Designing Resiliency and Well-being

Ruby Mendenhall, PhD, is an associate professor of Sociology, African American Studies, Urban and Regional Planning, and Social Work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on issues of social inequality over the life course and the role of public policy and individuals’ agency in facilitating social and economic mobility.  She uses quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze administrative welfare and employment data, census data, in-depth interviews, and focus group data.  Her multi-site research study, Investing in Enduring Resources using the Earned Income Tax Credit, examines how low- to moderate-income families use their EITC for social and economic mobility in Champaign and Boston.  She also does research on the Gautreaux Assisted Housing Program in Chicago, which is one of the nation’s largest desegregation programs.