Meet the founder

Domonique Henderson MSW, ACSW

Domonique Henderson is a doctoral candidate in the Social Welfare Department at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs. She is a social worker deeply committed to advocating for social equity and mental health of Black women and girls. Domonique aims to address gendered racial social inequities embedded systemically that perpetuate harm and contribute to a decline in psychological wellness, while also working collaboratively with youth and community members to co-develop solutions.

Domonique Henderson is the Principal Investigator and Director of the Gendered Racism and Mental Health (GRAMH) Research Lab at UCLA. She is also the Founder and Director of the Black Women and Femmes Research Summit at UCLA, which is the first ever research conference at UCLA centering Black women and femmes researchers’ scholarly contributions. Domonique utilizes youth and community participatory action, Black girlhood pedagogy, intersectional feminist pedagogy, and decolonial pedagogy to examine complex intersectional issues faced by marginalized communities. In addition to investigating gendered racial barriers impacting mental health, Domonique’s research centers asset based and solution focused research.

Domonique is a recipient of the Ursula Mandel Award which recognized and funded the GRAMH Lab’s studies centering Black girls’ experiences with gendered racism in high school and its mental health implications for 2 years. She is a double recipient of the Dr. Franklin Gilliam Social Justice Award for her work centering experiences of invisibility in high school and online gendered racism. The Social Welfare Department also funded her research aiming to develop a comprehensive measure assessing gendered racial mistreatment and its association with anxiety and depression. Previously, Domonique was awarded the Casey Family Programs Honor Minority Doctoral Scholar Fellowship to examine youth life skills and social determinants of health. She is currently a Teaching Fellow and Associate Clinical Social Worker with clinical experience and training in hospital settings focusing on adults and adolescents with co-occuring mental health diagnoses with a concentration on substance use, particularly those facing severe barriers to social determinants of health. Domonique also merges research interests and clinical experience with community work in her nonprofit centering mentorship, mental health, leadership, and academic advancement by hosting weekly workshops for Black girls in her hometown, Compton, CA.

Your hair and skin are a reflection of beauty, power, and tenacity. You are that girl! 🤎

Research Assistants

Laila Wheeler

Laila Wheeler (she/her) is a fourth-year public affairs, education, and sociology major at UCLA from Rancho Cucamonga, CA. Outside of GRAMH, she is an Obama-Chesky Voyager Scholar, Bunche Fellows Research Scholar, and VIPS Mentor. She has engaged in human rights and education non-profit work with organizations in South Africa and Ghana to advance global citizenship and uplift marginalized youth. In the future, she plans to pursue international education to support community engagement efforts for students across the African Diaspora.

Wynter Hale

Wynter Hale (she/her) is a fourth-year psychology major at UCLA from Los Angeles, CA. Outside of GRAMH, she is the Events Director for the Black Business Student Association (BBSA), the Curriculum Co-Director for the Afrikan Education Project (AEP), and an administrative assistant for VIPS at UCLA. In the future, she plans to obtain her Master of Social Work and become a school social worker who strives to implement compassionate intervention practices throughout school districts.

Sierra Stewart

Sierra Stewart (she/her) is a third-year pre-law communications major at Arizona State University from San Diego, CA. Outside of GRAMH, she is an Education Mentor with Next Level Transfer, a Public Relations Intern at Rainbow Municipal Water District, and an active volunteer at Young Legacies, California’s first summer camp dedicated to getting Black youth outdoors. In the future, she plans to pursue a career in educational law to advocate for equitable learning environments and support community-driven initiatives for Black youth, especially Black girls.

Kyah Gaines

Kyah Gaines (she/her) is a first-year psychobiology major at UCLA from Long Beach, California. Outside of GRAMH, she is involved in campus organizations such as Melanin in Medicine and the Higher Education Conference Committee of Afrikan Student Union, along with Thrive Scholars. Her main aspiration is to become an OB-GYN and own a clinic with Black physicians that engage in nonprofit work to uplift the health of Black and POC communities.

You can exist perfectly as you are without conforming to who others want you to be. 🌼

Black girl Youth Advisory Board research team

Meelah Rodriguez-Holland

Meelah Rodriguez-Holland is a high school senior born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She goes by she/her/hers pronouns and is currently a CRWND Inc. ambassador and mentee, ASB co-leader of Broadcast, and caregiver of her grandmother. She will be attending University of San Francisco in the fall and aspires to be a speech pathologist.

Brailynn Page

Brailynn Page is from Los Angeles, California. She is a 10- year Girl Scout and an active member of Jack and Jill’s South Los Angeles chapter. She plans to be and OBGYN in the future. As a BGYABRT member, she aims to network, and gain skills to support her future work in the medical field.

Sakari Dunlap

Sakari Dunlap is a senior from Atlanta, GA. Sakari is a cheerleader and is hoping to attend Kennesaw State University next fall. She wants to become a Forensic Psychologist. As a BGYABRT member, she aims to develop leadership skills, meet like minded people, and learn how to use her voice to bring about conversation and change.

Your voice matters and your contributions are valued. You are allowed to be vulnerable. 💞

GRAMH ALumni

Asante Spencer

Asante Spencer (she/her) is a legal assistant and researcher with a passion for advancing equity through education policy and legal reform. She earned her B.A. in Political Science and African American Studies from UCLA, where she was actively involved in student government, serving in roles including Assistant Internal Vice President and Program Facilitator for the Cultural Affairs Commission. Asante’s work focuses on how institutions can better support historically marginalized communities through inclusive policy development and legal advocacy. She plans to pursue a J.D. to further examine the legal frameworks that shape access and belonging in educational spaces and beyond.