Staff

Nicole Ford

Equity First Post-Doctoral Fellow

Impact Areas
Contact Information

Dr. Nicole Ford is an Equity First Post-Doctoral Fellow at Chapin Hall. Ford’s work focuses on Family First and child welfare research projects at Chapin Hall. Ford is working on a program evaluation project, funded by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), to provide data-informed evidence and strategic support to DCFS. Ford is also creating and leading a study with the Permanency Enhancement Project (PEP).

Before joining Chapin Hall, Ford served as the Associate Director of Participatory Action Research at Beloved Community’s Data, Research, Impact, and Policy Center (DRIP Center). Ford was the principal investigator leading a study funded by JP Morgan Chase to explore the socioeconomic challenges faced by Black and Latinx communities in Houston and their experiences in the workforce during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Ford also co-led a project for Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast as part of their Black Health Equity Initiative. Additionally, Ford developed presentations for youth as part of Beloved Community’s youth participatory action research programs and engaged with various clients on their DEI policies.

Ford holds a PhD in Public Health from the University of Louisville, specializing in Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences. She received a Master of Science in Health Education, a certificate in Prevention Science, and a Bachelor of Science in Health from Texas A&M University.

PhD in Public Health, University of Louisville

Master of Science in Health Education and certificate in Prevention Science, Texas A&M University

Bachelor of Science in Health, Texas A&M University

Ford, N., Howard, T., & Brown, A. (2021, October 24–27). Innovative methods for community-based participatory research. American Public Health Association Annual Meeting and Expo.

Student Champion (2021–22), Office of the President, University of Louisville

Peer-Reviewed Journal Publications

Wendel, M. L., Jones Jr, G., Nation, M., Howard, T., Jackson, T., Brown, A. A., Kerr, J., Williams, M., Ford, N., & Combs, R. (2022). “Their help is not helping”: Policing as a tool of structural violence against Black communities. Psychology of Violence, 12(4), 231–240.

Jones, Jr., G., Jackson, T., Ahmed, H., Brown, Q., Dantzler, T., Ford, N., Lawrence, C., Neely, T., Olivas, B., Palencia, A., Pinder, J., Pinder, N., Raggs, A., Ray, C., Robinson, Q., Rousseau, A., Sims, J., Stowe, R., Teeples, W. T., Thomas, E., Williams, T., & Mercado, M. C. (2021). Youth voices in violence prevention. American Journal of Public Health, 111(S1), S17–S19.

Wendel, M. L., Nation, M., Williams, M., Jackson, T., Jones Jr, G., Debreaux, M., & Ford, N. (2021). The structural violence of white supremacy: Addressing root causes to prevent youth violence. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 35(1), 127–128.

Published Abstracts

Odim, N., Gatewood B., & Ford, N. (2024, June 7–8). Integrating social justice through participatory action research. Action Research Network of the Americas, Ypsilanti, MI.

Ford, N., Osezua, V., Elmore, S., Brown, A., King, K., Hartson, K., O’Neal, C., & Perez, A. (2021, October 24–27). Training youth in food justice and advocacy: Lessons learned from the youth community agriculture program. American Public Health Association Annual Meeting and Expo.

Salunkhe, S., Ford, N., Van Schyndel, A., Brown, A., & Edmonds, T. (2020, October 24–28). Culturally-responsive interventions for youth emotional wellbeing: A mixed-method approach. American Public Health Association VIRTUAL Annual Meeting and Expo.