Dr. Jamelia Harris is the Senior Director of Research at Justice + Joy National Collaborative. Her work is committed to ending violence in the lives of girls and gender-expansive young people of color through community-engaged research and advocacy. As a Black girlhood scholar, Dr. Harris’ research agenda draws on storytelling and critical race feminist frameworks to examine Black girls’ experiences within the U.S. public school system—with a specific focus on school punishment. Dr. Harris firmly believes that ‘nothing should be about us without us.’ In 2024, Dr. Harris was awarded a racial equity grant from the Spencer Foundation to implement the ‘Envisioning New Structures’ research fellowship focused on mental health and advancing futures free from police violence.
Dr. Harris holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a BA in Black Studies and Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is an AAUW American Fellow and a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
