David C. Turner III, assistant professor of Black Life and Racial Justice at UCLA Luskin, has been recognized with an Early Career Award from the Grassroots Community and Youth Organizing Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association.

The award honors emerging scholars whose work advances research and practice in community and youth organizing. Turner’s scholarship is deeply rooted in community-based research and advocacy, supporting grassroots movements across Los Angeles and California. As faculty director of the Million Dollar Hoods Project and a faculty affiliate with the Ralph J. Bunche Center for African American Studies, his work examines the impacts of incarceration while actively partnering with communities to advance change.

“I’m humbled to receive the award,” Turner said, emphasizing that it reflects collective efforts. “We have so much more work to do. As scholars, we must go beyond simply ‘studying’ organizing—we must be involved.”

Founded in 1916, AERA is the nation’s leading research organization dedicated to advancing knowledge and improving education through scholarship.