Aaron Yore-VanOosterhout joined the Johnson Center as research manager in 2017. In this role, he designs, manages, and carries out a variety of community-based research projects on topics ranging from homelessness to prison-based post-secondary education.

Broadly, Aaron sees his work at the Johnson Center as an opportunity to pursue social justice. By including a broad spectrum of voices in his research — from nonprofit directors to K-12 students, from people without legal immigration status to those under state supervision — the community will better understand all members’ needs and strengths.

Aaron also serves as a research consultant at Lighthouse Immigrant Advocates, a nonprofit immigration legal office in Holland, Michigan. He serves on the board of Humanity for Prisoners, which assists incarcerated people with a variety of needs. He also serves on the College Advisory Committee for the College of Community and Public Service at GVSU and on the Institutional Review Board for Calvin University.

Aaron has a doctorate in history from Michigan State University, with a focus on race and anti-state rebellion in 19th-century Mexico. Outside academia, Yore-VanOosterhout has worked on issues of criminal justice for more than a decade. From 2017–18, he worked as an independent consultant for the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, conducting research on long-term incarceration in Michigan state correctional facilities.