Nia Gordon
New York University
The Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development
Department of Applied Psychology
246 Greene Street, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10003
(941) 232-3654
[email protected]
EDUCATION
New York University, New York, NY
Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Applied Psychology,
Psychology and Social Intervention, Anticipated May 2016
Concentration in Quantitative Methods and Analysis
University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
Bachelor of Science, Psychology, December 2009
Minor: Education
SCHOLARSHIPS, GRANTS, HONORS AND AWARDS
 2015 Monroe Stein Memorial Fellowship for Commitment to a Career of Bettering the
Lives of Children, New York University, 2015 ($24,340)
 2015 Global Research Initiatives Summer Dissertation Writing Grant, New York
University, March 2015
 2014 Challenge Award, Steinhardt Doctoral Fellowship Proposal Summer Development
Award, New York University, April 2014
 2014 Student Travel Award, New York University, March 2014
 2013 Phillip J. Zlatchin Memorial Scholarship for Outstanding Contributions to
Improving the Life Conditions of Vulnerable Individuals and Communities, New York
University, April 2013
 Applied Psychology Summer Research Award, New York University, Department of
Applied Psychology, July 2012
 2012 Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology Minority Fellowship, University
of Kansas, Center for Research Methods and Data Analysis, April 2012
 2012 Society of Multivariate Experimental Psychology Travel and Housing Grant,
University of Kansas, Center for Research Methods and Data Analysis, April 2012
 2012 Honorable Mention, Ford Foundation Fellowship Predoctoral Fellowship Award,
April 2012
 2010 Leighton E. Cuff Award for Aging Research, April 2010
 National Science Foundation Scholarship, Research Experience for Undergraduates,
University of South Florida, May 2009
 2009 REU Outstanding Research Award, Honorable Mention, University of South
Florida, August 2009
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Honored Undergraduate Minority Scholar, National Science Foundation Scholarship and
Travel Grant, University of Southern California Prospective Ph.D. Preparation Program,
November 2009
Outstanding Researcher of the Semester Award, Family Health Self-Empowerment
Project, University of Florida, Fall 2009
University of Florida MINAMBA Minority Ambassador Program, 2006-2009
University of Florida Presidential Scholar, 2006–2009
Florida Academic Scholar, 2006-2009
Dean’s List, Spring 2008-Spring 2009
Order of Omega, Greek Leadership Honors Society, November 2008-December 2009
PUBLICATIONS
Gordon, N. D., Godfrey, E. B., Aber, J. L., & McKay, M. (In preparation). Exploring Patterns
of Receipt of Cash Grants, Health Care, and Education Among 7 to 10 year old Children in
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Gordon, N. D., Godfrey, E. B., Aber, J. L., & McKay, M. (In preparation). Differential Influence
of Various Patterns of Service Receipt on Children’s Academic and Cognitive Outcomes.
Gordon, N. D., Godfrey, E. B., & Yoshikawa, H. (In preparation). Toward a Framework for
Understanding the Singular and Additive Effects of Social Service Receipt on Children’s
Cognitive Development in South Africa.
Gordon, N. D., Godfrey, E. B., & Aber, J. L. (In preparation). Predicting Child Support Grant
take up in KwaZulu-Natal: The influence of caregiver physical and mental health, household
socioeconomic status and geographic location and community factors.
Godfrey, E. B., & Gordon, N. D. (In submission). Characteristics and patterns of social grant
utilization in the KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa.
Godfrey, E. B., & Gordon, N. D. (In preparation). Effects of social grant utilization on child and
caregiver psychosocial outcomes in the KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa.
Godfrey, E. B., & Gordon, N. D. (In preparation). Relationships between perceptions of the
American system among low-income immigrant mothers and the cultural qualities they
cultivate in their young children.
Gordon, N. D., Dobbs, D., & Molinari, V. (2010, Summer). Availability of mental health care in
assisted living facilities. Psychologists in Long-Term Care Newsletter, 24 (2), 6-8.
Gordon, N. D., Dobbs, D., & Molinari, V. (2011, Spring). Availability of mental health care in
assisted living facilities. University of Florida Journal of Psychological Science, 2, 11-26.
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Gordon, N. D. (2015, July). Exploring Patterns of Receipt of Cash Grants, Health Care, and
Education Among 7 to 10 year old Children in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Paper
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presented at the International Society of Political Psychology Annual Meeting, San Diego,
CA.
Gordon, N. D. (2014, May). The Way Receipt of Grants in the Household May Influence the
Impacts of Cumulative Risk on Children’s Social Emotional Development, Executive
Functioning and Physical Health in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Paper accepted to be
presented at The Society for Prevention Research Annual Meeting, Washington, DC.
Gordon, N. D. (2014, April). The Way Receipt of Grants in the Household May Influence the
Impacts of Cumulative Risk on Children’s Social Emotional Development, Executive
Functioning and Physical Health in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Paper presented at The
Society for Research in Child Development Special Topic Meeting: Strengthening
Connections Among Child and Family Research, Policy and Practice, Alexandria, VA.
Gordon, N. D., Godfrey, E. B., & Aber, J.L. (2013, April). Predicting Child Support Grant take
up in KwaZulu-Natal: The influence of caregiver physical and mental health, household
socioeconomic status and geographic location and community factors. Poster symposium at
The Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting, Seattle, WA.
Gordon, N. D., Godfrey, E. B., & Aber, J.L. (2013, May). Predicting Child Support Grant take
up in KwaZulu-Natal: The influence of caregiver physical and mental health, household
socioeconomic status and geographic location and community factors. Paper presented at
The 2013 Cross-University Collaborative Mentoring Conference, New York, NY.
Gordon, N. D., Dobbs, D., & Molinari,V. (2009, August). Availability of mental health care in
assisted living facilities. Paper presented at the Florida Mental Health Institute Research
Symposium, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL.
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Graduate Research Assistant; Co-Chief of Staff, Sibhekelela Izingane Zethu (We Look Out For
Our Children). New York University, New York, NY and Human Sciences Research Council,
Durban, South Africa. September 2011 – Present.
J. Lawrence Aber, Ph.D., LaRue Allen, Ph.D., Linda Richter, Ph.D., and Erin Godfrey, Ph.D.
(Principal Investigators).
Large-scale, longitudinal research project funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the
NICHD to examine the influence of household, community and policy factors on children’s
developmental processes and physical and mental well-being in high-poverty, high-HIV
prevalence Zulu communities in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
 Perform predictive analyses (including multilevel models, regressions and latent class
analysis) to examine relationships between a set of key household- and community-level
factors and child developmental outcomes and social assistance take up;
 Mentor, train and supervise Doctoral- and Master’s-level research assistants on data
cleaning, data analysis, conducting literature reviews and other various projects;
 Assist with the grant writing process;
 Manage, clean, check and code two waves of data from over 1,900 respondents;
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Both collaboratively and independently produce manuscripts addressing larger aims of
the project;
Facilitate and coordinate project communication;
Perform literature reviews to summarize the current knowledge of grants and services in
South Africa and identify limitations in the knowledge base;
Conduct psychometric analyses, including reliability and factor analyses of key study
constructs;
Review Wave 1 protocol and assist in the development of Wave 2 protocol;
Collaborate with researchers at NYU and in South Africa on data management activities,
descriptive and psychometric analyses and the development of Wave 2 protocol;
Create and manage project’s annual progress reports for the National Institute of Health;
and
Manage the annual review of IRB permission and management of all IRB amendments.
Graduate Research Assistant, National Forum on Early Childhood Policy and Programs MetaAnalytic Database Project. New York University, New York, NY. October 2013 – Present.
Hirokazu Yoshikawa, PhD, Jack Shonkoff, MD, Greg Duncan, PhD, Katherine Magnuson, PhD,
& Holly Schindler, PhD.(Principal Investigators).
National Institute of Health funded multi-university collaborative meta-analytic database study
synthesizing four decades of program evaluation research relevant to children from the prenatal
period to age five.
 Trained on effect size calculation, article screening and article coding;
 Screened articles and reports gathered through (1) detailed literature searches in ERIS,
PsychINFO, EconLit and Dissertation Abstract databases, (2) manual searches of the
websites of policy institutes and state and federal departments and (3) collecting
references mentioned in included studies and other key reviews into a large meta-analytic
database;
 Coded articles using rigorous methodology and standards to identify high-quality
evaluations with similar treatment and comparison groups; and
 Calculated the effect sizes of each of the studies screened into the larger study.
Research Associate, New York City Government, Administration for Children’s Services,
Division of Early Care and Education, New York, NY. September 2013 – October 2014.
Nia Gordon, Maria Benejan, Associate Commissioner, & Renee Jaffee, MA, Associate
Commissioner (Principal Investigators).
 Developed and administered a survey measurement tool that aims to collect information
to elucidate parents’ child care program choices and parents’ perceived barriers to
enrollment in particular child care programs;
 Developed a focus group protocol, trained ACS staff members to facilitate focus group
meetings and independently facilitated a set of focus group meetings;
 Used qualitative analysis strategies to transcribe and code data;
 Developed strategies to widely disseminate the survey across New York City and get
high response rates;
 Created a template to be used to enter survey data and conduct quantitative analyses;
 Trained and supervised a team of ACS staff members and NYU undergraduates to enter
the survey data into the data template;
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Used quantitative analysis strategies to analyze the survey data;
Contacted early education product vendors to donate items as incentives to programs with
high survey participation rates;
Attended city-wide meetings of parents and ACS staff members to learn more about the
early child care programs across NYC;
Created a report which synthesizes the survey results;
Developed policy recommendations to diminish barriers to enrollment in high quality
early child care programs and allow for more targeted program recruitment efforts
throughout New York City.
Graduate Research Assistant, Perceptions of the American system among low-income
immigrant mothers: Links to desired cultural qualities and the cognitive and social development
of young children. New York University, New York, NY. September 2011 – Present.
Erin Godfrey, Ph.D. (Principal Investigator).
Longitudinal, mixed-methods project exploring how low-income immigrant mothers of young
children perceive the American social system and examining links between mothers perceptions
of the social system, the cultural qualities they cultivate in their children and their children’s
cognitive and social development.
 Conduct literature reviews to examine the body of knowledge surrounding the
transmission of cultural qualities from immigrant mothers to children;
 Mentor and train undergraduate research assistants to code data using Grounded Theory
techniques;
 Code qualitative data using grounded theory techniques;
 Develop conceptual models to guide descriptive and inferential statistics; and
 Analyze data and draft study manuscripts.
Research Assistant, Education Development Center, Center for Children and Technology, New
York, NY. May 2012-August 2012.
Ashley Lewis, PhD and Peggy Clements, PhD (Principal Investigators).
Global nonprofit organization that designs, delivers and evaluates innovative programs to
address some of the world’s most urgent challenges in economic opportunity, education and
health.
 Manage, clean, check and code a variety of large data sets;
 Conduct descriptive data analyses;
 Conduct psychometric analyses, including reliability and factor analyses of all study
constructs;
 Use hierarchical linear modeling to determine associations between key constructs and
children’s academic achievement outcomes.
Pediatric Obesity Coordinator, AmeriCorps VISTA, Community HealthCorps VISTA RyanNENA Community Health Center, New York, NY. August 2010-August 2011.
Mary Joan Murphy, MSN, PNP, MPH (Principal Investigator).
National service program designed to create and expand programs that build capacity and bring
low-income individuals and communities out of poverty. Members serve full-time for a year at a
nonprofit organization or local government agency that serves primarily low-income individuals.
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Created the Get Healthy! NYC nutrition and physical activity education program for
urban, overweight and obese, public Elementary and Middle School students to address
the rising occurrence of childhood obesity in underserved populations;
Designed, developed and managed program database;
Conducted data analyses to determine effectiveness of program;
Submitted three grants to sustain funding to the program; and
Presented the program outcomes and obesity data to school principals, administrators,
and school nurse staff.
Research Fellow, National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates,
Summer Research Institute. Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida, Tampa,
FL. May 2009 - August 2009.
Victor Molinari, Ph.D. and Debra Dobbs, PhD. (Principal Investigators).
Intensive nine-week research program to develop and refine research skills through workshops,
trainings and mentorship. Program culminated in presenting research at an academic conference
and the creation of a publishable manuscript.
 Completed original research project involving thesis development, surveys, interviews,
and data analysis;
 Prepared paper: “Availability of Mental Health Care in Assisted Living Facilities” for
publication in the University of Florida Journal of Psychological Science;
 Presented original research at Florida Mental Health Institute Research Symposium to 75
faculty/staff;
 Developed original IRB application for research project;
 Completed workshops on SPSS Statistical Analysis Software, Atlas.ti, and Qualtrics online survey system;
 Completed research ethics workshop series;
 Participated in the FMHI Research Rotation; and
 Participated in the REU Community Collaborator’s Rotation.
Research Assistant, Family Health Self-Empowerment Project, Health Psychology Research
Team. University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. August 2008-December 2009.
Carolyn Tucker, Ph.D. (Principal Investigator).
Large-scale, multiphase, intervention study funded by the PepsiCo foundation that investigates
psychological and behavioral factors associated with attaining and maintaining health. Also
evaluates a comprehensive set of integrated interventions designed to modify and prevent
overweight and obesity among culturally diverse children, adolescents, and adults.
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Trained culturally diverse overweight and obese children, adolescents and their adult
caregivers to engage in health promoting behaviors;
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Developed and produced informational intervention DVD;
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Managed, checked, coded and cleaned data;
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Maintained close contact with participants and facilitated data collection sessions;
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Conducted literature reviews to understand the current research around intergenerational
obesity;
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Implemented the FHSE Training Program at community centers in low-income African
American, Hispanic, and White communities;
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Managed the workshop phase and completed participant data collection; and
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Evaluated the effects of the FHSE Training Program to inform the development of
culturally sensitive health self-empowerment theory-based health promotion
interventions.
Honored Undergraduate Minority Scholar, Prospective PhD Preparation Program, USC’s
Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education Program in Social, Behavioral and Economic
Sciences. University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA. November 2009.
National Science Foundation Scholarship and Travel Grant.
Intern/Research Assistant, Carter Psychology Center, Bradenton, FL. May 2008 - August 2008.
Debra Carter, Ph.D. (Principal Investigator).
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Conducted literature reviews to understand the existing knowledge on Parenting
Coordination; and
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Aided in scoring various psychological tests including the Rorschach Ink Blot Test, the
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, and the Parent Perception of Child Profile.
TEACHING AND MENOTRING EXPERIENCE
Instructor, Developmental Psychology Through the Lifespan, Department of Applied
Psychology, New York University, New York, NY. Spring 2015. (undergraduate level, 50
students enrolled)
Teaching Assistant, Statistical Analysis Specialist, Department of Media, Culture and
Communication, New York University. New York, NY. Fall, 2014.
Invited Lecturer, Principles and Experiences with Cross-Cultural Psychology. Introduction to
Psychology Course, Department of Applied Psychology, New York University. New York, NY.
November, 2014.
Early Childhood Educator Forum Facilitator, Child and Family Policy Center, New York
University. New York, NY. June, 2014.
Pediatric Obesity Coordinator, AmeriCorps VISTA, Community HealthCorps VISTA. RyanNENA Community Health Center, New York, NY. August 2010-August 2011.
Mary Joan Murphy, MSN, PNP, MPH
Child Development Associate, Champions Extended Learning Academy McNeal Elementary
School, Bradenton, FL. March 2010-July 2010.
Intern / Executive Assistant, Family Partnership Center, Bradenton, FL. May 2008 - August
2008.
Mentor, Links to Literacy Program, Metcalf Elementary School, Gainesville, FL. August 2006 December 2009.
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RESEARCH TRAINING AND SKILLS
 Statistical Horizons Latent Class Analysis workshop
 Modeling and Data Analysis with Mplus workshop
 SPSS, SAS, STATA, Mplus and R statistical analysis software training
 Courses on regression analyses, causal inference analyses, dealing with missing data,
multilevel modeling, longitudinal growth curve modeling, classification and cluster
analysis, factor analysis, factor scoring, structural equation modeling and latent class
analysis
 ArcGIS software training
 Atlas.ti qualitative analysis software training
 Qualtrics on-line survey software training
 Research ethics workshop series
 IRB application training
 Grant writing training workshop
 Internet research skill building workshop
AFFILIATIONS
Society for Research in Child Development, March 2013-Present
PSI Program Recruitment Committee, 2011-2012, 2014-2015
PSI Program Admissions Committee, 2013-2014
PSI Program Colloquium Committee, 2012-2013
New York University Global Research Interest Organization, September 2011 - Present
American Psychological Association of Graduate Students, June 2011 – Present
Psi Chi, University of Florida Chapter, 2007-2009