Bec Sokha Keo

Email: bskeo@uh.edu
Curriculum Vitae (Available upon request)

Personal Statement

Dr. Bec Sokha Keo (they/them) is a second-generation Cambodian-American and first-generation college graduate. Their approach to scholarship and activism are shaped by principles of Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality and Meaningful Involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS. Their community practice and research focuses on experiences of individuals whose gender differs from assigned at birth. Their dissertation applied an intersectional framework, utilized Conditional Process and Multi-Group Path Ananlyses, and examined interpersonal and structural factors that influence transgender, genderqueer, and non-binary (TNB) individuals’ mental health. Group differences were found in relation to experiences of racism, family support, and affirmed identification documents.  

Bec Sokha is a Senior Researcher at the SUSTAIN Center, a funding, training and coaching center that partners with Community Based and HIV/AIDS Service Organizations in the US South to enhance trauma informed, harm reduction, mental health, and community wellness services in the context of HIV. They lead research on gender affirming organizational strategies and co-facilitate a community solidarity-language justice program. Their research goal is to achieve BIPOC TNB health equity and wellness through community lead research and public impact. Bec Sokha’s teaching also includes a critical analysis of power, social location, and positionality across socio-political contexts. 

Research Interests

• Community Health and Wellness
• Gender Affirming Organizational Strategies
• TNB Health and Wellness
• Intersectionality
• Community Based Participatory Research
• Multi-Level Interventions
• Mixed-methods
• Structural Equation Modeling

Education

• PhD, Social Work, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 2022 
• MSW, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 2014 
• BS, University of Houston, Houston, TX, 2011 

Teaching Experience

• Confronting Oppression and Injustice 
• Social Work Practice with LGBTQ Communities 

Publications

• Keo, B.S., McCormick, K., Stanton, M., & Ali, S. (in preparation). The Implementation of Gender Affirmative Model Strategies at Community-based HIV/AIDS Service Organizations in the U.S. South. For Submission to the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved. 
• Ali, S., Stanton, M., Keo, B.S., Stanley, M., & McCormick, K., (2022). HIV and Mental Health Services in the South: A Meso Analysis. Community Mental Health Journal, 1-11. 
• Keo, B. S. Socio-Structural Context of Trans and Gender Expansive Youth. In Social Work Practice with Transgender and Gender Expansive Youth (pp. 4-12). Routledge. 
• Ali, S., Keo, B. S., & Chaudhuri, S., (2020). Critically Understanding South Asian Sexual Health: A Call for a Holistic and Sex Positive Approach. International Journal of Sexual Health, 32(3), 177-187. 
• Ghose, T., Ali, S., & Keo, B. S. (2017). Diversity in Social Work Doctoral Programs: Mapping the Road Ahead. Research on Social Work Practice, 1049731517710725. 

Current and Previous Service Actitivities

• Hollyfield Foundation | Board Member 
• City of Houston LGBTQ Advisory Board | Inaugural Board Member 
• Local Trans and Non-binary Adult and Youth Support Groups | Co-Facilitator 

Honors, Awards and Recognition

• UH Graduate College of Social Work | Adjunct Faculty of the Year 
• Houston Asian American Archive |  Contribution to Houston Greater Region 
• Houston Pride | Inaugural Non-Binary Grand Marshal Nominee 
• Houston LGBTQ Caucus | Tony Carroll and Bruce Smith Award 
• Texas Observer | 60th Anniversary Change Maker 
• National Association of Social Workers, Houston | Student of the Year