The Black Expat Experience , currently a web-based series/ podcast provides Black expats of the diaspora a safe, engaging, and constructive platform to share the genesis of their expatriate experience, to provide us a glance into how they prioritize their mental health and wellness as they live out their dreams, and to expound upon their plans to impact their community. Through candid, empathetic, and honest conversations, The Black Expat Experience demonstrates the vast opportunities available to Black expats around the world to live their best lives, prioritize their holistic wellbeing, and blaze a trail for others to follow. This platform is a living embodiment of the phrase "representation matters," and it provides the catalyst for others to forge their own expat story while prioritizing their mental health.

•Present the virtual workshop: Educator Self-care as a Pedagogical Imperative to the TESOL international conference. •Provide individual and group virtual counseling to clients experiencing increased life disturbance, trauma, and other mental health conditions.•Collaborate with other major organizations in Beijing, China to offer support, education, and consultation about varying mental health conditions •Create and publish mental health mini-booklets and quarterly journals to educate, support, and facilitate the holistic wellbeing journey of clients and patrons. •Design and market mental health-related apparel and accessories domestically and internationally. •Offer individual coaching sessions to parents in Beijing, China struggling with relating to, communicating with, and emotionally supporting their adolescent children.•Presented to the Two Dimensions Charter School District about suicide/suicidal ideation and about how to care for your mental health as a student and a professional. •Collaborate with Samuel Walker Houston cultural center to provide community outreach and education through mental health workshops addressing self-care, anxiety, depression, mitigating the effects of stress, and destigmatizing mental illness in communities of color.•Produce and facilitate mental health brunches in the city of Beijing, China addressing authenticity, stress-related issues, coping skills for professional anxiety, improving interpersonal communication, and managing burnout symptoms.•Created a self-reflection journal, My Illuminated Mind, in English and in Chinese, to provide people a tool to aid in their mental health journey.

A social-emotional learning organization providing academic, personal/social, and college/career assistance to student at-risk of failure and struggling with behavioral challenges. Becoming Better Students is a homogenous, small group that meets weekly to work on different character education topics, discuss mental health challenges, offer positive coping skills to students, and celebrate their success with bi-annual celebrations and motivational speakers.

• Lead the high school counseling team, coach, and train two new members of the ISB high school counseling team in a culturally responsive, empathetic, flexible manner. • Implemented a culturally responsive, comprehensive HS counseling program for 400+ students using the ASCA/ ISCA model. • Implement a new parenting initiative, Emotion Coaching: The Heart of Parenting, to 10 parents at ISB.• Created a comprehensive onboarding handbook for new HS counselors to help with adjustment. • Member of the search committee for the new Assistant Principal and Principal for the 2023-2024 school year.• A member of the Professional Reflection Task Force responsible for creating a professional evaluation and reflection tool for school counselors. • Created a multi-purpose wellness room for students and staff. • Member of the Child Protection Leadership Team responsible for reviewing, creating, and streamlining child protection policy and processes across the school.• Revise the high school mentoring (SEL) program to be more culturally responsive, relevant, and engaging. • Implement systems and processes to streamline the counseling referral process resulting in increased counseling referrals, responsive student mental health support, and more accurate outcome data collection. • Provide culturally responsive individual counseling to students experiencing crisis, anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicidal ideation, and other mental health challenges. • Represent the high school on the Child Protection Committee helping to revise and create policy and trainings related to child protection and safeguarding.• Create and present in-person workshops on varying topics related to improving student academic achievement, mental health, and interpersonal relationships. • Proposed new procedures and streamlined processes for new student admissions and enrollment.• Created a monthly newsletter to share important information with the school and parent community.

• Responsible for implementing a culturally competent, comprehensive guidance program at an international school for over 200 middle and high school students that focused on academic, personal/social, and college and career related issues via class guidance presentations, poster projects, and school assemblies.• Provide individual, family, and group counseling to school-wide community • Create an online class, Counseling 101, and Mental Health Moment videos to educate the school-wide community about mental health related topics. • Create and implement the THIS Mentor Program that identifies secondary students struggling with personal/social and academic concerns, pairing them with mentor teachers to help craft goals, improve their communication skills, advocate for themselves, and improve their self-concept. • Utilize crisis response interventions to identify struggling students and aid students dealing with mental health crises such as suicidal ideation, non-suicidal self-injury, anxiety, and depression.• Collaborate with administrative staff to craft a school-wide suicide/suicidal ideation protocol educating staff on warning signs of suicide and evidence-based interventions; reports of suicidal ideation increased 10%, and with the cooperation of family and outside mental healthcare providers, students experienced improved outcomes.• Work with an interdisciplinary team of people to provide comprehensive social-emotional, academic, and college and career support to students• Present mental health workshops within the school setting and within the Beijing community in partnership with other organizations to bring awareness to various mental health challenges, offer evidence-based interventions, and build a supportive and empathetic community. • Provide coaching and workshops to parents interested in improving their relationships with their children, seeking ways to manage their emotions, and wanting strategies to improve communication with their children.

•Managed a comprehensive, data-driven counseling program for 1400 students in an 89% Title 1 school, including delivery of guidance curriculum, mandated training, implementation of school-wide initiatives, and delivery of grade-specific initiatives.•Created and implemented an innovative, relevant social-emotional learning program, Becoming Better Students, for students at-risk of failure tasked with decreasing discipline and increasing attendance, academic progress, engagement, and emotional awareness. Reported discipline decreased by 47%; attendance increased by 15%, and students’ self-perception increased based off of self-report. •Served as school testing coordinator for over 1400 students tasked with attending state/district mandated trainings, facilitating school-wide trainings, managing testing inventory, creating testing procedures and protocols for staff and personnel, abiding by all ethical testing guidelines, and coaching counseling staff on testing safety, security, and management.•Engaged in culturally competent counseling to serve the diverse needs of stakeholders and improve relationships with parents, including spearheading the Hispanic Heritage Month awareness campaign and celebration, Black History Month awareness campaign, and hosting multicultural community members to speak to the students.•Facilitated restorative justice meetings helping students take ownership of their behavior, build more positive coalitions, and improve interpersonal and communication skills. •Facilitated multiple mental health related trainings to increase awareness of common mental health challenges of adolescents•Offered brief, solution-focused therapy and referrals to district employees seeking mental health support. •Chaired grade-level ARD meetings for 10% of grade-level tasked with reviewing student progress, creating support plans addressing academic and personal/social deficits, and partnering with parents to implement supports and interventions at home.

Responsible for handling all 8th grade level matters- student motivation, discipline, parent conferences, daily systems; ELA specialist that provides feedback to ELA teachers, facilitate data conferences, provides lesson plan feedback, assists with intervention planning and implementation; Maintain connection between school and home-host parent education nights in collaboration with the school's PTO, host parent meetings to inform parents and students about intervention purpose and duration; Intervention Assistance Team (IAT) coordinator; Career & Technical Education (CTE) coordinator; Summer school administrator; Participated in community outreach initiatives

Not only am I tasked with being a 7th grade writing educator, I also am the ELA department chair. I plan and implement data-driven interventions to assist students in their acquisition and mastery of critical objectives, and I manage a team of skilled educators and ensure that they possess everything that is necessary to deliver quality, engaging, timely, relevant, and rigorous lessons.

I work diligently to challenge the minds, hearts, and work ethic of the youth of America. I aspire to inspire them in the acquisition of education and facilitate their process into becoming life-long learners.