Name: Edgar E. Rivera-Cash
Email: erc343@nyu.edu
Program: Sociology of Education
Research Interests: LGBTQIA+ Issues in Higher Education, Diversity in Higher Education, Racial Campus Climate
Principal Advisor(s): Lisa Stulberg and R. L'Heureux Lewis-McCoy
Research Description/Bio:
Edgar Rivera-Cash is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Sociology of Education program at NYU Steinhardt. His research focuses on exploring the various socio-cultural, institutional, bureaucratic and interpersonal factors that contribute to the marginalization of queer Latine students in higher education. Edgar is also the Civic Infrastructure & Research Manager at the Poughkeepsie Children’s Cabinet (PCC), where he works at the intersection of community leadership, research, and data to advance inclusive, community-responsive systems change. He coordinates resident engagement and leadership through the Choice Community Ambassadors Program, ensuring community perspectives inform the Choice Neighborhoods Initiative and PCC’s broader cradle-to-career efforts. Edgar also leads and supports key research and data initiatives, including data collection and reporting systems, community-responsive data storytelling and dashboard development, and partnerships with external research organizations. Drawing on his experience in community-based participatory and qualitative research, he helps translate resident input and data into actionable recommendations, organizational learning, and strategies that strengthen equity, socioeconomic mobility, and collective impact across Poughkeepsie.
Edgar formerly served as a Research Analyst II at NYU’s Research Alliance for New York City Schools, where he conducted qualitative research for the evaluation of the Computer Science for All initiative. This initiative sought to provide every student with at least one meaningful, high-quality computer science learning experience at each level of schooling.
Edgar holds an M.A. in Sociology and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a B.A. in Sociology from Vassar College.
Selected Awards, Publications, and Presentations:
Publication:
Hill, K., Flores, M., Jain, R., & Rivera-Cash, E. (2025). Building School Capacity to Scale Up Computer Science Participation: Insights from NYC’s CS4All Initiative. Research Alliance for New York City Schools.
Presentation:
Rivera-Cash, E. (2025, April). The Queer Latine Student Spatial Imagination. Poster presented at the STORIES Conference, University of Oxford, Virtual. Abstract published in Conference Book of Abstracts (p. 104).