Johari Harris is a post-doctoral felllow with Youth-Nex at UVA’s Curry Schooll of Education. She graduated from Georgia State University in May 2018 with a doctorate in educational psychology. During her tenure at GSU, she was a College of Education and Human Development Doctoral Dean’s Fellow and a Georgia State University Provost’s Dissertation Fellow. Before entering graduate school, she taught in different schools domestically and abroad. The experiences showed her how impactful issues of culture and identity have on the education and positive youth development. She examines how social identities, specifically race and gender, along with cultural values systems, like Afro-centric values, influence African American adolescents social-emotional competencies. Her research is grounded in intersectionality, developmental psychology, and social psychology theories. Her sequential, explanatory mixed method dissertation used an intersectional lens to examine if and how African American males’ race, gender, and cultural orientations influenced their pro-social behaviors. She has developed and implemented culturally responsive curriculums focused on healthy relationships to African American middle school students. Additionally, she has conducted qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method studies with African American and South African middle school and high school students. Ultimately, she believes the best way to support African American adolescents’ positive youth development is through a strength-based multi-leveled approach which builds off their cultural backgrounds while keeping their voices at the forefront of the conversation.