Sangeetha Madhavan is Professor and Chair of African American Studies and Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland. As a family sociologist and demographer working in sub-Saharan Africa, she has made substantial contributions to our understanding of extended family systems, parenting, household dynamics, inter-household connectivity, and child and adolescent well-being. She is currently the PI of an NIH R01 funded 5-year longitudinal study on union formalization, kinship support and child outcomes in two low income communities in Nairobi, Kenya. Her work has appeared in Urban Studies, Gender and Society, Population Studies, Journal of Marriage and the Family, Social Science Research and the Geographical Journal. She teaches classes focused on sub-Saharan Africa, health and social inequalities, Black family and race and reproduction.