Kara Young Ponder, PhD

Kara Young Ponder is the Director of Community Engagement and Racial Justice at BHHI. In this role, she leads community partnerships, analyses of race and racism, and the internal learning and professional development program for BHHI staff. She played a leadership role in the research design, fieldwork operations, data analysis, and writing of the California Statewide Study of People Experience Homelessness (CASPEH) and led the three community advisory boards attached to the study. She is the primary author of Toward Equity: Understanding Black Californians’ Experiences of Homelessness and Creating Authentic, Effective Partnerships between Organizations and People with Lived Experiences: A Toolkit. An educator and social justice practitioner, Kara has taught in college, high school, prison, transitional living facilities, and drug recovery centers. She holds master's and doctoral degrees in sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Brown University.