She obtained her PhD from the City University of New York’s Graduate Center and her MSW from the University of Pennsylvania. In 2013 Dr. Baker was awarded the Nina Fortin Award for her research on women and risky lending markets in a large northeastern city. Prior to her PhD she founded the Parents as Leaders leadership development program in West Philadelphia and served as a social work research fellow for the Homeless Health Initiative at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her work is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Embrey Family Foundation and the CUNY Research Fund. She is currently working on a study tracking the health and food security implications of mortgage foreclosure among single women.