"She Persisted" Panelists

Tiffany D. Barnes, PhD

Tiffany D. Barnes is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Kentucky and affiliated faculty with the Gender and Women’s Studies Program and Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies Program. She employs both quantitative and qualitative research approaches to examine how institutions shape the political behavior of citizens and elites. Her research focus is in the field of Comparative Politics with emphases on gender and politics, Latin America, and comparative political institutions. 

Barnes is the author of Gendering Legislative Behavior: Institutional Constraints and Collaboration. Her other peer-reviewed work appears in journals such as the American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, Comparative Political Studies, Political Research Quarterly, Politics & Gender, and Election Law Journal.

Nichole Bauer, PhD

Nichole Bauer is an assistant professor of political communication in the Department of Political Science and the Manship School of Mass Communication at LSU. Bauer received her PhD from Indiana University in 2014.

Bauer’s research focuses on issues pertaining to women on the campaign trail and the reception by voters. In particular, she investigates how voters evaluate female candidates and how female candidates develop campaign strategies designed to mitigate the potential for gender bias. Her research is published in several peer-reviewed academic journals, including Political Psychology and Political Behavior.

Nadia E. Brown, PhD

Nadia E. Brown (Ph.D., Rutgers University) is an Associate Professor of Political Science and African American Studies at Purdue University, specializing in Black women’s politics. She also holds a graduate certificate in Women's and Gender Studies.

Dr. Brown's research interests lie broadly in identity politics, legislative studies, and Black women's studies. While trained as a political scientist, her scholarship on intersectionality seeks to push beyond disciplinary constraints to think more holistically about the politics of identity.

Brown is the author of the award-winning book, Sisters in the Statehouse: Black women and Legislative Decision Making. Along with Sarah Allen Gershon, Dr. Brown co-edited Distinct Identities: Minority Women in U.S. Politics. 

Mirya R. Holman, PhD

Mirya R. Holman, Ph.D. is an associate professor of political science at Tulane University. Her research focuses on women and politics, urban politics, and religion and politics in the United States. Her book, Women in Politics in the American City, is a comprehensive evaluation of the role of gender in urban policymaking in the United States.

Holman received her Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University in 2010. Her current research projects include investigating the pathways to political office, how local political behavior changes when cities encounter financial distress, the role of religious beliefs in political attitudes and actions, gender and the 2016 election, and a variety of other projects.

Representative Julie Stokes

Julie Stokes is a Certified Public Accountant, small business owner and conservative State Representative from Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.

In 2016, she was named one of four “Women of Distinction” by the Girl Scouts of Louisiana East. She has also been honored as one of New Orleans City Business Magazine’s “Women of the Year." Rep. Stokes traveled the state of Louisiana with the Committee of 100 in 2015 & 2016 as one of the lead speakers on Tax Reform in Louisiana, earning accolades from many media outlets such as the New Orleans Advocate, the Baton Rouge Business Report, and WRKF, all of which praised her as one of the most knowledgeable Louisiana legislators in the field of Louisiana’s fiscal environment

Rep. Stokes is actively involved with the Jefferson Chamber of Commerce and local economic development activities. In the Legislature, Rep. Stokes is the Chairman of the Sales Tax Streamlining & Modernization Commission and the Vice Chair of the Legislative Audit Advisory Committee; she also serves as an interim member of the Joint Legislative on the Budget and House Appropriations Committees.