Education
PhD, Social Welfare, 2018-2023 (expected)
University of California, Berkeley, School of Social Welfare
Designated Emphasis: Global Metropolitan Studies
Dissertation Title: Neighborhood Youth-Serving Organizations and Well-being: Perspectives from East Oakland
Dissertation Committee: Julian Chow (Chair, Social Welfare), Susan Stone (Social Welfare), Rachel Morello-Frosch (Public Health), David Harding (Sociology)
MSW (2013-14)
Case Western Reserve University
Concentration: Community Practice and Social Change
Certificate: Nonprofit Management
BSW (2010-2013)
Double major in Psychology, magna cum laude
Temple University
Email: brenda_mathias@berkeley.edu
Research Areas
Urban spaces, adolescents, health and well-being, youth empowerment, neighborhood institutions, community-based participatory approaches, social justice theory
Research Experience
Cure Violence Evaluation Qualitative Researcher, Washington University, St Louis, 2022-present
- Develops protocols for semi-structured interviews and focus groups
- Oversees qualitative data collection and analysis of focus group/interview data
- Strengthens relationships with community partners across 3 neighborhood sites
- Disseminates focus group/interview findings in partnership with other project partners
Pre-doctoral Fellow, Dope Labs, 2018-present
- Supports and leads community trainings on a mobile mapping app (Streetwyze)
- Conducts and organizes focus groups with youth leaders from across California
- Wrote case study to describe a community-led, collaborative research processes in Oakland
- Led youth mapping of community assets
Graduate Student Researcher, University of California, Berkeley, 2021-2022
PI: Anu Gomez, PhD; School of Social Welfare
- Collaboratively coded stakeholder and cognitive interview transcripts
- Developed the methods and findings section of associated manuscript
- Cleaned mixed-methods survey data for analysis and measurement development
Research Assistant, Hotel Oakland Village, 2020
- Conducted literature review on social isolation among the aging population
- Developed a cost comparison of services across Bay Area independent living facilities
- Attended meetings with the project PI, consultant, and Hotel Oakland Village team
Graduate Student Researcher, University of California, Berkeley, 2018- 2020
Project: Youth Summer Jobs in Oakland, CA
PI: Kristine Madsen, MD; School of Public Health
- Managed the development of a training curriculum for the Oakland Summer Jobs program
- Led the implementation of a pre/post survey across 6 nonprofit youth organizations
- Led a sub-study assessing the use of social capital in CA-based youth organization curricula
- Developed relationships with City representatives and local youth-serving organizations
- Led the creation and management of IRB protocols
Project Manager, University of Pennsylvania Department of Criminology, 2016-2018
- Managed two randomized controlled trials assessing the impacts of a summer jobs program
- Assisted project PI developing grant proposals yielding over $400,000 in funding
- Developed, modified, and managed multiple IRB protocols
- Tracked and submitted grant deliverables to federal and philanthropic funders
- Conducted interviews with 7 youth ages 14-18 across the City of Philadelphia
- Negotiated and maintained data sharing agreements
Research Assistant, Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers, 2015-2016
- Collaboratively developed a city-wide integrated data system
- Responsible for submitting and monitoring IRB protocols
- Trained and supervised three qualitative summer interns
- Led 18 in-home client interviews and codebook development
- Developed collaborative relationships with key stakeholders and partnering agencies
Teaching
*course offered in online format
**course offered in hybrid format
University of California, Berkeley School of Social Welfare
SW 114: Practice in Social Work, Undergraduate**
Lead Instructor - Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022
SW 282B: Seminar in Social Research II, Graduate*
Graduate Student Instructor - Spring 2021
SW 282A: Seminar in Social Research I, Graduate*
Graduate Student Instructor - Fall 2020
SW 110: Social Work as a Profession, Undergraduate*
Graduate Student Instructor - Fall 2019, Spring 2020
SW 251: Program Development in Context, Graduate
Reader - Spring 2019
San Jose State University School of Social Work
ScWrk 298B: Special Projects, MSW Research Capstone course, Graduate*
Lecturer - Spring 2022
ScWrk 298A: Special Projects, MSW Research Capstone course, Graduate*
Lecturer - Fall 2021
Professional Experience
Policy Intern, Mayor’s Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity, 2014
- Oversaw the surveying of vacancy and land use in the West Philadelphia Promise Zone
- Managed data collection process for annual report
- Aided in the preparation and execution of press conferences
- Researched early learning best practices focused on increasing parental engagement
Program Administrator, East Cleveland Partnership, 2013-2014
- Led a property surveying team of residents and graduate students in East Cleveland
- Utilized a participatory action research approach to develop an economic revitalization plan
- Edited reports released to the Development Department of North Coventry, Ohio
- Participated in the facilitation of public meetings within the East Cleveland community
- Assisted partnering organization aggregate and analyze community-level data
- Developed process manual for windshield survey procedures
Social Work Tutor, Temple University, 2010-2013
- Supported student athlete subject comprehension, analytic thinking, and writing skills
- Utilized a multidimensional teaching approach to best suit diverse learning styles
- Tracked student progress through daily reports to the Academic Coordinator
Care Coordinator, Warren E. Smith Expanded Outpatient Program, 2011-2012
- Conducted outreach and intakes for incoming and current clients in grades 9-12
- Reviewed client eligibility for services based on current insurance and agency policies
- Applied bio/psycho/social assessment methods during intake evaluations
- Facilitated meetings between clients, parents, and school staff
- Recorded organized case notes for every interaction with clients, parents, and staff
- Researched and made appropriate referrals for clients to secondary services
Peer-reviewed Publications
Gottlieb, A., Mathias, B.,Berry, M., & Flynn, K, Wilson, R. (2022). Does the state impact hope? The impact of direct and vicarious police contact on the optimism of youth in large cities. Child and Adolescent Social Work.
Flynn, K., Mathias, B., & Wiebe, D. J. (2020). Investigating the (in)visible: Piloting an integrated methodology to explore multiple forms of violence. Journal of Community Psychology, Special Issue, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22349
Flynn, K., & Mathias, B. (2020). “I would say it’s alive”: Understanding the social construction of place, identity, and neighborhood effects through the lived experience of urban young adults. Qualitative Social Work, 19(3), 481–500. https://doi.org/10.1177/1473325020911673
Chow, J. C., Ren, C., Mathias, B., & Liu, J. (2019). InterBoxes: A social innovation in education in rural China. Children and Youth Services Review, 101, 217–224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.04.008
Manuscripts In-Progress
Gomez, A., Mathias, B., Bennett, A., Marshall, C., & Arcara, J. (2022). Birth control or contraception? Linguistic insights from cognitive interviews. Submitted to Contraception.
Vogel, M., McCuddy, T., Mathias, B., & Rezey, M. (2022). Assessing the acute effects of exposure to episodic community violence. Submitted to Criminology.
Mathias, B., & Hill., D. (2022). Neighborhood institutions and well-being: Youth Perspectives from East Oakland. Submitted to the Journal of Youth Studies.
Flynn, K., & Mathias, B. (2022). “I just want to get back on track”: Adapting Bronfenbrenner’s
ecological systems theory to understand the impacts of multiple forms of
violence. Revisions submitted to the Journal of Adolescent Research.
Flynn, K., Mathias, B., Yousuf-Abramson, S., Gottlieb, A. (2022). “They gotta beat us”: A qualitative investigation of multiple forms of violence and police contact among urban young adults. Revisions submitted to Children and Youth Services Review.
Mathias, B., Magee, K., Jackson., R., Graham., P., Madsen, K. (2022). Building bridges and
strengthening bonds: An exploratory investigation into social capital and youth
programming. Revisions submitted to Progress in Community Health Partnerships.
Mathias, B., Ren, C., Chow, J.C. (2022). Place and Community Engagement as Predictors of Social Capital. Revisions in progress for People, Place, and Policy.
Working Papers & Book Chapters
Mathias, B. (2022). Neighborhood institutions and well-being: Youth Perspectives from East Oakland. UC Berkeley: Institute for the Study of Societal Issues. Retrieved from https://escholarship.org/uc/item/67q8x620
Chow, J., Vu, C., Mathias, B., & Reisch, M. Safety Net Programs and Services for Racial and Ethnic Minorities and Immigrant Families in the U.S. In Social policy and Social Justice (4th ed). San Diego, CA: Cognella Press.
Conference Presentations
Mathias, B. & Hill, D. (2022). Youth voice and neighborhood institutions: Perspectives from East Oakland. Paper presented at the People, Place and Policy Conference, Sheffield. UK.
Gottlieb, A., Berry, M., Flynn, K., & Mathias, B. (January, 2022). Does the state impact hope? Direct and vicarious police contact and optimism among urban teens. Paper presented at the Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference, Washington D.C.
Mathias, B., Ren, C., & Chow, J. (July, 2021). Place and community engagement as predictors of social capital. Paper presented at the People, Place and Policy – Social and Spatial Inequalities Conference, virtual.
Ren., C., Chow, J., Weng, S., & Mathias, B. (January 2021). How nonprofits react to economic downturns after the 2008 recession? Analysis by natural language processing. Poster presented at the Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference, virtual.
Weng, S., Chow, J., Ren., C., & Mathias, B. (January 2021). Changing identities among identity-based Asian Pacific American ethnic agencies. Poster presented at the Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference, virtual.
Weng, S., Chow, J., Ren., C., & Mathias, B. (January 2021). Examining major changes in Asian Pacific American ethnic agencies. Poster presented at the Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference, virtual.
Flynn, K. & Mathias, B. (January 2021). I would say it’s alive. Understanding the social construction of place, identity, and neighborhood effects through the lived experience or urban young adults. Paper presented at the Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference, virtual.
Mathias, B., Ren, C., & Chow, J. (January 2020). Community engagement as a predictor of social capital: An analysis from the knight soul of the community study. Poster presented at the Society for Social Work Research Annual Conference, Washington D.C.
Ren, C., Mathias, B. Chow, J., & Lyu, Y. (January 2020). Trends in non-profit sectors: A predictive analysis of agency longevity in the US. Paper presented at the Society for Social Work Research Annual Conference, Washington D.C.
Chow, J., Ren, C., & Mathias, B. (October 2018). Interboxes: A social innovation in rural China. Paper presented at the International Conference on Social Innovation in Child and Youth Services, Beijing, China.
Santiago, A. M., Ishler, K. J., Lee, E. L., & Mathias, B. (August 2015). Neighborhood residential trajectories shaping childhood exposure to violence. Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, Chicago, IL.
Santiago, A. M., Lee, E. L., Berg, K. A., Mathias, B., & Ishler, K. (April 2015). Caregiver and child perceptions of and responses to neighborhood violence. Paper presented at the Annual Meetings of the Urban Affairs Association, Miami, FL.
Mathias, B., Chupp, M., Mortensen, W., Harp, T., & Mazzola, J. (May 2014). The East Cleveland target area planning project: Working collaboratively towards community revitalization. Poster presented at the ShowCASE Conference, Cleveland, OH.
Fellowships & Awards
Graduate Fellows Program, University of California, Berkeley, Institute for the Study of Societal Issues, 2021-2023
PhD/Early Career Paper Award; “Place and community engagement as predictors of social capital”, People, Place, and Policy Conference; July 2021.
Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award,University of California, Berkeley,School of Social Welfare, 2020
Invited Lectures, Panels and Discussions
Invited Speaker, Empowerment and Critical Reflexivity in Practice, The Suitcase Clinic, March 3, 2022.
Invited Lecturer, Social Capital and Place – The Social Determinants of Health, City College of San Francisco, March 26, 2021.
Invited Panelist, Social Welfare Pedagogy for First Time Graduate Student Instructors, University of California, Berkeley, August 26, 2020.
Invited Discussant, Book Manuscript “Black in Place: The Spatial Aesthetics of Race in a Post-Chocolate City” for Dr. Brandi Summers, University of California Berkeley, April 16, 2020.
Technical Proficiencies
Python, R, SPSS, STATA, ArcGIS, Atlas.ti, NVivo, Dedoose
Memberships and Affiliations
Member, Society for Social Work and Research