TEACHING PHILOSOPHY (abridged)

Education must be an ongoing practice for anyone engaging in movement work, which is why I incorporate it into every aspect of my work. During my years in institutional education spaces, I worked with students on improving their critical thinking skills, challenging their assumptions, and applying course material to their lives. My capacity for education grew as I began forging collaborative learning spaces outside of the classroom. Much of my current work involves finding ways for academic and movement leaders to learn how or gain new tools to jointly address issues within their communities. 

INSTITUTIONS & PROGRAMS

Lincoln University, Jefferson City

University of Missouri-Columbia

Kaplan University, St. Louis

ITT Technical Institute, Arnold

St. Louis Community College

Hogan Street Regional Youth Center, St. Louis

Club Z! Tutoring Services, Carbondale

COLLEGE COURSES

  • Introduction to Sociology

  • Social Deviance

  • The Black Americans

  • Social Inequalities

  • Gender and Identity: Understanding Intersectionality

  • Gender & Activism (Online)

  • Women in Activism

  • College Success Strategies

  • Composition II

  • Psychology

  • Social Psychology

  • Research Methods

  • Written Analysis

RESEARCH STATEMENT (abridged)

My forthcoming research will explore best practices and analyze the sustainability and practicality of evidence-based solutions for social, economic, and political issues at the community level. As always, I’ll be prioritizing making my findings accessible and useful for those most directly impacted.

RESEARCH TOPICS

Health Equity & Justice: Addressing health inequities and how solutions require protecting and expanding our democracy

Reproductive Justice: Anti-abortion fake clinics, self-managed abortion, maternal and infant mortality, pregnancy criminalization, and the opposition (anti-abortion leaders, groups, and organizations)

Movement Building Strategies & Tactics: How to build intersectional movements

Collective Violence: How responses to mass atrocities are impacted by framing and narratives

ORGANIZING PHILOSOPHY (abridged)

My priorities are increasing diversity at every level of leadership, employing systemic and interpersonal solutions derived from and continually evaluated by those most directly impacted, building sustainable coalitions, finding joy, and resting. Intersectional approaches are imperative both when addressing oppressions that keep most of us excluded from many of the key benefits of living in a society, and when forging both alternative economies/institutions and ways of thinking and being. 

 EXPERIENCE

Mid-MO Repro (Mid-Missouri Reproductive Justice Coalition)

Cofounder/Convener - Worked on and financially supported the advancement of reproductive justice issues

Reproaction

Senior Vice President of Research and Movement Building/Senior Movement Building and Research Manager/Movement Building and Research Manager/Senior Outreach Producer/Missouri Organizer - Used opposition research and community organizing to raise awareness on issues like abortion, birth control access, and maternal and infant mortality

Missouri HIV Justice Coalition

Education & Membership Chair - Worked on HIV decriminalization, most notably getting SB 53 passed which reduces penalties for HIV transmission

Feminist Consciousness-Raising Group

Cofounder and Convener - Held monthly meetings of community leaders for a topic-specific discussion led by one or more members

Missouri Organizer’s BIPOC Racial Caucus

Recruitment Director - Met regularly to focus on racial healing within and across communities

2018 St. Louis March for Black Women and Marketplace

Co-Organizer

GRO – Grass Roots Organizing

Board Cochair/Community Leader/Human Resource Enhancement Consultant - An economic justice organization that worked on campaigns like capping interest rates on short term high interest loans, raising the minimum wage, eliminating student loan debt, protecting and expanding social security and Medicaid, and gaining environmental protections

CAMPUS ORGANIZING EXPERIENCE

University of Missouri-Columbia  

Cofounder | MU Policy Now – a graduate and professional student group who composed and presented student policies to the Board of Curators; most notably known for leading the campaign resulting in Dr. Michael A. Middleton’s selection as Interim System President during a student uprising

Cofounder | Mizzou Social Justice Collaborative – a student group created by and composed of undergraduate and graduate student leaders tasked with creating calls to action and student demands

Cofounder | The Coalition of Graduate Workers – a multi-year graduate employee led effort that culminated into the university-recognized graduate employee union

Board Member | ABGPS – a graduate and professional student organization that most notably fundraised to purchase a community marker to commemorate the 1926 lynching of James T. Scott; 2016 recipient of the Chancellor’s Excellence Award for Most Outstanding Small Organization

Cofounder | GRO Mizzou – an undergraduate and graduate student grassroots organizing organization that most notably advocated against student luxury housing that displaced trailer park residents; Our proposal for an up to $3000 grant to each displaced family from the developers became a city ordinance