At the Boston College Women's Center, our professional and student staff members are here to connect with, support, and challenge students to enhance their development.
Katie Dalton, PhD
Director
Katie Dalton is the Director of the Women’s Center. Katie received her undergraduate degree in psychology, her master’s degree in higher education administration, and her PhD in higher education administration from Boston College. Katie’s doctoral research investigated the role that mentors in woman-to-woman mentoring of undergraduate students play in addressing undergraduate women’s declining self-esteem. Katie explored mentors’ motivation for serving as mentors, their level of critical consciousness of undergraduate women’s experiences, and whether they believed they had the power to enact structural change.
Katie enjoys being active and indulges her competitive side whenever possible. She and her partner Brian can often be found running, skiing, or coaching one of their three children’s sports teams.
Claire Johnson Allen
Associate Director
Sexual Assault Coordinator
Claire Johnson Allen is the associate director of the Women’s Center. Claire received her undergraduate degree in clinical psychology from Tufts University, and her master’s degree in social work from Boston College. Claire enjoys performing whenever she can and has been a dancer, cellist, and singer for much of her life. She and her husband, a Berklee graduate, can often be found talking in song lyrics and movie quotes, in a ballroom dance lesson, or watching the latest sci-fi/fantasy movie with friends.
Graduate Student Staff
Kayla Edwards, LSOHD ’26
Graduate Assistant, Community & Programs
Yanna is the Graduate Assistant for the Bystander Intervention Education Program. She graduated from Santa Clara University in 2020 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Sociology. Yanna is currently in the process of completing her Master’s in Mental Health Counseling at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development. It is her dream to further improve mental health accessibility in her home country, the Philippines - while creating programs that are more culturally relevant for future generations of Filipinos. Yanna is looking forward to working in the Women’s Center because she feels very strongly about creating safe spaces within communities. She believes that it is important to encourage conversations about difficult topics, as she trusts that it is through these conversations that progress and growth individually and as a society really happen. Yanna hopes to become a safe space for members of the community.
In her free time, she enjoys going on long walks, trying out new cafes, and immersing herself in Hallyu-related media.
Colleen MacDonald, GSSW ‘25
Graduate Assistant, Sexual Assault Network (SANet)
Monica Mascolo, GSSW ’25
Graduate Assistant, Bystander Intervention Education