Dawn Russell is an incoming PhD student in UCLA’s Department of Social Welfare, where she will work under the mentorship of Dr. Laura Wray-Lake. Her research examines youth civic engagement and environmental justice, exploring how neighborhood conditions and structural inequities shape the well-being and civic participation of Black and Brown youth in South Los Angeles. Her recent work includes a peer-reviewed study on Black families’ grief and recovery following the Eaton Fire, published in the Journal of Sociology and Social Work (2026). Drawing on more than fifteen years of community organizing experience alongside her training in qualitative research, Dawn is committed to community-engaged scholarship that centers the voices of historically marginalized communities in the pursuit of environmental and social equity.