Ariel T. Powell

Biography

Ariel T. Powell is a Public Affairs Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Public Policy & Administration at Florida International University. She holds a Master of Public Administration from FIU and a Bachelor's in Political Science from New College of Florida. Her research focuses on how individuals interact with policies, programs, and government institutions. More specifically, she is interested in how policies affect minority, disadvantaged, and marginalized groups. This includes both those who work in government and those who are the targets of the policies and programs.

Ariel’s dissertation, Administering School Security: The Impact and Implementation of the Florida Public Safety Act of 2018, focuses on the impact of the 2018 Public Safety Act on youth outcomes and school district decision-making. Her research agenda includes a state-by-state study of school security in the United States and a study on the changing relationship between state and local governments in recent years. She co-authored an article in Public Personnel Management titled, “The Experience of Local Governments in Promoting Equity and Inclusion.” She also wrote a chapter for the edited book Rethinking Democracy and Governance Perspectives from the Caribbeanwith a chapter titled “Democracies and their Fragility: Working only for the people who they were made for.”