Dr. Kirstie Lynn Dobbs is an Assistant Professor of Practice in the Department of Political Science and Public Policy. She is the Director of the Early College Program and Faculty Community Engagement Strategy at Merrimack College in North Andover, MA. In her dissertation, she analyzed why youth in Tunisia were so active during the 2011 Arab Spring revolution, but were still less likely than older generations to vote at the ballot box in the aftermath of the democratic transition.

Kirstie applied her specialization on voter turnout as a Manatt Research Fellow at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems and has presented this research to the United States Agency for International Development and the Arab Reform Initiative. She is a research consultant for the European Partnership for Democracy on creating a Global Youth Political Participation Index. She has op-ed articles in the Foreign Policy Journal and invited articles in Ace: Electoral Knowledge Network, ORIENT Magazine, and the American Political Science Association’s Middle East and North Africa Politics Section Symposium. Peer-reviewed journal articles appear in Democratization, The British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies, Representation, The European Journal of Political Science, Acta Politica, and PS: Political Science and Politics. She also engages in multiple civically engaged research projects with community partners investigating how educators, practitioners, academics, and civil society can support youth empowerment after the COVID-19 pandemic. She created a summer research experience for first-year students to conduct independent research projects using youth participatory action research practices. This summer course also engages with a summer civic engagement program for middle schoolers she co-created and co-facilitated with faculty and undergraduate students called Youth Voice. The research from this program is published in Issues in Interdisciplinary Studies and a book chapter published by Palgrave in the Political Pedagogies series.

Dr. Dobbs is also dedicated to building pipelines that empower first-generation youth with access to higher education and career opportunities. As a state leader in the field, Kirstie serves as a policy advisor for the Massachusetts Alliance for Early College, shaping initiatives that expand educational equity. In addition to their leadership in education, she is a passionate life coach, helping young people build confidence, manage anxiety, and step into their power.