Dr. Laurýn Minter Ph.D. (she/her/ella) is a political scientist with an expertise in Afro-Latinx Politics and Voting Behavior, Legislative Behavior, and Public Policy. She currently works as the Administrative Director of Workforce Equity for Parkland Health. In her role, Dr. Minter is leading the organization’s anti-ableism strategy, which will help ensure that any barriers to recruitment, employment, and continuous employment are eliminated for individuals with apparent and non-apparent disabilities as well as chronic illnesses. Dr. Minter’s anti-ableism work utilizes a particular lens that views differences, including disabilities, as normal and natural variations in human beings rather than deficits, disorders, or things that need to be fixed. Her mantra is, “Hire for Strengths. Accommodate for differences. Value for contributions.”

Dr. Minter earned a Ph.D. from the University of New Orleans in 2014. Her doctoral dissertation explores Black Nationalism as an ideological framework for Conservative Democratic Black Voters. Dr. Minter also possesses a Master’s degree from Tulane University (2009) in Latin American Studies with a focus on the psychology of identity politics in Puerto Rican Americans. Dr. Minter earned a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Political Science and Spanish from Fisk University (2007). Her honors thesis explored the racial dynamics of the Latino Voting Bloc. At Fisk, Dr. Minter was inducted into the Delta chapter of Phi Beta Kappa (America’s most prestigious honor society), signing her name in the same book as world renowned sociologist Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois. Her teaching and research specializations are in African American and Afro Latino Politics, with an additional expertise in Latin American and Caribbean Identity Politics.

Dr. Minter is a neurodiverse queer cisgender woman of Appalachian and Chinese Caribbean ancestry. As a result of her intersectional identity and experiences, Dr. Minter works tirelessly to ensure the inclusion and support of other marginalized individuals in spaces where they are often excluded. Dr. Minter is a salonnière and owner of Salons by Lauryn, Inc., an independent political research consulting firm providing individual, corporate, governmental, and nonprofit clients with socially and culturally sensitive salons to assist in the development of substantive policy and analysis. Dr. Minter is an active member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. as well as St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. She is also the proud mother of the most beautiful pocket pit bull this side of the Mississippi, Tchoupitoulas.