Kayla joined MFJ in 2022, following 5 years with the Rochester Institute of Technology and the Monroe County Gun Involved Violence Elimination (GIVE) Initiative. As a Senior Research Associate, Kayla works with external agency partners to evaluate their data infrastructure, and to ensure data are valuable for agencies and transparent to local communities. To her projects, she brings her extensive experience building justice system datasets, from working with the Maryland Statistical Analysis Center and the Rochester Police Department’s Crime Analysis Center. Currently, Kayla is responsible for helping shape MFJ’s Policing Measurement project, and supporting the Justice Counts measurement project. She also contributes to the organization’s research agenda.

Kayla holds an M.S. in Criminal Justice Administration from Niagara University, and her research interests include program evaluation, evidence-based policy, and crime analysis. In her free time – and when she is not working on her house – Kayla can be found wandering Rochester’s abundance of hiking trails, and spending time with her two pups.