Elise Brockenberry is a doctoral student in the Community Psychology program at Georgia State University. She got her start at St. John’s University, earning her Bachelor of Arts degree and minoring in Social Justice Theory. 

Elise’s research and career focus on positive youth development and mentoring. As an aspiring Community Psychologist, she is interested in creating better access to resources that help young people thrive, especially in underserved communities. One of her main goals is to connect the dots between how we think about mentoring in research and how it’s applied in real-world settings, using creative evaluation tools to make a difference. 

Elise has a mix of research and hands-on experience. Before moving to Georgia, she worked as a Research Assistant at Baruch College and the Child HELP Partnership. Now at Georgia State, she’s part of the ECO Lab, where she helps evaluate mentoring programs for organizations like Boys and Girls Clubs of America and Big Brothers Big Sisters. She also works closely with youth development organizations across Georgia, including her previous role with the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power and Potential, where she developed surveys to track long-term outcomes for youth, parents, and staff. She additionally collaborates with MENTOR Georgia, where she’s an Evaluation Consultant and Youth Advisory Board Member. 

When she’s not working, you can find Elise exploring Georgia’s fast-food spots, playing sudoku, getting lost in a good book, or hanging out with her cat, Kirk.