Growing up, my parents instilled in me a love for words, a love for my people, and a love for my community. These three things became the driving forces behind my work, including my books, community development, and philanthropic efforts. Throughout my career, I’ve blended my skills in effective communication, problem-solving, and continuous improvement to create organizational messaging, build strategic coalitions, and lead and inspire high-performing teams.

While at the Central Indiana Community Foundation, I’ve held varying executive roles with unique focuses on people, culture, brand, community leadership, effective philanthropy, innovative marketing, and strategic communications. During my time with the organization, I’ve managed $600M from donors, agency endowment funds, scholarships, and other funding sources while leading the transition to an equitable grantmaking process.

As a servant leader, staying close to the issues affecting my community is necessary. This has led me to serve on boards such as the Noblesville Diversity Coalition, Indianapolis Public Safety Foundation, The District Theatre, ACLU of Indiana, Mays Family Institute on Diverse Philanthropy, Berrett-Koehler Authors, and as a member of the planning committee for the Black Midwest Initiative’s annual conference.

As a passionate advocate for Black women and girls, I co-founded Centering Sisters, LLC, an organization that unapologetically addresses the needs and issues of Black women and girls, and the Black Women’s Writing Society, a monthly virtual space for Black femme creatives. My work in this area led me to author two award-winning, critically acclaimed books; The Sisters Are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Women in America and Dear Black Girl: Letters From Your Sisters On Stepping Into Your Power.I’ve had the opportunity to share my thought leadership by contributing essays to numerous books and through publications with media outlets such as the New York Times, The Atlantic, Cosmopolitan, New York Magazine, and The Los Angeles Times.

I’ve also served as a keynote speaker on race, gender, and social justice at The Ohio State University, Purdue University, Northern Arizona University, Frostburg State University, Roosevelt University, and Princeton University.When I’m not working, you can find me reading a nonfiction book, watching reality TV, or petting my 2 cats. You might also find me somewhere in pigeon pose because I’m a certified yoga instructor!