Peyton Aiken is the Woodbridge Fellow for Yale Education Studies. She received her B.A. in Sociology from Yale University, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude, as an Education Studies Scholar.
Beyond Yale, Aiken served as Program Manager for Hope in a Box, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that sends LGBTQ+ inclusive books and curriculum to public schools across the country. While in the role, she oversaw the distribution of more than 10,000 books and co-created several fundraising, social media, and community building campaigns. The work inspired her Sociology thesis, “For me, it’s about justice of the imagination: Inside the changing landscape of LGBTQ+ inclusive children’s literature,” and her Education Studies capstone, “Not a phase, but a fact: Reimagining queer girlhood in middle grade fiction.” She believes that every child deserves to feel safe, seen, and welcome in the classroom.