Khalia Parish, Stanford University
Khalia Parish, a senior at Stanford University, has devoted her undergraduate career to studying and researching homelessness. When she entered Stanford, she had already done extensive work in the area of homelessness and knew that she would devote her energies to helping the unhoused. She has worked to understand homelessness and poverty from a variety of perspectives, including through the lenses of history, sociology, psychology and urban studies. In addition, she has approached the issue through work in direct service, policy advocacy, fund raising, public relations and research. In the summer of 2011, Khalia interned at the Santa Clara County Department of Mental Health, where she worked with their Homelessness Concerns Coordinator. Currently, Khalia’s senior research project is studying new and more ethical ways of addressing homelessness. This project showed Khalia’s extensive knowledge of homelessness, her dedication to addressing it, and her outstanding abilities in analysis and communication.