Innovations for Youth (i4Y), at UC Berkeley, has an opening for an in-residence postdoctoral scholar. The post-doctoral scholar’s responsibilities will be intellectual and highly-skilled contributions to the center’s ongoing projects, with a focus on building youth voice and youth-inclusion in the implementation of policy-relevant community-engaged and community partnered research. The postdoctoral scholar will collaborate with undergraduates and community-based youth with lived experience of homelessness in a larger project focused on increasing the inclusion of historically marginalized subpopulations of youth experiencing homelessness in efforts to prevent youth homelessness in the US.
Our community-partnered lab, Youth and Allies Against Homelessness (or YAAH) is engaged in high-level collaborations with local, state and academic partners, including, but not limited to, Covenant House International, the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal-ICH), and the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative. We conduct research and evaluation studies with the aim of generating a body of evidence that can be used to programs and policies to prevent, address and end youth homelessness.
Foci of the work for the post-doc will include activities from among the following:
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Development of a pipeline model for the engagement of youth-experiencing homelessness into research. Formally building-out and leading our successful youth participation in research inclusion efforts. Leading the development, facilitation, and evaluation of a formal pipeline model for the training and integration of community-based youth experiencing homelessness (YEH) into community-engaged, youth-partnered research. Leading the development of a toolkit for the dissemination of the pipeline model. This project is funded by the Blue Shield of California Foundation.
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Improvement of best practices for preventing youth homelessness in the United States. We are collaborating with Covenant House International to improve best practices for preventing youth homelessness in the United States, with the input of youth with lived experience. We will conduct a mixed method study with youth with lived experience at Covenant House sites nationwide to solicit their input on best practices to prevent youth homelessness. A specific focus of this project is to expand prevention practices to ensure they address youth whose path to homelessness are not adequately addressed by current prevention approaches, including Native American and Indigenous youth, Asian American youth, Latinx youth, immigrant youth, LGBTQ youth of color and parenting youth. This project is funded by Covenant House International with the support of the Raikes Foundation and Hilton Foundation.
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Dissemination of findings to academic, community and policy audiences. We have a track record of dissemination to communities through community-facing reports, webinars, conference presentations and academic papers. The post-doctoral scholar(s) will be supported to take the lead on academic publications and will be encouraged to participate in ongoing dissemination regarding prior YAAH projects.
The postdoctoral scholar hired in this role will: 1) train and mentor community youth interns and undergraduates with lived expertise of homelessness to promote the inclusion of youth researchers and youth voice into collaborative projects; 2) develop youth-informed and evidence-based inclusive guidelines to prevent youth homelessness; 3) synthesize theories and knowledge to inform research questions, study design, measurement tools, and analytic procedures; and 4) engage in and/or lead the dissemination of scholarly knowledge to diverse audiences.
Your primary mentorship will come from Professor Colette (Coco) Auerswald with whom you will meet regularly regarding ongoing projects and for career development. You will also partner with our YAAH project coordinator and have access to mentorship from other faculty within i4Y. The Center will facilitate collaborative opportunities with partner organizations and provide methodological consultation through campus resources (e.g., dLab, xLab, Ethnographic Cafe). The center will also facilitate connections to UC Berkeley initiatives related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, as well as professional development opportunities intended to promote anti-racist scholarship, productivity, and personal well-being.
We are particularly interested in individuals with a strong background in youth-engaged research with marginalized youth populations AND/OR a background in qualitative or mixed method research in homelessness. Candidates with lived expertise of homelessness are encouraged to apply. Successful postdoctoral scholars may come from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds (e.g., public health, education, public policy, social work, sociology) and be familiar with a variety of research methods.
Please communicate your interest in this full-time position, by submitting your cover letter, CV, the names of 3 academic references, and the pdf(s) of one to two publications to i4Y@berkeley.eduIn expressing your interest, please include the following:
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Your earliest possible start date for this postdoctoral position (all degree requirements for a doctoral degree must be completed before start date) and ideal start date, in the first paragraph of your cover letter.
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Please include information about your interest in the position, your training goals for the post-doc, and your ideal working conditions. This position requires the ability to attend work in person.
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If you have lived experience of homelessness and you are comfortable sharing that fact, please do so. We honor your privacy regarding your experience, but your lived expertise would be relevant to your work with us.
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Your experience with youth engaged research, youth participatory action research or youth-partnered research with historically marginalized youth and/or experience in qualitative or mixed method research in homelessness.
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Your additional expertise, including: experience in qualitative or mixed method data collection and analysis; your record in publishing peer-reviewed papers; IRB application and modification; community engagement; mentorship and providing research supervision; research dissemination in both academic and non-academic settings; conducting literature reviews; local, state or national government service; policy experience regarding homelessness or youth homelessness; and/or work or service with people experiencing homelessness, particularly youth experiencing homelessness.
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We value teamwork, collaboration and mutual support in our laboratory. In what way has your work and actions to date demonstrated those qualities?
This position requires that all degree requirements (for a Ph.D. in Public Health, Education, Public Policy, Social Work, or a related field) be completed prior to start date.
Consideration will be given on a rolling basis until the position is filled. We will begin to review applications on March 1, 2024
The University of California is an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age or protected veteran status. For the complete UC nondiscrimination and affirmative action policy see: http://policy.ucop.edu/doc/4000376/NondiscrimAffirmAct. Information about salary and benefits can be explored with the Visiting Scholars and Postdoctoral Affairs (VSPA - https://vspa.berkeley.edu/why-berkeley) office. For salary tables, see: https://www.ucop.edu/academic-personnel-programs/_files/2023-24/oct-2023-acad-salary-scales/t23.pdf