> > > Black Men’s Mental Health > > >

My research with and in service of Black men and boys spans two decades. Specifically, my research underscores the influence of gender role socialization on health status over the adult life course for Black men and boys. To date, I have focused on understanding the social determinants of health that explain within group differences among Black men and boys; developing evidence-based strategies to improve the physical and mental health conditions of Black men and boys; and increasing knowledge about the intersection of age, culture, and gender.

Please visit the Young Black Men, Masculinities, and Mental Health (YBMen) Project to learn more about my research with Black men and boys.

I have also done work with other boys and men and color, on a more global scale. See my Publications page for more information, and check out a new text (co-edited by James A. Smith and Derek Griffith) that highlights novel and pragmatic health promotion efforts being adopted with boys and young men of colour (BYMOC) globally that apply a strengths-based approach.

In this volume, the co-editors and contributors purposefully bring together international research and promising practice examples from Australia, the United States, New Zealand, and Canada to celebrate health promotion strategies that help to improve the health and social trajectories of BYMOC. In doing so, the book moves beyond discussing the health inequities faced by this population, to talk about the practical actions to address them in context.

> > > Mixed Methods Research > > >

Screen Shot 2022-10-11 at 2.59.11 PMMy research focuses on using mixed methods as a tool to build more comprehensive evidence and elevate the voices of racially and ethnically minoritized individuals and communities.

My first mixed methods book was published in 2015.
Mixed Methods Research (2015) is a book I co-authored with Deborah Gioia for the Pocket Guides to Social Work Research Methods (Oxford University Press). This is a short, how-to guide for doing mixed methods research in social work.

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My second mixed methods book was published in 2022.
Secondary Data in Mixed Methods Research (2022) is in the SAGE series on mixed methods research, co-edited by Vicki Plano Clark and Nataliya Ivankova. You can purchase a  copy of this book from the publisher (SAGE) or from Amazon.com. In this book, I offer unique and necessary instruction on this growing topic. With the increasing amount of secondary data available through journals and repositories, researchers have a trove of sources for new investigations at their fingertips but few books to guide them. This brief text provides readers with a step-by-step procedure for incorporating secondary data into various mixed methods research designs, as well as identifying key characteristics of existing datasets that make them good candidates for mixed methods projects and giving ideas for new uses of secondary data.

> > > Leadership Development + Organizational Management > > >

For the past 15+ years, I have worked with leaders to build their research infrastructures and operationalize their resources to maximize their productivity. I have worked with dozens of leaders across North America who direct institutes, centers, programs, and labs with goals of earning tenure, engaging in community-anchored research, and meeting their career goals.

Leadership and strategy are essential to my academic career and have fueled my engagement in social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion activities that mobilize strategic leadership. I intentionally bring my previous transformative experiences to my work as a leader, scholar, mentor, and citizen of the academy.

I work closely with a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, kNEWjoy, that supports youth and young adult-serving organizations in developing and promoting wellness programs that center joy and are sensitive to age, community, culture, gender, and race. The stigma surrounding mental health creates barriers to mental health, behavioral health services, and coordinated care for young adults. Targeted behavioral health interventions sensitive to race, culture, social norms, and gender that circumvent these barriers are urgently needed to improve access and coordinated care for young adults. We need more education, health, and community stakeholders trained to work with — and coordinate services for — youth and young adults susceptible to stress, depression, anxiety, and trauma as they transition through adulthood and seek joy, the kind of joy they never knew was possible. kNEWjoy supports these stakeholders by building their capacity to provide and further expand culturally relevant, age-appropriate, and gender-specific mental health resources.

Finally, I am a certified Executive Coach for leaders and industry executives across North America. I provide premium, confidential executive coaching services to a select number of clients each year.