In 2023, I was promoted to programming and training manager of our Pyramid Model project. This project focuses on supporting the social emotional and mental health needs of children birth to five across the state of Maryland. As the manager of this program, it is my responsibility to set the vision for our team’s training program including, exploring and identifying innovative directions for expanding the team’s training offerings, overseeing the development of high-quality training content and materials, and promoting awareness of the team’s new training offerings with key stakeholders. In addition, I facilitate the State Leadership Team for social emotional development initiatives including, leading the meetings, and guiding the team’s vision and accomplishment of stated annual goals. This role has also includes supervisory responsibilities and I supervise a team of four trainers, program specialists, and evaluators. I love being a supervisory and being able to support my to use their strengths to grow into leaders in the field. My supervision style is rooted in trust. I believe in my employees’ abilities and encourages them to take ownership of their work. By trusting my team to perform well, reach out when needed, and meet important deadlines, I create an environment where my supervisees feel comfortable seeking help and sharing challenges. My leadership fosters collaboration and growth.

In 2022, I was promoted to Senior Trainer and Coach for the Institute's Parents, Infants and Early Childhood Team. Duties of my new role include supervision of a team of early childhood trainers and student workers, curriculum development, e-learning curriculum design and training management of of local trainers and coaches that support local implementation of evidence based practices in public preschool, child care and family child care settings. As part of my work to develop and improve the quality of our training curriculum, I have been tasked with leading a team to infuse themes of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion throughout our current curriculum to insure a more inclusive and equitable early childhood education system.

As a training and coaching specialist for the Parents, Infants and Early Childhood (PIEC) Program, I develop and manage training activities to support the implementation of best practices in infant and early childhood mental health in child care settings, with early intervention providers and with parents throughout the state of Maryland. I also provide direct and group coaching to teachers and early childhood program leadership to support them in defining their professional goals and working together to achieve them. My coaching has a particular focus on the implementation of the Pyramid Model in classrooms, a framework that supports the social emotional development of young children.

From 2016 to 2018, I served my county and the people of Guatemala as a Maternal and Child Health Education Facilitator. During my more than two years of service, my main objective was to train the skilled nurses and other health personnel in my municipality's central health clinic in adult learning methodologies to support their health education efforts for community members. I also helped my Guatemalan coworkers in developing health groups, women's support groups and early childhood nutrition groups. With the help of the clinic's social worker, I implemented new protocols for home visits that used patient coaching and motivational interviewing practices to support health behavior change. My work was based on a sustainable development model that ensured that health personnel could continue to use these methodologies to promote healthy maternal and child health practices long after my time in the Peace Corps. While in the Peace Corps, I was also very involved in the improvement of the Guatemalan Peace Corps program and providing mental health support to volunteers. I was selected by my peers to act as a peer counselor during my service and I provided one-on-one counseling to volunteers struggling to acclimate to life in Guatemala and facing other mental health challenges. This work instilled in me a love for supporting the mental health of the people around me and started me down a career path in coaching and providing mental health services.

As a graduate research assistant, I worked on monitoring and evaluation activities for a new early childhood education program in New Orleans, including conducting and analyzing the results of focus groups from parents and teachers in the program. I also support the organization in the development of a new parenting curriculum to teach parents about different early childhood assessment tools.

The Tulane Innovations in Positive Parenting Study, is a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) Study that looked at attitudes and beliefs about the use of corporal punishment and the impact of brief parenting interventions on these beliefs. As the Lead Research Assistant for this Randomized Controlled Trail Study, I was in charge of recruiting mothers for the study and facilitating the two hour interview process with mothers, involving highly sensitive questions and the use of suicide prevention protocols. Following the interview, I led mothers who were randomly selected through a brief online parenting intervention. I also supported the Principal Investigator in writing a grant proposal for the development of a violence prevention center, now known as the Tulane University Violence Prevention Institute.

As an Intern for the Maryland Department of Health, Office of Maternal and Child Health, I was an integral part of the team working to develop and implement new programs across the state of Maryland. One of my primary projects was the development and implementation of a program to increase patient attendance at a family planning clinic that was receiving state funding. We used innovative and evidence based practices to increase patient involvement and engage youth aged men in the program. Other projects I assisted in included the development and implementation of the Inspiring Hope: Mitigating Toxic Stress and Trauma in Early Childhood workshop for local actors working in early childhood development and supporting the writing of the State Title V Needs Assessment. In this role, I also provided mentorship to an undergraduate student coworker.

• Developed and implemented Dia de la Mujer, a health, wellness and empowerment fair serving Latina women of the Greater New Orleans Area• Facilitated emergency preparedness trainings to Spanish-speakers

• Mentored international students, provided guidance and leadership to students to become acclimated to the United States

Thesis: “The Effects of Increased Agriculture on the Status of the Noolturesh River and the Degradation of the Riverine Habitat"