Sarah A. Riley


About
Research
News
CV

Email
Updated August 2023. Download my CV here.

Research Interests
Municipal algorithmic systems, inequality, politics of administrative data, mixed methods


Positions Held
2023 - 
IDEAL Provostial Fellow, Stanford University

Education
2018 - 2023
Ph.D. in Information Science, Cornell University
  • Committee: Solon Barocas, Karen Levy, Martin Wells
  • Dissertation: Pretrial Risk Assessments and Cumulative Disadvantage
2016 - 2018
Master of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley
  • Advisor: Rucker Johnson

2006 - 2010
B.A. in Political Science, Amherst College
  • Concentration: Black American Political Thought

Publications
2021
Levy, Karen, Kyla E. Chasalow, and Sarah Riley. "Algorithms and decision-making in the public sector." Annual Review of Law and Social Science 17 (2021): 309-334.

2020
Klein, Nicholas J., Minh Tran, and Sarah Riley. "“Desperately Need a Car”: Analyzing crowdfunding campaigns for car purchases and repairs on Gofundme. com." Travel Behaviour and Society 21 (2020): 247-256.

Workshop & Conference Presentations
2023
2023 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Criminology, “Infrastructural Spillover Effects of Pretrial Risk Assessments.”

2023
Just Computation? Social and Historical Perspectives on Calculation in the Law, “Resolving the Paradox of Punishment: Frontline Worker Discretion and Algorithmic Tools in the Criminal Legal System.”

2023
2023 Society for the History of Technology Annual Meeting, “Contextualizing Pretrial Risk Assessments as Evidence-Based Policies.”

2022
The 25th ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing, Who has an interest in Public Interest Technology?, “Exaptation of Pretrial Risk Assessments.”

2022
Law and Society Association, “Risk Assessment Instruments as Organizational Processes.”
 
Experience
Summer 2019
Crime Lab New York, University of Chicago
Data Science Intern
  • Analyzed large datasets in Python.
  • Prepared project summaries and reports for dissemination targeting policymakers, academic researchers, and other stakeholders.
Summer 2018
California Competes
Research and Policy Intern
  • Supported the development of statewide higher education policy recommendations for California legislators.
  • Analyzed higher education data to identify trends in access to resources and outcomes across California.
Summer 2017
O’Neil Risk Consulting and Algorithmic Auditing
Research Intern
  • Developed taxonomy and contributed to database of AI/ML research papers to aid advocates and community based organizations.
Summer 2017
Opportunity Agenda
Public Opinion and Media Research Intern
  • Analyzed national survey results in Stata to characterize swing voters and identify opportunities for persuasion.
Spring 2017
San Francisco District Attorney’s Office
Research Intern
  • Conducted regression analysis to evaluate impact of youth restorative justice program.
  • Conducted program facilitator interviews and qualitative review of victim outcomes.
Summer 2016
Turnaround for Children
Education Pioneer Summer Fellow
  • Interviewed issue experts and wrote articles on stereotype threat, summer learning loss, and trauma-informed and racially-conscious teaching.
2015 - 2016
Work First Foundation
Research Fellow
  • Conducted pre-post analysis to measure impact of contextualized literacy programs for New York City public assistance recipients seeking job placement assistance.
2013 - 2015
New York City Department of Education
School Business Manager
  • Created and implemented re-engagement strategy resulting in 8,000+ high school equivalency enrollees over 2 years.
  • Led team of 20+ guidance counselors to exceed goal of enrolling at least 70% of eligible students.
  • Established partnerships with external organizations (e.g., Mayor’s Office, Human Resource Administration) to provide wrap-around services to students in need.
2012 - 2013
Success Academy Charter Network
Community Relations Coordinator
  • Managed procurement for school events with a monthly budget of $40,000.
  • Led team of 5 to overhaul student records systems to maintain compliance with city, state, and federal health and privacy laws.
2011 - 2012
Montessori School of Rochester
Teaching Assistant

Teaching
Spring 2019

Fall 2019

2017 - 2018
INFO 1200: Information Ethics, Law, and Policy, TA, Cornell University

INFO 4240: Designing Technology for Social Impact, TA, Cornell University

STAT 2: Introduction to Statistics, TA, University of California, Berkeley

Honors & Awards
Fall 2022

Fall 2022

Summer 2022

2020 - 2023

2020 - 2023

2017 - 2018

2018 - 2019
Stanford PRISM Fellow

Equity and Inclusion Student Fellowship, Association for Public Policy and Management

Dissertation Fellowship, Center for Critical Internet Inquiry, UCLA

MacArthur Foundation summer research grant

Microsoft Research Ada Lovelace Fellowship

Cornell University Fellowship

PLUS Fellowship, Center for Cities and Schools, University of California, Berkeley

Service & Leadership
2019 - 2020

2019

2018 - 2020

2018 - 2023

2017 - 2018

2016 - 2018

2015 - 2016

2015 - 2016

2013 - 2016
Organizer, Diversity and Inclusion Initiative, Cornell University

Participant, NextGen Professors, Cornell University

Mentor, Black in AI

Fellow, LEAP Alliance

Mentor, Getting into Graduate School (GiGS), University of California, Berkeley

Conference Organizer, Black Students in Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley

Mentor, Net Impact NYC

Volunteer, New York City Urban Debate League

Volunteer, National Economic and Social Rights Initiative

Research Software & Programming Languages
Stata, Python, R