Mikaela Zimmerman
About Mikaela
Zimmerman’s Ph.D. research at West Virginia University examined the lived realities of marginalized rural communities, and today she applies those insights in practice. At the Maryland Department of Legislative Services, she conducts racial equity impact analyses that help lawmakers integrate justice into the legislative process itself. Previously, she has led community-engaged research, supported grassroots leadership pipelines in Philadelphia, and advised federal agencies on equity and communication strategies. Her work bridges scholarship, advocacy, and policy design, always with the goal of reshaping systems to reflect values of justice and inclusion.
Contributions
Publications
Introduces a Socratic tool called Change Your LENS, designed to help both students and teachers examine their assumptions, recognize influences on their thinking, and explore alternative perspectives.
Examines how rural identity shapes political attitudes and engagement in the United States, focusing specifically on rural and small-town communities in Pennsylvania. Highlights how these often-overlooked populations perceive their role in national politics, form political attitudes, and interact with their communities and elected officials.
Explores how cross-cultural dialogues, facilitated using Socratic Inquiry, can improve relationships at local, national, and international levels of governance. Demonstrates how facilitated dialogue can foster connection across differences—and argues that these methods could inform more inclusive and effective political discourse.