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Jada Vaughn

Criminology & Justice Policy, PhD

Jada is a doctoral candidate at Northeastern University in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice. She holds an M.S. and B.A. in Criminal Justice and Criminology from the University of Alabama, where she was named Graduate Student of the Year in 2022. Grounded in feminist and queer theory, Jada’s research explores gender-based victimization and system responses, with a specialization in commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) and human trafficking. She has worked under Dr. Amy Farrell on various projects in the Violence and Justice Research Lab (VJRL) and is the lead graduate student on the Northeastern Public Evaluation Lab’s (NU-PEL) participatory evaluation of Boston HEAT under Dr. Katherine P. Hazen. Jada’s dissertation uses qualitative and social network analysis methodologies to examine housing instability as an understudied mechanism of exploitation risk, focusing on how women experiencing CSE and substance use disorder in seek, lose, and negotiate both formal and informal housing options.

Related Schools & Departments

Awards

Institutional Courage Research Grant, 2025 student awardee, $3,299.00

Presentations

Vaughan, J. (2026). Recruiting Women at the Intersection of Substance Use, Homelessness, and Exploitation: The Boston HEAT Evaluation. NU-PEL, Northeastern University

Vaughan, J. (2026). Understanding the Data of the Boston HEAT Evaluation. South End Supporters (Boston philanthropy group).

Vaughan, J. (2026). Barriers and Bridges: Supporting the Reentry Journey of Women. The Center on Crime, Race, and Justice Community Advisory Board, Northeastern University

Vaughan, J. (2026). Queer and Transgender Experiences of Sex Work: Law, Survival, and (In)Visibility. The LGBTQ+ Legal Collective and Women in Pre-Law, Northeastern University.

Vaughan, J. (2026). Commercial Sexual Exploitation in Boston: Past and Present. The Sexual Assault Response Coalition, Northeastern University

(2025). Public Safety Meets Public Health: Examining Public Safety, Substance Use, and Mental Health in the Mass and Cass Community with Dr. Ojikutu, Commissioner of Boston Public Health. The Center on Crime, Race, and Justice Community Advisory Board, Northeastern University.

Vaughan, J. (2025). Building Trust on the Street: Supporting Women at the Intersection of Substance Use Disorder and Commercial Sexual Exploitation. C2C Boston Policy Forum: Research + Action: Scaling Justice Models to Center Community in the Justice System, Northeastern University.

Vaughan, J. (2026). Patience, Flexibility, and Humility: Evaluating Person-Centered, Trauma-Informed Care for Women Experiencing Addiction and Sexual Exploitation. Law & Society Association.

Vaughan, J., Hazen, K. (2026). Community-Engaged Participatory Research Designed Evaluation of HEAT: Describing an Evaluability Assessment, Design, and Preliminary Evaluation Findings. American Society of Criminology.

Vaughan, J., (2026) Beyond the Binary: Exploring the Anti-Trafficking Ideology Spectrum and its Impact on Care Work. American Society of Criminology

Vaughan, J. (2024). I’m Ducking and Dodging Police for My Life”: Necropolitics in Street-Based Sex Economies. American Society of Criminology.

Vaughan, J. (2023). Modeling Illicit Human Trafficking Networks: A Comparison of Social Network Models with Two Data Sources. American Society of Criminology

Vaughan, J. (2022). The Impacts of Complex Criminalization on Access to Healthcare and Social Services for Women in commercial sex” Presented at American Society of Criminology

Vaughan, J. (2022). The Politics of Sex work Research. The University of Alabama Research Colloquium.

Vaughan, J. (2022) The Future of Health & Law Research Across the State of Alabama. Southern Behavioral Health & Law Initiative, The University of Alabama.

Vaughan, J. (2021). Truth and Responsibility in the Ethnography of Sexuality and Sex work: an Ethical Discussion by the Human Sexuality & Anthropology Interest Group. The American Anthropology Association

Vaughan, J. (2021). It’s Like Jail All Over the Place”: Policing and Healthcare Experiences Among Street-based Sex Workers. American Society of Criminology.

Vaughan, J. (2021). Street-Based Sex Workers’ Experiences with Law Enforcement. The University of Alabama Research Colloquium.

Vaughan, J. (2021). Gendered Pathways Through the Criminal Justice System: A Comparative Analysis of Incarcerated Women and Women in Street-Based Sex Work. Southern Criminal Justice Association.

Publications

Vaughan, J., O’Kelly, B., Hazen, K., Judge, A. (2026). Centering Survivors, Rethinking Evaluation: CBPR and Radical Care in Commercial Sexual Exploitation. Journal of Human Trafficking.1-8
https://doi.org/10.1080/23322705.2026.2737361

Vaughan, J. (2026). Qualitative Methodology in Encyclopedia of Gender & Crime. Sage publications. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781071951804.n325

More Student Paths

Mahd Malik

  • Mahd took an internship at the private equity and venture capital firm Milebreaker Partners. He continued working there after the internship ended, learning to balance professional and academic workloads.
  • At the Alexander Hamilton Society, Mahd discusses foreign policy, as well as content from undergrad and master's classes, and how to apply those learnings in the real world.
  • In “Macroeconomic Theory” with Professor Veysel Ulusoy, Mahd learned about different ways to assess macroeconomic dynamics during Fall 2024.
  • Mahd joined, and still participates in, the Northeastern Investment Banking Group. His current focus is how tariffs affect indices in the U.S.
  • In Spring 2025, he took a Masters level course, Comparative Economics with Professor Madhavi Venkatesan, where he learned to look at macroeconomic growth and development through a different lens.
  • Mahd is currently applying his knowledge from CSSH to his senior thesis, entitled Trade Protectionism and Its Effect on The US Indices. In it, he uses quantitative data to explain current events.
  • After graduating, Mahd hopes to break into the finance, consulting, or the defense sector, where he can apply his background in economics, research, and strategy while growing his career...

Shannon Peifer

  • Shannon took Black Digital Humanities with Professor Nicole Aljoe where they had the opportunity to work on the digital project of reframing of the Boston Inoculation Controversy of 1721.
  • Shannon co-founded the Health Humanities Group with fellow student Morgan Paik to discuss scholarship in the field and build community through related educational events.
  • They took Archives of Public Health with Professor Sari Altschuler and helped organize a digital exhibit of their class’s archival objects and research findings on Cholera in Nineteenth-century America.
  • Shannon developed a digital StoryMap of Salem to map connections to the Atlantic slave trade, and the “haunting” of racial capitalism in the course 18th Century Literature: Race, Gender, Capitalism.
  • They currently work as a Graduate Writing Consultant at the Northeastern Writing Center, helping undergraduates achieve their writing goals.
  • ..

Eva de Menezes Martins Langer

  • Beginning in her second year at Northeastern, Eva worked as a research assistant with Professor Berna Turam, assisting in research on border cities.
  • Eva’s first co-op was at Action Corps. In the role, she assisted with all aspects of the organization, including research, writing, congressional meetings, and more.
  • Eva participated in the Balkan Wars Summer 2023 Dialogue of Civilizations led by Professor Denis Sullivan, where she spoke to members of the Serbian parliament and Bosnian presidency.
  • One of her favorite courses at Northeastern has been "Security and Resilience Policy" with Professor Nichola Minott.
  • Through her Advanced Writing course, she took part in a service-learning project, where she worked with Lifeboat Boston, providing fresh food to those suffering from food insecurity.
  • In her second co-op, Eva worked as a Research Analyst at the Center for Applied Nonviolent Actions and Strategies in Belgrade, Serbia.
  • In 2024, Eva was awarded the Flemister Fellowship by the Center for International Affairs and World Cultures. ..

Niyam Alami

  • Niyam is a member of the Economics Master’s Student Association, where he plans and organizes events to build the graduate student network and make connections.
  • He took “Applied Econometrics” with Professor Shahriar Sadighi and conducted a replication study to understand double machine learning, strengthening his modeling, coding, and analysis skills.
  • Niyam is a founding member of the Economics Club in Seattle, where he organizes hackathons and participates in the National Association for Business Economics Conference.
  • He participated in a Graduate Leadership Institute program, where he built leadership confidence through interactive workshops, case studies, and collaborative exercises.
  • Niyam took “Financial Economics” with Professor Florin Bidian. In this course, he bridged his knowledge of finance with his economics background using analytical models.
  • After graduating, Niyam plans to work as a quantitative analyst, applying data-driven insights to solve real-world financial and economic challenges.
  • ..