Community Research Group Alumnus
See what former Community research group lab staff are doing now
Aliva Foster
Alivia Foster is a first year Clinical Psychology PsyD student at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, FL. She earned her BS in Psychology from Michigan State University Honors College in 2020 and her MA in Forensic Psychology from George Washington University in 2022. She was Dr. Woolard's Community Research Group Lab Coordinator from January 2022 until she moved to Florida to pursue her doctorate degree in June 2023. Alivia has a variety of experiences, including working as a probation intern, a legal advocate for local court-involved youth, a crisis counselor, and many research assistantship positions. Professionally, her clinical and research interests are both forensic psychological assessment and evaluation. Currently, Alivia is working with Dr. Randy Otto, PhD, ABPP to develop empirical research on (forensic) mental health clinician and practitioner decision making, and she represents the student body as Research Chair for NSU's Forensic Advocates for Rehabilitation and Reintegration group. In her free time, Alivia is a certified personal trainer so you can likely find her at a gym, playing with her cat Armani, or cooking!
Jenna Douglas
Jenna Douglas, a 2019 graduate, was selected as a Fulbright Scholar for the 2023-2024 academic year as an English Teaching Assistant in La Rioja, Spain. While at Georgetown, Douglas was a research assistant with the Community Research Group, analyzing the role of parental advisory in juveniles comprehension of legal rights and decisions. Additionally, she authored a thesis to understand the complexities parents have navigating the juvenile justice and education system. Outside of the classroom, Douglas was a peer mentor to students in the DC community, and served as a leader of an Alternative Break Program, Cease Violence Chicago, through the Center for Social Justice. Douglas graduated with honors in Psychology, Phi Beta Kappa, with magna cum laude honors. After graduating, Douglas served as an education public policy and advocacy intern with Alliance for Excellent Education, helping to inform Congressional staffers about disparities in education before taking a full-time role with Aspen Institute. At the Aspen Institute, Douglas developed professional learning experiences for education leaders to increase educational equity in the K-12 education system. Currently, Douglas works as a Strategy & Analytics Consultant for Deloitte Higher Education Consulting where she helped launch the New Era Forum, an inaugural convocation for presidents and chancellors of universities to discuss the most pressing challenges in higher education. As a Fulbright Scholar, Douglas plans to deepen her understanding of the role that education plays in building the social fabric of our global society and advance her career to continue increasing opportunities for students, especially those facing the greatest challenges.
Rafi Freund
Rafi Freund graduated from Georgetown in 2023 with a BA in Psychology, with Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude honors. Through the Community Research Group, Rafi authored a thesis on the use of videoconferencing technology for criminal pretrial hearings. Specifically, Rafi’s work compared two different video layouts for their impacts on a defendant’s eye gaze, understanding, and perceived fairness of their hearing. Outside of the classroom, Rafi spent five semesters as a teaching assistant in statistics, which awoke in him a passion for teaching. In the long term, Rafi hopes to combine his interest in psychology and law with his love for teaching. For the 2023-24 academic year, Rafi received a Fulbright grant to work as an English Teaching Assistant in Berlin, Germany. Rafi is lesson-planning and delivering instruction for 200+ fifth- and sixth-graders in a public elementary school. Rafi hopes that this experience will not only improve the language skills he earned through his German minor at Georgetown, but also better prepare him for a career in academia.
