Lisette M. DeSouza

Associate Research Scientist

Ph.D., Tufts University, Child Study and Human Development
lisette.desouza@wellesley[dot]edu

Areas of focus include: child and adolescent development, mixed-methods research, out-of-school time, social-emotional learning and positive youth development, contexts of human development

Lisette M. DeSouza, Ph.D., was an associate research scientist working with scholars at the Wellesley Centers for Women in the National Institute on Out-of-School Time, Family, Sexuality, and Communication Research Initiative, and Youth, Media & Wellbeing Research Lab. Her research and work focused on child and adolescent development, in particular how community contexts support the development of young people's skills and positive development.

DeSouza collaborated with schools and out-of-school time programs to investigate how program practices relate to youth competence, and how social-emotional learning shapes academic progress. She is also committed to documenting, addressing, and shifting structural inequities which are barriers to positive development.

Selected Publications

21st Century Community Learning Centers Program Fiscal Year 2019 Year End Report. (2019). Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. DeSouza is a research contributor to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Sustaining Passion: Findings from an Exploratory Study of the OST Program Workforce. (2020). Journal of Youth Development. Co-authored with the National Institute on Out-of-School Time.

Community Voices from the Fairmount Corridor Project: Impressions and Ideas on Two Decades of Change. (2019). Co-authored with James Jennings, Ph.D., et al.

“We’ll come to you”: Reflections on the #BlackLivesMatter pre-conference community panel. (2016). Co-organized with Elise Harris Wilkerson, Ph.D., and Mimi Arbeit, Ph.D.

Preliminary Assessment of MBK Boston Mini-Grants: First Steps, Next Steps. (2017). Co-authored with James Jennings, Ph.D.