PASSIONS

I wander through this world drawing upon frameworks that lead advancements in equity among our systems, both the external surroundings and the skin that we’re in. What ignites my interests are theories for healing, practical praxis, and research methodologies that deconstruct our biases and create liberatory pathways towards critical hope. I strive to be a better caretaker of stories from the peripheral as a way to honor our Land and people, and strengthen my guerrero del amor and humble warrior.

PRAXIS

A leader in nonprofit and academic organizations for over two decades, I approach problems with lessons from volunteer management, public health, and international and multicultural education to aid organizations. I draw upon experiences across various sectors (healthcare, music, art, academia, government, and youth organizations) and educational tenets of Critical Race Theory, Indigenous Education, Human Rights Pedagogy, Narrative Medicine, and Queer Studies to reveal innovative solutions that connect our means to solutions.

PROFESSIONAL

As the program manager for Quarter at Aggie Square, an experiential learning hub that teaches courses focused in health equity, human rights and racial justice across a variety of areas at UC Davis and UC Davis Health. My work at UC Davis has encompassed diversity initiatives in alumni, graduate students and healthcare, workshops in decolonial leadership, and lecturer with the Human Rights Studies program. In 2022 I earned a 2022 CASE Circle of Excellence Gold Award and five District VII awards for the Affinity Network Diversity Digest.

I’ve served as past chair of the Staff Diversity Administrative Advisory Committee, the Chancellor's Committee on LGBTQIA+ Communities, and a member of the Chancellor's Lived Name and Gender Identity Task Force and the Chancellor's Next Generation Campus Safety Task Force. As part of the UC Davis Health Vice Chancellor's LGBTQ+ Health Advisory Council, I led the first LGBTQ+ needs assessment for advancing critical issues for patients, employees, and students at UC Davis Health and was co-editor of the Improving OUTcomes blog.

Presently I’m pursuing a doctorate in International and Multicultural Education (IME) with a concentration in racial justice & education and human rights education. My work garnered IME scholarships, fellowships that support training, podcasts, and our ColCats Heart Series. As a graduate student research assistant I teach Race Theory and How To Talk About Race with Rise For Racial Justice.

PASSÉ-TEMPS

I’m an introvert that finds great joy in connecting with others and preserving space to recharge the glycogen ducts.

Volunteer with the people you love in the activities you all are passionate about to bring more joy into this world.

When time permits, I’m usually serving on a board, singing in a community choir and opera, conducting and cymbaling in a marching band, cooking as a form of meditation, sharing cuisine from all over the world with friends and playing croquet with sparking rosé! I celebrate language through song, wander streets in foreign lands to experience history, and cycle as a way to explore other parts of the world and connect to the Land.

ALL MY RELATIONS

I am a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and honor my Cherokee and Chickasaw ancestors through unsettling the settler colonial mindset, remembering and teaching lessons in humanity from Indigenous culture; advancing story-telling as praxis by invoking the leaders and teachers that gave me my first lessons in humility and confidence. I honor my Russian and European relations through music and leadership studies, invoking the commanders, composers, artists, inventors and those that fled oppressive systems a century ago that created a pathway to freedom dream for the next generation of leaders. I appreciate my kin from all over the world for sharing their experiences to help inform me how to be a better caretaker of a story.