Professor Melinda Lemke is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, in the Graduate School of Education at the University at Buffalo (UB) – State University of New York.  There, she is a part of the Educational Administration program, and previously was part of the Economics and Educational Policy Analysis program and served as Director of the undergraduate Education Leadership and Policy for Equity minor.

Professor Lemke is an interdisciplinary, qualitative educational policy researcher whose body of work focuses on the politics of education and how public education addresses societal violence and centres the wellbeing of historically underserved students.  She is the author of numerous publications on topics such as curriculum policy reform, gender-based violence and prevention, human trafficking policy, international displacement and refugee youth resettlement, culturally/linguistically responsive trauma-informed practice, and urban school district-community partnerships.  Professor Lemke’s research is shaped by previous work in sexual assault prevention, advocacy for children’s rights, and a career in U.S. urban secondary public education.

Professor Lemke’s role on the project will be to help the Ni3 Research Centre think through issues around educational policy, curriculum, and programming linked to different forms of gender-based violence in the partnering countries.  Her work in critical and feminist educational policy analysis within the U.S. context should provide insights into how multi-level policy, programming, and leadership practice can better intervene to identify and prevent gender-based violence.

For more information, please visit Professor Lemke’s profile.