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M
URIEL BOWSER
MAYOR
November 5, 2025
The Honorable Phil Mendelson
Chairman
Council of the District of Columbia
John A. Wilson Building
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 504
Washington, DC 20004
Dear Chairman Mendelson:
In accordance with section
2 of the Confirmation Act of 1978, effective March 3, 1979 (D.C. Law 2-
142; D.C. Official Code § 1- 523.01), and pursuant to D.C. Official Code § 16 -1053, I am pleased to
nominate the following individual:
Dr. Nkiru Nnawulezi
Adams Mill Road, NW
Washington, DC 20009
(Ward 1)
for reappointment as a community representative member of the Domestic Violence Fatality Review
Board, for a term to end July 20, 2028.
Enclosed, you will find biographical information detailing the experience of the above-m entioned
nominee, together with a proposed resolution to assist the Council during the confirmation process.
I would appreciate the Council’s earliest consideration of this nomination for confirmation. Please
do not hesitate to contact me, or Steven Walker, Director, Mayor’s Office of Talent and
Appointments, should the Council require additional information.
Sincerely,
Muriel B owser
Mayor
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Chairman Phil Mendelson
at the request of the Mayor
A PROPOSED RESOLUTION
IN THE COUNCIL OF TH E DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
To confirm the reappointment of Dr. Nkiru Nnawulezi to the Domestic Violence Fatality Review
Board.
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA , That this
resolution may be cited as the "Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board Dr. Nkiru Nnawulezi
Confirmation Resolution of 2025".
Sec. 2. The Council of the District of Columbia confirms the reappointment of:
Dr. Nkiru Nnawulezi
Adams Mill Road , NW
Washington, DC 20009
(Ward 1)
as a community representative member of the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board,
established by D.C. Official Code§ 16-1052, for a term to end July 20, 2028.
Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia shall transmit a copy of this resolution,
upon its adoption, to the nominee, and to the Office of the Mayor.
Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.
NKIRU A. NNAWULEZI, PH.D.
Page 1 of 2 (Updated 9/23/24)
Department of Psychology Phone: ________________
University of Maryland, Baltimore County Email: _________________
Baltimore, MD 21250
EDUCA
TION
2015 Ph.D., Ecological/Community Psychology, Michigan State University
Cognate: Research Methods
Certificate: College Teaching
Certificate: Community Engagement
2011 Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan
Certificate: Empirical Implications of Theoretical Models
2011 M.A., Ecological/Community Psychology, Michigan State University
2008 B.A., Psychology, American University
Minor: Women and Gender Studies
EX
PERIENCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION
2022 – present Associate Professor of Psychology, Community Psychology,
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
2019 - present Affiliate Faculty, School of Public Health, Yale University
2016 - 2022 Assistant Professor of Psychology, Community Psychology,
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
2015 - 2016 Provost Postdoctoral Diversity Fellow, Psychology Department,
University of Maryland, Baltimore County
2014 Professorial Lecturer, Psychology Department, George Washington
University
EX
TERNAL FUNDING
2025 – 2028 The Development of a Peer Advocacy Intervention for Survivors
whose Partners are in Relationship Violence Intervention Programs.
National Institute of Justice. $838,966. Role: Principal Investigator
2024 – 2026 New Jersey Domestic Violence Housing First Evaluation. State of
New Jersey Department of Children and Families. $677,000. Role:
Principal Investigator
2022 – 2025 Transforming the Gender-Based Violence Movement: Increasing
BIPOC Representation and Actualizing Accountability Project. Family
Violence Prevention and Services Act American Rescue Plan
Supplemental Funding through the National Resource Center on
Domestic Violence. $508,300. Role: Co-Principal Investigator.
2021 – 2022 Addressing Healthcare Access for Black LGBQ+ Women. Williams
Institute LGBTQ+ and Racial Justice Small Grants Program. $4,000.
Role: Co-Investigator
2020 – 2022 Examining Housing Displacement and Stabilization for IPV Survivors
living with HIV. National Institute on Minority Health and Health
Disparities, National Institutes of Health Loan Repayment Program.
$29,672.25. Role: Principal Investigator
2019 – 2021 The Development of a Multi-level Housing Displacement Model for
Intimate Partner Violence Survivors Living with HIV. Center for
Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS, Yale School of Public Health.
Page 2 of 2 (Updated 3/5/25)
Research Education Institute for Diverse Scholars (REIDS) Pilot
Grant (Parent Grant – National Institute of Mental Health
5R25MH087217-10; PI: Kershaw, T). $20,000. Role: Principal
Investigator (Pilot)
2019 – 2020 DC Domestic Violence Action Research Collective Housing
Screening Study: Phase 2. American Psychological Association
Division 27: Society for Community Research and Action. $5,000.
Role: Principal Investigator
2018 – 2019 DC Domestic Violence Action Research Collective Housing
Screening Study: Phase 1. Center for Victim Research. $15,000.
Role: Co-Principal Investigator
2017 – 2020 District Alliance for Safe Housing Rapid Rehousing Housing Program
Evaluation. HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, STD, and TB Administration,
Government of the District of Columbia, $45,878. Role: Principal
Investigator
2013 – 2015 Domestic Violence Emergency Housing Program Evaluation. District
Alliance for Safe Housing, $27,000. Role: Co- Principal Investigator
2012 – 2013 King-Chavez-Parks Future Faculty Fellowship, State of Michigan
Department of Career Development, $35,000. Role: Principal
Investigator
2010 – 2012 Mental Health Services in the Aftermath of Violence Against Women.
Research Supplement to Promote Diversity in Health-related
Research. National Institute of Mental Health (5R24MH075941-03;
PI: Cris Sullivan, PhD). Role: Training Grant Recipient
I
NTERNAL FUNDING
2019, 2023 Supplement for Undergraduate Research Experiences Grant,
University of Maryland, Baltimore County, $1500. Role: Principal
Investigator
2017 Exploring the Needs of Survivors Whose Partners are in Abuser
Intervention Programs. University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
$6,000. Role: Principal Investigator
2015 - 2016 Postdoctoral Fellowship for Faculty Diversity, University of Maryland,
Baltimore County, $44,000.
P
UBLICATIONS
Special Issues of Peer-Reviewed Journals
Nnawulezi, N., Shaw, J., Rieger, A. Greeson, M., Lichty, L., & Allen, N. (Eds.). (June 2022).
[Special Virtual Issue]. American Journal of Community Psychology.
Nnawulezi, N., Li ppy, C., Serrata, J., & Rodriguez, R. (Eds.) (2018). [Special Issue].
Transformative Collaborations: Participatory Research Approaches in the Field of
Gender-Based Violence. Journal of Family Violence, 33(8).
American Psychological Association
E
xecutive Office of the Mayor – Mayor’s Office of Talent and Appointments
John A. Wilson Building | 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, Suite 600 | Washington, DC 20004
D
r. Nkiru Nnawulezi
D
r. Nkiru Nnawulezi is an Associate Professor at the University of
Maryland, Baltimore County and visiting research faculty at Yale School
of Public Health. Her research examines the ecological factors that
enhance equity within and across the domestic violence housing
continuum. She aims to improve the social and material conditions for
survivors of gender-based violence who occupy multiply marginalized
social identities. Dr. Nnawulezi also seeks to develop sustainable
survivor-centered, community-based systems of support that can serve as
alternatives to traditional social service systems.
Dr. Nnawulezi has been funded by the National Institute of Mental
Health, National Institute of Justice, Administration for Children and
Family - Office of Family Prevention and Services, and Center for Victim Research. As an expert
in community-based, participatory research and trained facilitator, Dr. Nnawulezi designs
participatory research processes with community partners to find innovative solutions to complex
social problems. She is also a research and evaluation advisor to multiple community-based and
systems change organizations such as the DC Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Ujima:
The National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community
A Ward 1 resident, Dr. Nnawulezi earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from American
University and both her Master of Science in Ecological and Community Psychology and her
doctorate in Ecological-Community Psychology from Michigan State University,
GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Executive Office of Mayor Muriel Bowser
Office of the General Counsel to the Mayor
______________________________________________________________________________
The John A. Wilson Building • 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW • Suite 300 • Washington, D.C. 20004 • Office (202) 724-7681
To: Kimberly A. Bassett, Steve Walker
From: Betsy Cavendish
Date: October 28, 2025
Subject: Legal sufficiency review of a resolution reappointing Nkiru Nnawulezi as a
member of the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board
This is to Certify that this office has reviewed the above-referenced resolution and
found it to be legally unobjectionable. If you have any questions in this regard, please do not
hesitate to call Michael Porcello, Deputy General Counsel, Executive Office of the Mayor, at
202-727-0872, or me at 202-724-7681.
______________________________
Elizabeth Cavendish