Gwendolyn Donley

Gwendolyn Donley was a National Poverty Fellow from 2022 to 2024 in residence in the Office of Community Services in the Administration for Children and Families. Donley completed her PhD in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Case Western Reserve University, where she developed skillsets in quantitative and qualitative methodologies working in the space where research meets policy and practice. Her doctoral research focused on residential instability, food environments, and experiences of COVID-19 among Black pregnant and postpartum women. Underlying themes connect all of her work: poverty, equity in resources and environments, racial disparities in health, and individual/community-level lived experiences. Before pursuing her PhD, Gwen received her Master of Science in Public Health from the University of Eastern Finland, where she studied childhood stress and late-life dementia risk. Donley has also been involved with extensive work focused on equity in food systems, including food access, emergency food assistance, supplemental food assistance programs, and nutrition policy. Donley was mentored by IRP Affiliate Christine Durrance and Emma Monahan, Senior Researcher at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago. Donley is currently a Data Scientist in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Community Services.