sites of mutual aid and spatial justice.
Consulting
I work with nonprofit, government, and movement-building leaders to spark programmatic, organizational, and network-level transformations. I provide services in the following areas:
Research
