Congratulations to HELI 2019 Alumna Aishia A. Brown, PhD, on her joint appointment to be the new Director for the city of Louisville, Kentucky’s Office of Youth Development (OYD)!
Dr. Brown joins the OYD team through a joint position with University of Louisville School of Public Health and Information Sciences, where she will continue her work as an assistant professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences. She holds affiliations with the University of Louisville’s Anne Braden Institute for Social Justice Research, Youth Violence Prevention Research Center, and the Cooperative Consortium for Social Justice Transdisciplinary Research.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer shared, “Aishia brings a wealth of knowledge and leadership skills that will help to advance our office and its programs. The Office of Youth Development will benefit greatly from her innovative policies and creative direction that will ultimately improve youth outcomes.”
Dr. Brown said she is thrilled about the opportunity to serve as the director.
“I’m excited to engage in what will be a shift from viewing youth as problems that need to be fixed to agents of change in our community,” Dr. Brown said. “I look forward to working closely with youth, youth workers, and their communities to develop transformative approaches to youth development here in Louisville.”
Dr. Brown’s research interests focus on social justice and community youth development. Some of her most recent work examines the connections between community youth engagement, youth-adult partnerships, and recreational healing spaces. Dr. Brown is particularly interested in integrating these youth development frameworks and concepts into public health community engagement approaches.
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