Kierra N. Toney is a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of Cincinnati. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and her Master of Arts from the University of Cincinnati, both in Sociology. She is from Chattanooga, TN, and is a first-generation college student. Her research interests include Race and Racism, Urban Communities, and Education. Her scholarly work has been published in Race Ethnicity and Education and the International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. She uses qualitative methods to explore the ways Black people interact with and within urban institutions to generate knowledge and resist discrimination, while also creating safe places.

She previously served as a research assistant for the Ohio Policy Evaluation Network and an assistant editor for the academic journal Social Problems. As a scholar she uses her research as a tool to aid in equity and liberation for marginalized groups. 

Kierra is a co-editor of the book Sociology and Hip Hop: an Anthology published through Cognella and first author on a number of forthcoming empirical manuscripts.