by Erika Kates, Ph.D.

Senior Research Scientist, Wellesley Centers for Women

Erika Kates is working in two major research areas at the Wellesley Centers for Women (WCW): Gender and Justice, and Women's Economic Development through Education. She has extensive experience in policy analysis and research, focusing mainly on low-income women, women of color and immigrants. In her previous job as research director at the Center for Women in Politics and Public Policy, at the University of Massachusetts Boston, she was responsible for conducting research on the economic inequities among women, women in prison, incidence of HIV/AIDS among women of color in MA, homeless women and children, working conditions of nursing and home care staff, mentoring and leadership, welfare recipients' access to education and training, and women elected to public office.

Her work on female offenders began when she was hired as the first criminal justice planner in Massachusetts, became a member of the state's first Women and Criminal Justice organization, and directed a unique pre-trial diversion program for women arraigned in the Boston courts. She obtained her doctorate from the Heller School, conducting research on the ways in which women in state prisons in the Northeast used legal and quasi-legal strategies to address their numerous legal issues. This work acknowledged that although women are victimized and traumatized in many ways, it is important to acknowledge and assist their efforts in being agents of change. Her most recent research projects concern the family connections of women in prison in Massachusetts.

Dr. Judith V. Jordan is acknowledged in this publication.