I am Kristen Brock-Petroshius (last name rhymes with “ferocious”), currently an Assistant Professor of Social Welfare at Stony Brook University and faculty affiliate of the Department of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. For more information about my research or teaching experience, please go to those tabs.

After receiving my BA in Sociology with a minor in Gender Studies from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, I began work in social services and community organizing. I supported low-income families and incarcerated individuals through housing, transportation, and employment training and helped found Operation Welcome Home—a grassroots organization dedicated to decriminalizing and addressing the root causes of homelessness. I also served as the Executive Director of GSAFE, a Wisconsin non-profit working to create just schools for LGBTQ youth.

My organizing work is rooted in the belief that social movements are essential for a robust multiracial democracy. I have served as as a staff and volunteer leader with several initiaitives, including as a Regional Field Director on the Reform LA Jails campaign – a Los Angeles County ballot initiative approved in March 2020 that reallocates funds from jail expansion into community resources.

In my role as a researcher, I am excited to support community organizers, policy advocates, and social workers looking to better understand the impact of their work, especially through the use of field experimental research methods and on issues related to racial, economic, environmental, queer, and trans justice and democracy.