NKIRU NNAWULEZI, PHD

I am deeply committed to improving social and material conditions for survivors of gender-based violence who experience structural marginalization and stigmatization, specifically survivors of color, survivors living with HIV, queer and trans* survivors, low-income survivors, survivors who are unhoused, survivors with addictions, and survivors with severe mental health conditions.

My research is grounded in intersectionality, systems thinking, empowerment theories and actualized through transformative participatory research methods. Transformative research methods are a set of practices that engage community members in the full research process with the aim to create change that transforms community conditions.

Using these methods, I develop, test, and evaluate multi-level interventions to improve the effectiveness of various housing programs across the domestic violence housing continuum: crisis shelters, transitional housing, rapid rehousing, and permanent supportive housing. I am primarily interested in how housing interventions can be designed to honor survivors' complexity, increase their power, and sustain their healing.

In my work, I move beyond traditional approaches to intimate partner violence that rely on individual treatment models or interpersonal behavioral interventions and exist solely within social service systems. Instead, I develop meaningful collaborations with survivors, practitioners, organizers, and other community stakeholders to co-create innovative solutions to violence and housing instability that engage entire systems and communities.

I also evaluate community-derived interventions designed to support survivors who experience barriers accessing traditional social service systems. This includes survivors who are denied services, survivors who are kicked out of services, and survivors who cannot rely on carceral systems to get support. She is invested in supporting sustainable community practices that keep survivors well-resourced and living in healthy communities.

My work has been funded by the National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities, National Institute of Justice, National Institute of Mental Health, State of Michigan, Society for Community Research and Action, and the Center for Victim Research. She is an award-winning researcher and mentor and has disseminated her scholarship to academic and community audiences through peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, community toolkits, invited academic and community talks, and national and international conferences.

I earned a Ph.D. in Ecological-Community Psychology from Michigan State University. I also have certifications in College Teaching (Michigan State University), Community Engagement (Michigan State University), Policy Analysis (RAND Faculty Leaders Program), Systems Evaluation Theory (American Evaluation Association) and Evidence-Based Teaching Strategies (UMBC Faculty Development Center). I am a Research and Evaluation Advisor to multiple systems and community change organizations including the DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Ujima; The National Center on Violence Against Women In the Black Community. I am an appointed community member on the District of Columbia Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board, and a proud member of the Rooted Collective.