Melissa Espinoza, PhD
Dr Melissa Espinoza completed her PhD from the Institute of Social Policy, Housing, Inequalities Research at Heriot-Watt University in Scotland. She is a specialist in comparative public policy and the impacts of racial inequalities. Her professional experience in North America centres on racial inequalities within housing and homelessness policies. She has extensive research experience in the United Kingdom, studying and evaluating homelessness programmes in Greater Manchester, Newcastle, and Birmingham. She has published research on ageing populations' housing needs and other anti-poverty work.
In her spare time, she is heavily involved in supporting movements that help to elevate and promote Black, First Nations, Latinx and other people of colour voices. She serves on the Board of Trustees for Economic Lead, an award-winning and first-of-its-kind BAME/BIPOC-founded research company in Scotland. She also volunteers year-round for Minga Indigena, a movement that elevates First Nations voices and knowledge in climate change negotiations.
Currently, she works in Philanthropy for We Are In.
Heriot-Watt University, Scotland
Publications
I have been involved in and published a variety of reports and academic journal articles covering a range of topics in the US and UK. Some of the topics I have covered in my research are: Housing and Ageing in England, Wales, and Scotland, A Bed Every Night Programme Evaluation in Greater Manchester, impact of COVID-19 on health and homelessness in Newcastle and Greater Manchester, and Count Us In (point-in-time count in King County, USA).
