I was born and raised in the greater New Orleans area and have seventeen years of experience in nonprofit administration and a background in program management, public relations and community outreach. Through my work in nonprofit programming, I've pursued my passions in education, the arts, culture, and architecture.I serve as the Director of Extended Learning at Young Audiences of Louisiana (YALA), where I bring teaching artists to 11 schools which serve thousands of students in afterschool and summer school programs. Our education programs have an emphasis on teaching birth-12th grade students of all learning abilities, as well as their families and teachers. I began working with YALA in 2009 through its Arts Partners Program during my 8 year tenure as Director of Education and Outreach at the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans. Inspired by jazz singer Germaine Bazzle, we developed an in-school residency program which connected education standards using visual arts, performance, role playing, and interactive tours of the city. The program earned a Certificate of Merit from the American Architecture Foundation and in 2012, a Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation Award for broadening understanding of the importance of preserving Louisiana’s History through education programming.I've received facilitation training from the Center for Mind Body Medicine, and successfullycompleted the Bryan Bell Metropolitan Leadership Forum. I also volunteer with “You Night”, aprogram which empowers women diagnosed with cancer.