Dr. Laura Ruth Johnson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment at Northern Illinois University, where she teaches courses in qualitative research methods, including courses in ethnographic research, interview methods, and community-based/participatory action research. She served as founding director of the Family Learning Center, a family literacy program of the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, from 1993-1998.  In 2000, she received her master’s degree from the University of California-Berkeley’s Advanced Reading and Language Leadership program, and earned her Ph.D. in Language & Literacy, Society & Culture from the University of California-Berkeley in 2005.  

Her research focuses on civic engagement and community involvement among Latinx and African American youth, with an emphasis on pregnant and parenting youth, as well as on community-based qualitative research methods. Her recent book, published in 2017, is entitled Community-based qualitative research: Approaches for education and the social sciences (SAGE Publications). Currently, she is engaged in a collaborative and participatory action research project exploring mentorship and advocacy efforts among pregnant and parenting youth attending an alternative high school in Humboldt Park, Chicago. She is the founder and director Proyecto Atabey, a mentorship and support program for pregnant and parenting youth, and serves as secretary for the board of Youth Connection Charter School.