Lori A. Brainard

Professor Lori Brainard is primarily interested in communication. The bulk of her work focuses on how ordinary people, nonprofit and grassroots advocacy organizations, and government agencies use the internet to activate and mobilize for change and to disseminate information, conduct transactions, and engage in community building and collaboration. Her current research focuses on how students from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL—as well as other stakeholders and policy actors—have used social media for advocacy since the 2018 shooting. She also has a project on how Black Millennials engage in public life, including through social media, and how foundations have responded to the Black Lives Matter movement and the summer 2020 protests. Originally from Massachusetts, Professor Brainard grew up in the Boston area and attended the University of Massachusetts/Boston and Brandeis University. At GW she currently teaches Introduction to Public Administration and Service, Perspectives on Public Values, and the Ph.D. core course, Public Administration Literature.

Professor Brainard's CV