Dr. Jessica Shaw, PhD
Principal Investigator
Jessica Shaw, Ph.D., is a community psychologist, with specializations in evaluation, and organizational change and development. Her research focuses on improving within and between system responses to sexual assault by relying on community partnerships to facilitate empirically-informed, sustainable change. Her work has been funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women; U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice; Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority; and W.T. Grant Foundation. She has been invited to present her research at the White House and has served as a subject matter expert on several national committees focused on improving system responses to sexual assault. Prior to joining the Community and Applied Developmental Psychology program in the Psychology Department at UIC, Dr. Shaw was an assistant professor in the Boston College School of Social Work, and a visiting fellow with the National Institute of Justice.
Caroline Bailey, MSW, MA
Project Director
Caroline Bailey is a doctoral student in the Community Prevention and Research Program at the University of Illinois Chicago. Prior to coming to UIC, Caroline graduated from Boston College School of Social Work as a clinically trained social worker. Caroline’s previous work includes being a Research Coordinator at UIC, a counselor at a domestic violence community agency, and a social work advocate and consultant in an Immigration Legal Clinic. Caroline is passionate about issues surrounding gender-based violence and social justice and believes that social change should be rooted in feminist and abolitionist principles and ideologies. Their research interests include community and system responses to survivors of sexual and domestic violence and hopes to continue engaging in research that influences policy and practice.
Ayla Gelsinger, MSW
Research Associate
Ayla completed a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Communication Studies from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a Master’s degree in Social Work at Columbia University focusing on practice and programming with children, youth, and families. Ayla worked at a high school in New York City and ran an internship program that taught students how to barista at the café that was located inside the school. Ayla is a doctoral student in the Community and Applied Developmental Program at UIC working with Dr. Jessica Shaw and is excited at the opportunity to work on projects that center survivors and aim to not only improve care to survivors, but end gender-based violence. Ayla is invested in abolishing punitive and harmful systems and in building communities that center care, support, and compassion. Ayla’s research interests are centered on examining the impact of mandatory reporting on survivors of childhood sexual abuse and learning what survivors envision care to look like for young people who experience sexual violence. Ayla believes strongly in supporting the autonomy of young people in their disclosure of sexual abuse and believes that they should have choice over their own futures and decision-making process.
Lizeth Mendez
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Lizeth Mendez is an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois Chicago, majoring in Applied Psychology with a minor in English. She joined the Gender Justice Initiative because she is committed to amplifying survivors’ voices and pushing for meaningful change in the systems that impact them. Beyond advocacy, she is passionate about fostering community in psychology and serves as the Chief of Staff for Psi Chi, The International Honor Society in Psychology. As a tutor at UIC’s Writing Center, Lizeth values one-on-one connections with students, an experience that has reinforced her belief in the power of human connection and the importance of respecting people’s autonomy. She is dedicated to social justice, with a strong commitment to advocating for women, the Latinx community, and LGBTQ individuals, seeing empirical research and feminist frameworks as essential tools in this work. After earning her Bachelor’s, Lizeth plans to pursue a Master’s degree and continue working toward creating meaningful change.
Ayla Shakir
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Ayla Shakir is a compassionate and driven undergraduate student at the University of Illinois Chicago, pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Psychology with a minor in Business Administration. Ayla brings to the GJI team a commitment to creating inclusive and supportive spaces for individuals and communities and experience supporting individuals with autism, survivors of domestic violence, and families. As a dedicated volunteer and leader, Ayla has led successful fundraising campaigns, organized impactful events, and fostered community engagement through roles such as Vice President and Fundraising Chair of Delta Phi Omega Sorority Incorporated. Her professional journey includes roles in behavioral therapy, marketing, and qualitative research, where she honed her skills in collaboration, resource coordination, and advocacy. Ayla is passionate about fostering growth and empowerment, both through her academic pursuits and her hands-on contributions to social justice initiatives.
Mandi Urbizo-Haukjaer, MA
Research Associate
Mandi completed her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at the University of Georgia and her Master’s degree in Applied Psychology at the University of Cincinnati. She also completed two graduate certificates in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Applied Behavior Analysis. She is now a doctoral student in the Community and Prevention Research program at UIC working under Dr. Jessica Shaw. She has worked on a few different research projects involving Latin-American asylum seekers, refugees, and creating a diversity training where she honed her passion for helping marginalized communities through researching and creating change together. Specifically, she is passionate about utilizing research on rape culture and its relationship with the justice system to help create improvements for survivors within the Latinx community.
Alumni Team Members
Alex Burrell, BA
Alexandra Burrell joined the GJI research team as an undergraduate research assistant. Alex is an alumna from UIC and graduated with a Bachelor’s in English. Since then, she has earned her Paralegal Certification from Roosevelt University and is working towards a Master’s in Business Administration. Her hope is to enter the data analytics field and use her skills to keep people well-informed about social and political issues.
Nyxel Camarena, BA
Nyxel joined the GJI research team as a undergraduate research assistant and worked on the team both before and after graduating from UIC with her Bachelor’s. Currently, Nyxel is working as an intake coordinator at a local law firm and is applying to graduate school in hopes of getting her doctorate.
Anastasiya Danylkiv, BA
After graduating with her Bachelor degree in Psychology, Anastasiya joined the GJI team as a research assistant. Since her time at UIC, Anastasiya has been working as a team lead in the field of benefits, where she has been enjoying applying her social science education and research skills.
Abril Harris, MSW, PhD
Abril is an alumna from the GJI research team and from the Boston College School of Social Work, where she received her doctorate. Currently, Abril works at the University of Washington’s School of Social Work as a tenured-track professor.
Bianka Luczak, BA
Bianka joined the GJI team as a research assistant while getting her Bachelor’s degree from UIC. Since graduating, Bianka moved to Florida where she now works as a full-time parent raising two children and loving the difficult but rewarding work.
Maya Kashyap, BA
Maya joined the GJI team as an undergraduate research assistant. After graduating with their Bachelor’s degree in Applied Psychology from UIC, they transitioned to working on the GJI team as a research assistant. Since their time on the research team, Maya has been working as an animal caregiver and loving every second of it.
Sarah Malone, MA
Sarah joined the GJI team as a graduate research assistant Fall 2023 where she worked on the Examining the SANE and TeleSANE Patient Experience project. Since leaving the research team, Sarah has been working on her dissertation Cheating Disability: The Politics of Surviving Social Security Disability for her PhD in Criminology, Law & Justice.
Christine Ng, BA
Christine joined the GJI research team as an undergraduate research assistant and graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) with a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Psychology, along with double minors in Art and Sociology. Since graduation, Christine has transitioned into a role as a data analyst, where she continues to deepen her expertise in data science through ongoing learning and professional development.