Dr. Linda J. Sax, Founding Director
Linda J. Sax (she/her/hers) is a professor of higher education in the School of Education & Information Studies at UCLA. She is also the founding director of Momentum: Accelerating Equity in Computing and Technology at UCLA. For over three decades, Dr. Sax’s research has focused on gender differences in college student development, with an emphasis on women in STEM fields. She has secured over $10 million in extramural support from organizations including the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the Computing Research Association, AnitaB.org, the Kapor Center, Google.org, and Pivotal Ventures. Dr. Sax previously served as national director (from 1997 to 2005) of the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) at the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI), the nation’s largest and longest-running multi-institutional study of college students. Dr. Sax is the author of more than 100 publications, including The Gender Gap in College: Maximizing the Developmental Potential of Women and Men (Jossey-Bass, 2008). She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 1999 Early Career Award from the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), the 2005 AAUW Scholar-in-Residence Award, the 2015 UCLA Department of Education Distinguished Teaching Award, and the 2019 ASHE Mentoring Award.
Chantra Nhien (he/him/his) serves as the Assistant Director of Momentum at UCLA. He earned his Ph.D. in Higher Education & Organizational Change and B.S. in Biology from UCLA and received his M.P.H. in Health Promotion & Behavioral Sciences from San Diego State University. Prior to stepping into his current role at Momentum, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Florida State University’s Center for Postsecondary Success where he used quantitative research designs to examine community college pathways to computing for marginalized groups in computing and tech. At Momentum, his research centers on the experiences of Asian students in postsecondary computing. He is also investigating the landscape of more recent broadening participation in postsecondary computing (BPC) scholarship to better understand how BPC research has been conducted and what currently works (or does not) in advancing diversity and equity among women and other marginalized groups in computing and tech. Outside of academia, Chantra enjoys outdoor running and strives to complete at least one marathon a year.
HyeJin Tina Yeo, Ph.D., serves as the Associate Director of the CIC Research Project within Momentum at UCLA. She is a critical theorist, mixed methodologist, and sociologist, with her work deeply rooted in sociology and social psychology. Her research contributes to advancing knowledge in college student development, intergroup socialization, and access and success in higher education, especially for those from minoritized and underrepresented backgrounds in STEM. The International Student Critical Race Theory (IntlCrit) developed by Dr. Yeo represents a groundbreaking contribution to scholarship. It offers critical guidance on addressing the racial experiences of international students by integrating micro-level individual factors with broader meso- and macro-level contextual dynamics, such as sociocultural, historical, and global influences. Her commitment to justice-oriented leadership and equity-minded mentorship is clearly demonstrated through her active engagement in both academic and public spheres. She delivers podcasts, video vignettes, lectures, workshops, and training sessions on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at institutions such as Hannam University in Korea, Pepperdine University, and UCLA. Furthermore, she tackles issues of racial inequity and microaggressions in higher education at media outlets like the 21st Illinois Public Media. Dr. Yeo is committed to driving transformative changes that enhance racial/ethnic diversity, equity, and justice, fostering more just and inclusive learning environments on both local and global scales. Dr. Yeo earned her Ph.D. in the Sociology of Higher Education from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She tries to meditate every day and enjoys playing tennis.
Catherine Jang (she/her/hers) is a Ph.D. student at UCLA’s Higher Education and Organizational Change program. She holds a Master of Arts degree in education from UCLA as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science and mathematics from Harvey Mudd College. Catherine’s research interests are in diversifying the field of computing and improving the experiences of historically underserved students in the field. In particular, she is passionate about better understanding the intersectional experiences of women of color in computing and examining student transitions from undergraduate programs into both graduate programs and the tech industry.
Brian Le (he/him/his) is currently a Ph.D. student in the Higher Education and Organizational Change (HEOC) program at UCLA. Brian holds a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology & health from Iowa State University and a master’s degree in student affairs in higher education from Marquette University. Prior to attending UCLA, Brian worked at Iowa State University for 4 years as a student’s program coordinator for the Science Bound program, a pre-college through college program focused on working with scholars from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue a degree in STEM. He has been a research affiliate on multiple NSF-funded projects surrounding equity in STEM. Brian’s research interests are college access, retention, marginalized students, community colleges, first-generation, STEM education, STEM identity development and engineering education.
Max Pereyra (he/him/his) is a Ph.D. student in the UCLA Higher Education and Organizational Change program. Additionally, he is earning a graduate certificate in advanced quantitative methodology in educational research. He earned his Master of Education at UCLA with a specialization in student affairs, as well as a bachelor’s degree in bioengineering at the University of California, Riverside. Prior to his work at Momentum, Max worked for three years as a graduate researcher at the UCLA CARE Program, providing gender-based violence prevention education to the UCLA community. Max’s research concerns college student development, examining how identities such as gender, sexuality, and race/ethnicity shape college student experiences.
Paul Zhang is an undergraduate Computer Science major at UCLA, graduating in the spring of 2025. He is passionate about improving diversity and retention in computer science, engineering and technology. As a member of the Society of Women Engineers at UCLA, he works to promote change on policy and legislative issues. At Momentum, Paul has assisted the literature database project team by fact-checking papers and will continue aiding the team with data cleaning and survey analysis.
Jennifer M. Blaney, Ph.D.
Dr. Christopher Lynnly Hovey is a research scientist for the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT), and a research associate in the Information Technology Education Contexts (ITEC) Lab within the Department of Information Science at the University of Colorado Boulder. His research investigates issues and solutions for systemic change to improve gender parity in undergraduate and graduate computing programs, and for identifying and promoting strategies to increase postsecondary educators’ adoption and sustained use of teaching practices that support inclusiveness, engagement, and retention. Representing the first BRAID-NCWIT research collaboration, Chris partnered with Kathleen Lehman and Tiffani Riggers-Piehl to explore the nexus between sociocultural and attitudinal phenomena and what pedagogical practices faculty use in their introductory computing classes, finding that systemic reform requires also addressing faculty beliefs about students, learning, and their peers. Chris earned a B.A. in sociology from the University of Colorado Boulder, and a masters and PhD in sociology from Northeastern University in Boston.
Kate Lehman, Ph.D., serves as Director of the 
Tomi Rajninger graduated from UCLA in June 2022 with a B.S in Statistics and a minor in Public Affairs. After working as one of Momentum’s Undergraduate Research Interns for three years while at UCLA, Tomi recently moved to Washington, D.C. to begin her career working in the intersection of statistics, data science, public policy, and social change. She will also continue working on Momentum’s early career paper team.
Daisy Ramirez is a Research Analyst in Institutional Research and Planning at Cypress Community College. She earned her Ph.D. in Higher Education & Organizational Change from UCLA in 2023, where she also obtained an M.A. in the same field. Daisy’s research focuses on the experiences of community college students and faculty of color, using both quantitative and qualitative research methods to examine and address educational and labor inequities. She completed her undergraduate studies with distinction, earning a B.A. in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Dr. Sarah L. Rodriguez
Kaitlyn (Katie) N. Stormes, Ph.D., is a former Research Analyst for Momentum. After graduating from UCLA’s Higher Education and Organizational Change program in June 2024, she began her Postdoc at the University of Georgia in Athens where she works with Dr. Jennifer Blaney studying upward transfer students in undergraduate computing. Katie’s personal research is primarily centered on fostering more inclusive computing environments for women across races/ethnicities and People of Color more broadly through curating best practices to promote greater identity, self-efficacy, and belonging.
Dr. Jane Stout earned her Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2011. She has been studying diversity-related issues in science and technology for more than a decade, has published widely on the topic, and has received several grants and awards for her work. Dr. Stout has expertise in data science, statistics, and qualitative methods, which she uses in her consulting role for BRAID projects.
Sarayu Sundar, Ph.D., is a Higher Education Research Associate with the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) at the University of Colorado Boulder. In this role, Dr. Sundar focuses on leveraging quantitative and qualitative data to broaden participation in computing. Prior to joining NCWIT, she served as a Research Analyst for five years with Momentum: Accelerating Equity in Computing and Technology at UCLA. Dr. Sundar completed her Ph.D. in Higher Education and Organizational Change at UCLA in 2022 and also earned a bachelor’s degree in Accounting and master’s degree in Higher Education Administration from the University of Houston.
Annie M. Wofford, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education in the Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies at Florida State University. Her research interests center on structural inequities within graduate education, and she focuses on the development of equity-minded structures of support in STEM students’ trajectories to and through graduate school. Wofford’s research about doctoral students’ mentoring practices has most recently been funded through a partnership with the 
Lecia Barker is a Senior Research Scientist for the National Center for Women & Information Technology and Associate Professor in the Department of Information Science at the University of Colorado Boulder. Lecia conducts research in attracting, retaining, and advancing groups underrepresented in professional computing careers. Her studies focus on the structures that shape individuals’ choices to pursue or avoid technical education and careers by understanding issues such as social climate, identity/belonging, faculty adoption of teaching and curricular practices, and sustainable organizational change. She also designs programmatic interventions to advance women’s meaningful participation in computing from secondary through graduate education.
Joy Gaston Gayles, Ph.D. is professor of higher education and senior advisor for the advancement of diversity, equity, and inclusion for the college of education at North Carolina State University. She is also president for the Association for the Student of Higher Education (ASHE). Her research focuses on access and success in post-secondary education for women and people of color in STEM fields as well as intercollegiate athletics. Recently, she co-edited a book volume entitled Advancing Higher Education Research on Undergraduate Women in STEM. She recently completed a National Science Foundation (NSF) funded project on early-career faculty of color in engineering.
Dr. Allison Scott is the CEO of the Kapor Foundation, part of the Kapor Center family of organizations, aiming to increase racial diversity in tech and entrepreneurship. We believe that when the tech workforce and leadership reflects the diversity of the country, innovation will be strengthened and tech can be used to close longstanding gaps across sectors. At the Foundation, Dr. Scott leads efforts to: (a) conduct research on barriers and solutions to racial inequality in tech, and (b) operate programs and invest in pathways into the tech/entrepreneurship workforce, and (c) work in partnership with stakeholders to advocate for transformational change in policies and practices to expand racial equity in technology. Dr. Scott is currently a Principal Investigator on multiple national grants to expand equity in computer science education and increase participation of women of color across the computing pipeline and in her previous role as the Chief Research Officer, authored foundational research on disparities in tech and entrepreneurship, inequity in CS education, and interventions to improve STEM outcomes for students of color. Previous positions include: Chief Research Officer at the Kapor Center; Program Leader for the National Institutes of Health’s Enhancing the Diversity of the Biomedical Workforce Initiative; Director of Research and Evaluation for the Level Playing Field Institute, and Data Analyst for the Education Trust-West. Dr. Scott holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Hampton University.
Xueli Wang is the Barbara and Glenn Thompson Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her research agenda centers on identifying factors and contexts that shape underserved students’ learning, experiences, and trajectories to success. Her scholarship has primarily advanced this area of focus through two interconnected strands: (1) students’ participation and success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields; and (2) the access, progress, and development of students who begin postsecondary education at community colleges. A notable example of Dr. Wang’s work is 