Education:
BA, Spelman College
MSW, University of Georgia
PhD, University of Georgia
Dr. King’s long-standing commitment to disadvantaged, vulnerable and marginalized populations is evidenced through her professional and research experiences working with children and families in juvenile justice, child welfare, education, nonprofit and homeless/transitional housing settings. Her research focuses on health behaviors and health disparities that impact the adolescent and young adult life experience including dating violence, delinquency, substance use, mental health, and sexual risk behaviors while giving attention to social determinants of health and the promotion of health behaviors.
Dr. King lives by the motto, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” This quote taken directly from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 Letter from a Birmingham jail has resonated with her as a social worker and reflects the impact she seeks to make in the lives of individuals, families, communities and systems.