Abaki Beck (she/her) is a Health Services Research, Policy, and Administration PhD student dedicated to community-driven and community-accountable research to advance Indigenous health equity. She is particularly interested in how incarceration and criminalization influence health outcomes. She is currently a Qualitative Analysis Assistant for the Enhanced Perinatal Programs for People in Prison project and a Graduate Research Assistant at the Center for Indigenous Health’s Great Lakes Hub.
Prior to her doctoral studies, Abaki worked on research and program evaluation in various settings, including for a university-based social policy institute, a higher education in prison program, a member of Congress, and a community-based organization on the Blackfeet Reservation. She also worked as a freelance writer since 2017, publishing articles in Bitch, Yes! Magazine, Talk Poverty, Health Affairs Blog, and other national media. Her writing is featured in the 2022 book Aftermath: Life In Post-Roe America from She Writes Press and the forthcoming book Artists Remaking Medicine from Procedure Press. She has received numerous national and local awards for her work, including the National Indian Health Board’s Local Impact Award.
She earned a Master’s in Public Health from Washington University in St. Louis in 2020 and a Bachelor’s in American Studies from Macalester College in 2015.