I am a therapist, community organizer, facilitator and multimedia project producer.

I have always been drawn to storytelling and relationship-building. The first years of my career were spent in the world of journalism where I worked to combat harmful dominant narratives by uplifting strengths-based community stories. My experience included photographing the critical work of Black and brown birthworkers in Chicago, capturing stories for an oral history archive of stories of Native Americans living in Chicago, producing a documentary about a cumbia band of undocumented immigrants who organize for change, and filming for a documentary TV show in Johannesburg, South Africa that covered solutions-focused stories within a city still experiencing the aftershock of apartheid. 

However, my experience in journalism also revealed how much our systems fall short when it comes to addressing the trauma that comes from the systemic oppression, neglect, and exploitation that created, and are reinforced by, these harmful narratives in the first place. In large part because of these gaps I was confronted with, I decided to look for ways to  deploy the skills I picked up in journalism within a framework of community organizing. My interest shifted from more traditional reporting to a focus on building robust information and mutual aid networks so that communities could be equipped with tools they needed to change their own conditions.

At its best, this is what I’ve seen social work do too: equip people and communities with the resources they need to access more choice, connection and commitment to the work they care about.

You can read more about my approach to clinical work here.

And you can learn more about my work to support capacity-building for other values-aligned organizations here and here.