Alexis Stokes

VCU Ram

Doctoral Student

Home department:
VCU Department of Psychology

Doctoral program:
Developmental Psychology

Faculty advisers:
Terri Sullivan, Ph.D. and Fantasy Lozada, Ph.D.


Alexis Stokes is a two-time graduate of the University of Virginia. She first received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, minoring in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, in 2023, followed by her Master of Education in Applied Developmental Science in 2024. Shortly thereafter, she began her doctoral studies at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in the fall semester of 2024.

Alexis is actively working on the Youth Voices Project. Her research interests broadly include the impacts of violence exposure—in both online and community contexts—on the mental health and academic outcomes of students of color, particularly Black youth. She is also focused on understanding risk and resiliency factors, with the overall goal of developing interventions that promote positive youth development in children exposed to violence.