How it all started…

The beginning of my adult life was met with a languishing economy, few well-paying jobs for my degree, an unexpected pregnancy, and a limitless determination to overcome many personal and financial hardships as a single mother. These experiences encouraged me to work diligently, learn new technical skills, grow my career as a User Experience Designer, and transform my life.

A Learner and an Advocate

Looking at my resume and education, it’s obvious that there’ve been some twists and turns. I’m a Learner. I never shy away from learning new skills, tools, technologies, or industries that interest me. I embrace change and transformation.

I’ve always loved storytelling, reading, writing, interviewing, and new technology. I graduated from George Mason University in 2010 with a B.A. in Communications/Journalism, and a minor in Women & Gender Studies, and was the first in my family to complete higher education. Since then, my diverse work experience has included website and social media management, assisting in policy research, user experience research, software design, startup management, prenatal and birth doula training, and reproductive justice advocacy.

I’m an advocate, and the causes that mean the most to me are sexual and maternal health, childhood care, and reproductive justice. For many years I advocated for myself, my son, and our quality of life by building a lucrative career and a stable foundation for us. In the midst of that, I also sought opportunities that would align me with conversations and solutions related to maternal health and reproductive justice:

• In June 2022 I completed doula training with Mama Glow;

• Through my volunteer work at Black Health New Mexico I completed Sister Song’s Reproductive Justice Training (April 2022), and participated in many RJ advocacy events in my community;

• In 2017 I collaborated with friends to design mock ups for the Social Health Registry. SHR was a start-up/application that allowed users to create verified profiles with a comprehensive list of their STD/STI results. The goal behind the app was to empower sexually active and consenting adults to have easier conversations about their sexual health. We presented at Google’s StartUp Grind Global Conference in Silicon Valley, and were selected as a Top 20 startup out 130;

• In 2014 I co-starred in a promotional video introducing a book by Brookings scholar Isabel Sawhill, about the benefits of LARC’s (long-acting reversible contraceptives).