TEACHING PHILOSOPHY (abridged)
Education must be an ongoing practice for anyone engaging in movement work. My goal is getting people to connect with the material and engage with it beyond the learning space, whether it be in a classroom or at a movement building training/workshop. My high regard for (co)organizing virtual and in-person collaborative learning and working spaces is due to how instrumental they have been in the cultivation of my relationships with academic and movement leaders and our ability to advance issues.
INSTITUTIONS & PROGRAMSLincoln 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
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale
COLLEGE COURSESIntroduction 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
Special Topics: Social Control
Race and Ethnic Relations
Women and Men in Contemporary Society
RESEARCH STATEMENT (abridged)
Research should inform strategies and tactics. Much of my research is conducted to generate practical solutions to social problems, which relies on recognizing the power in leveraging the existing strengths, skills, and resources within communities aka elevating the expertise of people directly impacted by oppressive systems. The effectiveness of programming, strategies, tactics, and solutions must be continually evaluated as findings are disseminated in both community and professional settings.
RESEARCH TOPICSHealth Equity and Justice: Evaluations of alternative institutions meant to address issues with medical and social determinants of health
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 PRACTICE (abridged)
Organizing strategies and tactics must encourage people to grapple with their notions of power and progress while increasing diversity at every level of leadership, employing systemic and interpersonal solutions derived from and continually evaluated by those most directly impacted, and building sustainable coalitions. Also, we cannot build inclusive and sustainable replacements for the oppressive systems we dismantle if our working relationships become frayed from burnout and disenchantment with movement work, so finding joy, resting, and healing must be a part of our daily routines.
GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONS
Cofounder/Executive Director - Integrate education, research, community organizing, advocacy, and communications to develop leaders, generate and employ evidence-based practical solutions, mobilize people into action, advocate for long-term solution-oriented policies, and disseminate information about the work professionals and community leaders are jointly doing
Mid-MO Repro
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 address racial healing within and across communities
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 GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONS
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