About

I was born at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, South Carolina, grew up in Huntsville, Alabama, and found my voice studying speech communication at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

My journey into community care work began in a place close to my heart-my grandmother's first-grade classroom in South Carolina. There, seated criss-cross applesauce on a rug, I first experienced the joy of watching her students find their words.

I'd spend time with her students each spring break, sitting alongside them as they sounded out words from their favorite books, counted (and ate) jellybeans for math lessons, and shared stories from their lives. That classroom was my first glimpse into the beauty of presence, encouragement, and patience that comes from being part of someone's journey rather than directing it.

Pecan trees taught me patience. Porches taught me how to listen. I'm rooted in Black Southern care-nourished by collard greens, front-porch wisdom, and the unshakeable belief that "y'all" means all.

After college, I didn't take a straight path. (Do any of us?)

I spent nearly two decades in digital strategy and communications-working as an Online Community Manager, Social Media Strategist, Media Analyst, and Consultant. My work spanned tech companies, nonprofits, government agencies, and everything in between.

I learned how to meet people where they are-online and off. I learned that digital tools can connect communities or leave them behind. And I learned that the most important question is always: Who's not in the room?

In 2022, I went back to school. I wanted to deepen my ability to serve communities through a public health and social work lens.

Then, while I was still in school, I became the court-appointed guardian and conservator for my mother. Suddenly, I was navigating care systems, legal frameworks, and financial decisions-all while finishing two graduate degree programs.

It was hard. It was clarifying. And it changed the way I see everything.

Today, I work at the intersection of digital health, community design, and justice. I bring two decades of digital know-how together with training in public health and social work.

I also serve as a court-appointed legal guardian and conservator, a role that keeps me grounded in the realities of caregiving and care ethics, fiduciary responsibility, person-centered decision-making, and systemic accountability-reminding me that digital systems must serve folks with the same care I bring to court and community.

Every project starts with accessibility and ends with community, ensuring solutions hold what matters most. I co-design with communities-not for them. I ask: Who has been left out? How do we build systems that welcome people in rather than leave them on the doorstep?

Everything starts with one question: who's been left out, and how do we design them back in? That question pulls me toward public and population health, health equity, community engagement, and co-designing equitable systems. I center disability and elder justice, bring trauma-informed ethics into digital spaces, and advance dignity, humanity, and consent.

That's what I do. Here's how I do it.

I approach every role with what I call "mason jar values"-clear, grounded, and built to preserve what matters most, even in hard seasons. Like a family recipe passed down through generations, my approach to digital health equity carries the soul of Black Southern care traditions: front-porch conversations that reveal collective wisdom, practical solutions as reliable as well-preserved summer vegetables, and enough room at the table for everyone.

I believe care is infrastructure-not an afterthought, but the foundation. Joy belongs in the blueprint. Plain language is a kindness, and community wisdom is expertise. We're all connected to each other, and things get better when we center people and co-design with community. Creativity keeps us human. It's okay to dance while you do the work. And "y'all" means all-online and off.

Still sounding things out like I did on that classroom rug. Still believing in what's possible when we center people, care, and design with community.