From the Director

We have had a busy year at the Clark-Hill Institute for Positive Youth Development!

The Clark-Hill Institute is a university-level center that includes an interdisciplinary team of faculty from the School of Medicine – Drs. An Pham and Nicholas Thomson, School of Education – Drs. Chin-Chih Chen and Kevin Sutherland, School of Social Work – Dr. Jamie Cage and McKenzie Green, and the College of Humanities and Sciences - Drs. Rosalie Corona, Gabriela León-Pérez, Fantasy Lozada, Bryce McLeod, Terri Sullivan, and Chelsea Williams. It is named in honor of two former VCU faculty members, Dr. Maxine Clark and Dr. John Hill.

The vision of the Clark-Hill Institute is to conduct high-quality, impactful research and community service that is developed in partnership with youth and their families and community members and organizations.

The Clark-Hill Institute envisions families, schools, and communities that are empowered and supported by evidence-based research in providing opportunities for youth to (1) develop positive and healthy relationships, (2) realize and enhance their strengths, (3) view themselves as leaders, and (4) make positive contributions to their schools and communities. To help achieve this, we strive to conduct research that utilizes various community-based participatory approaches and through offering impactful training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students and early career researchers to develop the next generation of community-based researchers. We have a strong network of community partners and our research is centered on community-identified needs that address important societal issues (e.g., community-derived action strategies that promote increased opportunities for positive youth development).

Our recent accomplishments include having six faculty who were recipients of the VCU National/International Recognition Awards including Drs. Corona, Lozada, McLeod, Sullivan, Sutherland and Thompson.

This year, we initiated a CHI Writing Impact group led by Dr. Chelsea Williams where students and faculty across colleges and schools collaborated on manuscripts. We also initiated the Albert Farrell Research Fellowships, led by Drs. Albert Farrell and Terri Sullivan, where graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty members received opportunities to learn statistics and research methodology.

One key focus of our CDC Center grant include a Youth-Based Participatory Action Research project, Youth Voices, led by Dr. Fantasy Lozada, that was active in two local high schools. The high school students who participated will have a showcase of their work at the Richmond City Main Library in late May.

Best wishes,

Terri Sullivan, Ph.D.
Director, Clark-Hill Institute