Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute Staff
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LaToya Owens, Ph.D.
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Barry Nagle
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Nadrea R. Njoku, Ph.D
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Keeley Copridge, Ph.D.
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Meredith Anderson, Ph.D.
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Brian Gulko
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Miriam Hammond, Ed.M.
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Shimiya Woods
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Kevin Lamár Peterman, MS. Ed.
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Megan Covington, Ph.D.
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Latasha Mosley
LaToya Owens, Ph.D.
Director
Latoya.Owens@uncf.org
LaToya Owens, Ph.D. is the Director for the UNCF Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute, her work largely focuses on strengthening institutional career placement and student persistence outcomes as well as institutional effectiveness and strategic planning at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), and other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs).
Dr. Owens is a visionary leader skilled in strategic and data-informed design and decision-making, and organizational development and solutions-based work in education and nonprofit spaces. She is an experienced thought leader on topics ranging from inclusive research practices to K-16 career and guided pathways, design-thinking, and culturally informed evaluation and assessment. Dr. Owens has developed a number of innovative experiences to impact curriculum development, ensure equitable educational policies, and develop culturally competent evaluation frameworks and tools for diverse communities.
Prior to her work at UNCF, Dr. Owens was a higher education and research policy fellow at the Southern Education Foundation, where she responsible for researching and organizing data for various higher education division initiatives related to improving access and completion rates for low-income students of color. In her role she also served as a research analyst and report writer for several briefs on performance funding, predominantly black institutions, institutional effectiveness at HBCUs, and developmental education, among others. She has also worked as an instructor of research, measurement, and statistics in the College of Education and Human Development at Georgia State University.
Dr. Owens earned her B.S. in Public Relations and an MPA from Florida A&M University, an M.A. in Educational Leadership, Politics, and Advocacy from New York University, and Ph.D. in Educational Policy from Georgia State University.
Barry Nagle
Senior Research Associate
Barry.Nagle@uncf.org
Barry Nagle is the Senior Research Associate with the Gates Millennium Scholars Program/UNCF and has served in this role since 2012. His role has grown at UNCF to include research and evaluation activities for the full Scholarships and Programs Division. Prior to joining UNCF, Dr. Nagle served as the proprietor of Evaluation and Action Research Associates (EARA), which has been in operation since 2008. Before establishing EARA, Dr. Nagle served as the Director of the Center for Assessment, Planning and Accountability (CAPA) with the UNCF Special Programs Corporation (UNCFSP). Dr. Nagle joined UNCFSP to establish the center in November 2004. Prior to joining UNCFSP, Dr. Nagle was the Research & Evaluation Specialist Team Lead at NASA Peer Review Services in Washington, D.C., working primarily with NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Program within the Office of Education. Dr. Nagle was a public-school educator in Pennsylvania and North Carolina for 11 years and has worked in the research and evaluation field for the past 25 years.
Dr. Nagle has a B.S. in Early Childhood Education/Special Education from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA and an M.A. in Education from LaSalle University in Philadelphia, PA. Dr. Nagle has completed graduate work in Educational Research Methodology at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro and earned his doctorate at The George Washington University in Educational Administration and Policy Studies. Professionally he has conducted over 30 national and international research and evaluation projects and over 175 regional and local research and evaluation projects.
Nadrea R. Njoku, Ph.D
Senior Research Associate
Nadrea.Njoku@uncf.org
Dr. Nadrea R. Njoku is a senior research associate at the Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute (FDPRI) of UNCF. Njoku conducts empirical research related to guided pathways and student success, as well as support the evaluation of projects within the Institute for Capacity Building. She brings a critical race and feminist framework that is devoted to disrupting issues of race and gender within the post-secondary education context to FDPRI’s research agenda. She has worked across multiple functions of higher education—housing, student affairs, fraternity and sorority affairs, alumni relations, and evaluation.
Dr. Njoku is a graduate of Xavier University of Louisiana and holds a masters and doctorate from Indiana University.
Keeley Copridge, Ph.D.
Senior Research Associate
kcopridge@uncf.org
Keeley Copridge, Ph.D. is a Senior Research Associate for UNCF’s Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute (FDPRI). Before joining UNCF, Keeley worked as a Project Associate for Indiana University’s Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and the Center for Postsecondary Research on research projects examining underrepresented students’ engagement experiences.
Keeley is a first-generation college graduate, who obtained her B.A. in Psychology and Master of Science in Social Work at the University of Louisville in Louisville, KY. She is currently enrolled in the Higher Education doctoral program at Indiana University, where she will defend her dissertation examining the college choice experiences of Black college women in December 2020.
Meredith Anderson, Ph.D.
Meredith Anderson, Ph.D., is a Director of K-12 Research at the Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute. She supports the K-12 research endeavors of the advocacy team and FDPRI through design and management of empirical research projects related to K-12 education reform for African American students.
Anderson has extensive quantitative experience, including survey design and management, program evaluation and data analysis. Her research and publications have focused on public administration and policy, race, educational inequities, representative bureaucracy, intersectionality and the influence of representation on tracking outcomes for African American male students.
Prior to her work at UNCF, Anderson was program evaluator for Baltimore City Public Schools, where she contributed to the development and management of the teacher and principal evaluation system, conducted statistical analyses to inform decision-making and led the evaluation survey for principals. Anderson also contributed to the Maryland Longitudinal Data System development at the Maryland State Department of Education. Additionally, Anderson was a postdoctoral fellow and lecturer in the School of Public Affairs at American University. Prior to that, she was a research associate for the Project for Equity, Representation and Governance. Anderson earned doctorate in political science from Texas A&M University, where she also received a bachelor’s degree.
Brian Gulko
Data Analyst
Brian.Gulko@uncf.org
Brian Gulko is a Data Analyst for the Patterson research team. He works with data from a wide variety of sources to discover insights related to African Americans in higher education. Using this information he responds to data requests, provides stakeholders with information, and contributes to Patterson’s research goals. He enjoys working with R, his data toolkit of choice. Brian holds a BS in Physics from American University.
Miriam Hammond, Ed.M.
Data Analyst
mhammond@uncf.org
Miriam Hammond, Ed.M. is a Data Analyst for the Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute. In this role, she supports the execution of research methods for the institute’s various research projects and collaborations within the Institute for Capacity Building. Prior to joining UNCF, Hammond was a high school english teacher where she applied her research in educating incarcerated students and the pushout of Black girls in schools to implement targeted programming for students.
Hammond earned her bachelor’s degree in english from Tuskegee University and her master’s in teacher education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is also a Fulbright Scholar.
Shimiya Woods
Senior Administrative Assistant
shimiya.woods@uncf.org
Shimiya Woods joins the Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute and the ICB team as a Senior Administrative Assistant. As a Senior Admin Assistant, Shimiya will be supporting the Vice President of Research and Member Engagement and the FDPRI team. Prior to joining UNCF, Shimiya worked as a Senior Program Assistant/Executive Assistant for multiple nonprofits in the DC metro area.
Shimiya earned a BA in Psychology from Temple University.
Kevin Lamár Peterman, MS. Ed.
Research Fellow, FDPRI
kevin.peterman@uncf.org
Kevin Lamár Peterman is graduate of Howard University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. He also earned a Master of Arts degree in Theology from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Master of Science degree in Higher Education from the University of Pennsylvania. Kevin is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Higher Education Leadership & Policy at Howard University. In conjunction with his regular course work, Kevin has studied extensively throughout China, Japan, Ghana and South Africa in an effort to learn more about the region’s political, economic, and cultural affairs.
Kevin has spent his career working to strengthen marginalized communities through faith and education. Prior to joining the staff of UNCF’s Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute, he worked for the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions, the U.S. Department of Education, and the D.C. Public School system. As an activist, he has participated in demonstrations in Ferguson, Baltimore, Washington, DC, New York, Chicago and Ohio. He recently ended a series with National Public Radio where he was featured as a contributor on NPR’s Sunday morning show, The Weekend Edition.
Peterman is a both an education scholar and an ordained Baptist minister. He currently serves as the Director of Strategic Initiatives & Assessment at the Howard University School of Divinity and Associate Pastor at the historic Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. Prior to returning to the nation’s capital, he served at the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois, the Cornerstone Baptist Church of Brooklyn, New York and the First Baptist Church of Vauxhall, NJ. He is a member of the Board of Directors for Ezra Youth Seminary, and a proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc.
Megan Covington, Ph.D.
Megan Covington is a Research Associate for UNCF’s Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute (FDPRI) where she executes research methods that support the larger research agenda at UNCF. Prior to joining UNCF, Megan served as a Presidential Dissertation Fellow, a Research Assistant, and a Graduate Assistant at Indiana University, Bloomington. In those roles, Megan designed and executed critical qualitative research methods for studies that sought to address issues of equity within the experiences of Black students and faculty throughout higher education. A staunch HBCU advocate, Megan’s research agenda emphasizes and acknowledges the strengths and contributions of HBCUs and advocates for equity throughout higher education for Black women.
Megan is a graduate of North Carolina A&T State University. She earned her master’s degree in Higher Education Student Affairs from Western Carolina University and her PhD in Higher Education from Indiana University.
Latasha Mosley
LaTasha Mosley is a graduate research fellow for the UNCF’s Frederick D. Patterson Research Institute. Prior to joining UNCF, LaTasha worked as an elementary literacy educator helping to develop the literacy identities and practices of her students. Additionally, she has served as a District of Columbia Leadership Program Fellow where she developed a curriculum resource guide to support the district’s educational programming for young women of color. She also serves as a graduate assistant at Georgia State University. In this role, she uses qualitative research methods to address issues of equity and cultural responsiveness within STEM classrooms.
LaTasha is a proud graduate of Spelman College. She earned her master’s degree in Sociology and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Currently, she is completing doctoral studies at Georgia State University in Language and Literacy.