The Program in Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies
Assistant Professor of Social Policy and Practice
Amy Castro Baker, PhD teaches Policy: Analysis of Issues, Strategy and Process and serves on the MSSP Governance Committee. She also teaches a course on Gender and Social Policy. Dr. Castro Baker’s research explores how economic and social policies contribute to existing disparities, particularly within housing and lending markets. She was awarded the GADE Research Award, the Society for Social Work and Research Outstanding Dissertation Award, and the Nina Fortin Memorial Award for her work on women and risky lending markets in the subprime foreclosure crisis. She is currently developing a cost-effective mixed methods approach to supervised machine learning and Big Data policy analysis that involves direct partnership with public policy interest groups. Dr. Castro Baker also has more than a decade of non-profit experience and sits on the leadership team of the SPARK Movement, an interdisciplinary organization pioneering new methods of systems level social change in a digital age. Prior to her time at Penn she served as a Philadelphia mayoral committee member for the Blueprint to End Homelessness and worked with the Honorable Marjorie Margolies at Women’s Campaign International.
