My Story

The intersection of my lived experience,

work as a scholar-practitioner and leader.

You wake up one day and you ask yourself, how did I get here?

For me - the answer goes way back. I grew up in a loving home with my parents, siblings, and the support of a large extended family. My parents worked physically intense jobs for most of their careers but always took great pride in their work ethic, treating others with respect and acting with integrity. They also found great joy and belonging being in a community and serving others. My fathers chosen community was his extended family, my mothers was our church family. I observed my father light up being the grillmaster and cooking for the family at large gatherings, my mother served our local church in numerous capacities on top of being a devoted wife and mother while working full-time. They always told me it was important to do my best and that doing well in school was important. These values would always stick with me as matured.

As a child and a teenager, I was often unaware of how the world labeled me because of my gender, race, our families' socioeconomic means, and education. As I excelled academically and professionally I would pause at different moments and realize I was one of the only _____(fill in the blank) in the room. I knew I didn’t get these professional opportunities by chance. My mother would often remind me that with great blessings, comes great responsibility to help others.

I consider myself an educator, but I did not get here in a traditional way. When I earn Ph.D. that will be my first degree in education, even though I have worked in various education fields for nearly fifteen years. The values my parents have instilled in me have been a guide along the way. As I have worked in K-12, higher education, graduate medical education, and Education Technology (EdTech) – I have seen some commonalities across these sectors. Unfortunately, there are great and deep disparities about who is successful in earning credentials, and often the disparities are most significant when we examine success rates by race, gender, and socioeconomic class. Those who stand to gain the most from education, are often not experiencing the benefits of upward economic and social mobility that education has promised. Because of my lived experience and identities, this work is deeply personal. I see great opportunities to amplify the voices of students and frontline teachers, faculty, and staff to shift our education systems to be more student and equity centered.

This has led me to move beyond being just a practitioner but also a scholar. I have honed my expertise in leadership, equity, student success, systems change, and strategic change throughout my career and I’m grateful when I have the opportunity to co-create solutions with organizations and leaders.