Meet Ariyanna
Photography: @someshellyphotography
Ariyanna’s work aims to explore the role of policy in shaping educational and mental health outcomes for youth in historically marginalized communities. Her work began in her role as a coordinator of grant student services for New York Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP), a federal initiative aimed to increase high school and college enrollment rates amongst schools in low-income communities. In this role, she developed and led programs aimed at increasing high school graduation and college enrollment rates in the designated schools. She ensured that students received access to tutoring, culturally-responsive mentorship, and college and career advisement from 7th grade until their college freshmen year. Her work with GEAR UP informed her approach to positive youth development and led her to support the independent evaluation of several state and federal grant projects including CUNY for CollegeNow and The Ohio Department of Education’s STOP School Violence program. Her most recent contribution in youth development research was for The Center for Disease and Control’s Preventing Sexual Abuse in Youth Serving Organizations. She focused on her efforts on identifying the ways cultural practices shapes child safety policies and procedures.
She continues her work in her current role as the Quality and Improvement Project Manager at the National Student Support Accelerator at Brown University’s Annenberg Institute. In this role she tracks and analyzes trends in tutoring to facilitate strategic advisement to school districts and tutoring organizations, develop research-based tools to improve and expand tutoring efforts, and to develop outreach strategies to best support tutoring organizations in regions with limited access to tutoring services.
Beyond her professional work, her passion for youth is shown through her volunteer projects with community-based organizations. She currently serves as a committee planning member for Cedarmore Corporation a youth-serving organization that offers programs to meet the academic and economic needs of youth in the Tri-state area. She serves as the lead researcher and data analyst for the organization’s newest project, a digital literacy center. The center was developed in response to the educational and employment disparities that were exasperated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The digital center offers community members access to high-quality technology, free STEM-focused courses, and professional development opportunities and is supported by Adelphi University and Hofstra University. To ensure that programs continue to meet the needs of the community, Ariyanna conducts community needs assessments, facilitates focus groups to inform curriculum development, and supports the writing of grant proposals.
Ariyanna earned a Masters in Clinical Psychology with a concentration in Global Mental Health and Trauma from Teachers College, Columbia University and holds a Bachelors in psychology from Adelphi University. She continues her research at Adelphi University where she conducts independent research in the Social Computational Neuroscience Lab (SCONE). Her current project is grant-funded and explores the use of empathic storytelling in increasing empathy and reducing racial bias. She also contributes to projects in The Global Mental Health Lab at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Outside of work, Ariyanna enjoys trying out new coffee shops and restaurants, spending time in the outdoors, and karaoking.
Honors and Awards
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Diversity Weekend Program Awardee, 2020
New York University QUEST Program Awardee, 2019
Jaggars Community Fellowship, 2018
Psi Chi International Psychology Honor Society, 2018
Tau Sigma International Society, 2018
TEDXAdelphi University Semi-finalist, 2018
Ruth Harley Endowed Scholarship, 2018
The Council of 100 Black Women Scholarship, 2017
Barnes and Nobles Scholarship, 2017
University Leadership and Service
Adelphi University Psychology Club, Treasurer- 2018
Adelphi University Student Government Association, Senator- 2017
Nassau Community College Institutional Planning Committee Member, 2016
Middle States Accreditation Student Representative, 2016
Conferences
American Psychological Association, 2020
New York University Diversity Conference, 2019
New York University QUEST Symposium, 2019
National Conference for Undergraduate Research, 2019
Adelphi University Research Day, 2019