Dr. Ruby Hernandez

Dr. Ruby Hernandez is the research analyst for the Catalyst Center. She has over 10 years of research experience designing, implementing, and analyzing original research projects and communicating relevant insights.  For the past few years she been working as an applied researcher on strategic planning and evaluation projects with educational, philanthropic, government, and nonprofit agencies. Prior to that she worked on projects in academia where her teaching and research focused on social justice topics and demonstrating the resiliency of underrepresented students in higher education. Ruby is passionate about supporting professionals who serve under-resourced communities, and is interested in creating evidence-based change and empowering disenfranchised communities through research.

Ruby is a first-generation Latina raised in a working-class immigrant farming community in California’s Central Valley. This has shaped her motivation for learning, understanding, and wanting to address issues related to improving youth, family, and community well-being. As such, she earned her Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. In her spare time she loves reading, taking long walks with her dog (Oso), and spending quality time with friends and loved ones.