Through research, community support, advocacy, and engagement, two members of the NYU Steinhardt community are breaking down barriers of misunderstanding and intolerance.
Elise Cappella, Steinhardt’s associate professor of applied psychology and Leah Lattimore, (CAS ’04; STEINHARDT ’10, ‘22), NYU’s assistant vice president for inclusive global student leadership and engagement, have been awarded the Making A Difference. The university-wide award highlights ideas, discoveries, or new and innovative approaches that solve a critical problem, aid underserved populations, or break down barriers of misunderstanding and intolerance.
Elise Cappella
Capella, director of Steinhardt’s Institute of Human Development and Social Change, was honored for a career dedicated to improving our understanding of factors that impact children's positive adaptation in schools and communities. She has studied predictors of academic achievement among students at risk for failure, worked with school and community partners to implement and study a mental health model focused on learning for disruptive children in high poverty schools, and researched an intervention to enhance girls' social development and reduce relationally aggressive behavior. Her work has been supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, the Spencer Foundation, and the Institute for Education Sciences. Cappella, who will assume the role of Vice Dean for Research at NYU Steinhardt in the spring semester, was praised for putting relationships and community-building first, building research-practice partnerships, and for training the next generation of education scientists.
Elise Cappella is an extraordinary mentor, collaborator, and leader. She is making important contributions to solving local and global problems in education and human development through rigorous, relevant research."
Leah Lattimore
Leah Lattimore (CAS ’04; STEINHARDT ’10, ’22) oversees NYU’s Center for Multicultural Education and Programs and its LGBTQ+ Center. Through her role as senior associate director of multicultural and global programs at NYU, she supports historically underrepresented students in ways that impact on their post-graduation success and their future career opportunities. Lattimore established NYU Shanghai’s Career Development Center, serving as its deputy director, and has been at the vanguard of university-wide inclusion, diversity, belonging, and equity initiatives at NYU.
Lattimore serves on the board of Harlem Grown, a non-profit organization committed to youth development through urban farming, and is a member of the American Marketing Association of New York’s Advisory Council. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in education at NYU Steinhardt.
Leah's outstanding professional performance, inclusive leadership, advocacy, and scholarship have catapulted University efforts to advance equity, diversity, belonging, and inclusion goals.”
Lattimore serves on the board of Harlem Grown, a non-profit organization committed to youth development through urban farming, and is a member of the American Marketing Association of New York’s Advisory Council. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in education at NYU Steinhardt.