I set and maintain the vision and direction across a diverse portfolio of projects for values-aligned philanthropic and non-profit organizations, working closely with project teams and clients on coaching, facilitation, and engagement of senior leadership teams and boards. By providing strategic thought partnership and leading collaborative processes, I help leaders and teams navigate complex organizational change focused on equity. I design and manage deliberative and learning-centered spaces for leadership, staff, community partners, and other relevant groups to share perspectives and contributions, ensuring the overall health of complex projects.

As a proud founding member of the Michigan Transformation Collective team, I lead the convening efforts and implementation of long-term community violence prevention and intervention strategies for Kalamazoo County. As a co-founder, I work with our Executive Director and fiscal sponsor, The Tides Center, to support the Collective as we establish our infrastructure to better support systems-transformation efforts in our community.

I help organizations and leaders design, develop, and live into their anti-oppressive identity. My experience has given me the opportunity to provide coaching and mentoring services to early career Executive Directors in the youth development space, facilitate trainings in the education, non-profit, and philanthropic sectors on a variety of values-aligned topics, and partner with leadership teams to clarify and move organizational strategy.

I helped advance the organization's mission and vision by overseeing a $14M annual budget and $600M in assets with our senior leadership team. In this role, I managed the integration of initiatives and public policy, including the organization’s first policy agenda and the stewardship of external grant dollars for our work.A key focus of my work was developing and implementing initiatives and public policy strategies centered on racial equity and justice in Kalamazoo County. I led Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation Kalamazoo, the Kalamazoo Blueprint for Peace-- a long-term community-led gun violence prevention plan, and the foundation's first public policy agenda. To bring these efforts to life, I fostered strong relationships with community partners, funders, coalitions, and nonprofits. In recognition of my leadership, our team was recognized by our peers and and received the inaugural Innovations for Equity Philanthropy award from the Council of Michigan Foundations in 2023.Additionally, I supervised our cross-functional Equity, Learning, and Culture team to fill a gap in leadership. From January to July 2023, I served as interim CEO in a shared leadership model with other VPs, facilitating strategic planning and manager accountability.

As a Community Investment Officer at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, I managed a grantmaking portfolio supporting key areas including the arts, education, and youth development. In this role, I helped implement trust-based grantmaking strategies centered on racial equity and justice.I supported the Foundation's community convening and problem-solving efforts on issues like racial equity, youth development, grassroots leadership, public policy, and education. By staying abreast of community trends and policy issues, I spearheaded innovative initiatives around grassroots capacity building and demographic data transparency.

I taught undergraduate and graduate courses in Educational Leadership, Education Technology, and Socio-Cultural Foundations of Education, aligned with my professional expertise and passions.In this instructional role, I designed dynamic course curriculum and facilitated meaningful discussions and activities for students. I assessed student learning through project-based learning, providing actionable feedback to support their academic and professional growth.

At the College of Education and Human Development, I provided leadership for our teacher preparation clinical training programs. In this capacity, I oversaw fiscal management, resource allocation, hiring and supervision of our clinical instructors and staff.A key part of my role was establishing and nurturing partnerships between the University, K-12 schools, and community organizations to enhance teacher candidate training and address student needs. I collaborated with faculty to launch the College's first Anti-Racist, Anti-Bias Team for teacher education.Additionally, I coached teacher candidates directly on incorporating racial equity into their classroom practices. I spearheaded the College's accreditation process around clinical partnerships, diversity and technology integration. I also secured state grants to develop teacher leader programming in local school districts.

As part of the Turn 2 Foundation team, I planned and implemented the Jeter's Leaders leadership development program for local youth in alignment with the Foundation's mission.I cultivated strategic partnerships with schools and organizations in Kalamazoo to advance the program's social impact goals. I developed long-term objectives, oversaw program budgets and grants, and monitored grant proposals for the Kalamazoo region.A key accomplishment was designing the Jeter’s Leaders mentoring curriculum and coaching program mentors on effective youth development practices as they delivered the curriculum in local elementary schools. In recognition of my work, I received the Kalamazoo Children's Alliance Child Abuse Prevention Award in 2016.

I taught a range of English curriculum to 9th-12th grade students. The courses I developed and instructed included English 9, Honors English 9, Remedial English 9, English 10, Honors English 11, Literature through Film, Readings in Social Justice, and English 12.I collaborated with colleagues to develop 9th and 12th grade English curriculum aligned to Common Core State Standards and Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). I also facilitated staff trainings on implementing these curricula and behavior frameworks.During my tenure, I secured numerous grants to obtain classroom books, technology, training materials, and guest speakers. In recognition of my effective teaching practices, students nominated me to receive the Influential Educator Award in 2012. I was also awarded a Fulbright-Hays Fellowship in 2009-2010 to research the effects of globalization on education in West Michigan and Senegal.