Whitney Richards-Calathes is a diasporic Jamaican from the Bronx and is excited to begin working with the team at Institute for Gender and Development Studies. My academic research is focused on Black feminist thought, critical geography, feminist criminology and feminist qualitative methods. My research has explored how incarceration impacts Black women and the intergenerational relationships between them. My writing has been featured in the academic journal Feminist Anthropology (2021) and in the two-volume series Abolition Feminisms (2022) published by Haymarket Books.
Beyond the academy, my work is grounded in community-based gender justice work and participatory research. I believe that the most astute learning comes from grounded social justice perspectives, applied research, and critical thinking. This ethic has brought me to work in the field of philanthropy, youth services, educational justice work, and community activism. I’ve worked in several cities in the United States, including New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. This work has also carried me to Nepal, Jordan, and South Africa.
I hold an MA from the University of California, Los Angeles and a PhD from The Graduate Center at the City University of New York.
