About me
Laurie Ross, PhD, is an associate professor at Clark University and engages in community-based action research projects in Worcester on topics such as youth and gang violence, youth and young adult homelessness, and youth worker professional education. For the past twelve years, Ross has been the Project Director for Clark’s Local Action Research Partnership grant funded by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security. This project has her collaborating with Worcester Police Department, Worcester’s City Manager’s office, Juvenile Probation, Boys and Girls Club, Worcester Youth Center, and Worcester Community Action Council among others to work on understanding and intervening in the cycle of youth and gang violence in Worcester. She is the statewide research partner for the Charles E. Shannon Community Safety Initiative. She is also the research partner on a Main South-focused federal Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation Program to reduce youth violence and enhance residents’ sense of control over the neighborhood. She currently directs Worcester ACTs (Addresses Childhood Trauma). In 2016, she published a book with Routledge entitled, Dilemmas in Youth Work and Youth Development Practice. Since 2000, Ross has directed the HOPE Coalition, a youth-adult partnership coalition designed to reduce youth violence, substance use, and promote positive adolescent mental health and youth leadership in Worcester. Ross is President of the Worcester Youth Center Board of Directors.