Dr. Kira Hudson Banks is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Saint Louis University and focuses on race, racial identity and intergroup relations. She has worked in the field to improve intergroup relations since 1998 through research, community outreach, and school-based interventions at the middle school, high school, and college level. In addition to publishing articles in peer-reviewed journals related to these topics, Dr. Banks contributes regularly to discussions of current events through several website news sources and blogs.

Her expertise has also been sought out by major corporations to train managers and emerging leaders on diversity and inclusion. She served as a consultant on racial equity to the Ferguson Commission and continues to work with Forward Through Ferguson to implement regional calls to action. Dr. Banks has been described as making the complex and controversial topic of race accessible and intergroup interactions more understandable.