Amy Hillier, PhD, MSW is a social worker and an Associate Professor in the School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2) at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research has focused on historical housing and public health disparities including mortgage redlining, affordable housing, healthy foods, park use and access, and outdoor advertising. She led the required two-course sequence on American racism within SP2’s social work program and has taught courses in city planning, urban studies, public health, and social policy focused on equity and social justice. She is the founding director of the cross-school graduate LGBTQ certificate and, with Dr. Beverley Crawford, co-created the online course, “The Penn Experience: Racism, Reconciliation and Engagement.”
With Dr. Stephanie Boddie, Dr. Hillier co-directs “The Ward,” a research, teaching, and public history project dedicated to sharing the timeless lessons about racism and the role of research in affecting social change based on W.E.B. Du Bois’ 1899 book, The Philadelphia Negro. Her most recent research focuses on transgender youth and their families. With colleagues, she is working to develop a short screener for parents to complete in health care settings to identify young children who are gender non-conforming in order to normalize a wide range of gender expressions and identify families who might need support.
