Dr. Jacqueline V. Lerner received her B.S. in Psychology from St. John’s University, her M.S. in Developmental Psychology from Eastern Michigan University and her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Pennsylvania State University. She is currently a Professor at Boston College in Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology in the Department of Counseling, Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology in the Lynch School of Education. Lerner’s research interests focus on the development of children and adolescents in the contexts of family, school and community, and the embedded relationships in these contexts that contribute to overall development. She has been the co-investigator on numerous studies of the transition to adolescence and positive youth development. She has published widely in developmental and psychological journals, textbooks and edited volumes. She has served as Associate Editor of several journals and speaks about her research on positive youth development across the country. Her work involves researching and educating the field about the meaning and measurement of strength-based, rather than deficit-based, model of adolescent development.