Karida Giddings

About: Karida Giddings is a community-centered advocate who believes meaningful change starts with relationships. Her work focuses on supporting Black communities and young people as they navigate systems that often weren’t built with them in mind—whether that’s healthcare, education, or civic engagement.
In her professional life, Karida works with the North Carolina Black Alliance to help connect communities across North Carolina to health education, advocacy tools, and resources that support collective well-being. She also spends time working alongside young people through Blue Ribbon Mentor Advocate and the NAACP North Carolina Youth and College Division, where she supports youth leadership and encourages young people to lead in ways that feel authentic to them.
Karida is a graduate of UNC–Chapel Hill, and at the core of her work is a commitment to meeting people where they are, listening first, and helping build pathways for the next generation to lead with care, courage, and purpose.

Degrees and Credentials: Karida holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Communication Studies from UNC–Chapel Hill and a Master of Science in Global Affairs from New York University, with a concentration in International Law and Human Rights.

Research Interests: Social inequality, movement building and community-based initiatives, democracy and rule of law, race and contemporary public policy.

Dissertation: TBD

Ph.D. Expected: 2029

CV: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/o6z4bpicf8spggm3dwyzq/Karida-Giddings-CV-2026.pdf?rlkey=1blzjoeihbyrhef4sf4s2kbnz&st=326tsuii&dl=0