I earned my Ph.D. from Western Michigan University in 2020, and I completed my APA-Accredited internship at University of Michigan. I received my bachelor’s degree in Political Science from University of Iowa in 2008, and my master’s degree in Counseling from DePaul University in 2013.
During my academic journey, I often experienced the ubiquitous challenges of systemic racism in classes, at work, and in predominantly White social spaces. By the time I entered my doctoral program, a seasoned witness to the insidiousness of systemic racism, and trainer in the areas of diversity and inclusion for the last 12 years, I began to problematize racism in higher education with the hope of developing a model that could be used in academic and non-academic environments.
In August 2016, I founded an organization at my university to address racial inequity on campus. After conducting research, I discovered that engaging in race-related discourse is a much needed form of education intervention that is designed to address inequity, racism, and White supremacy in the college classroom.
In a 2015 study (Bryan et al., 2015), the findings suggest that when race-related conversations do not happen in higher education, instructors, faculty, and staff are complicit in maintaining the status quo. I also conducted my own research on the efficacy of RaceTalk Panel interventions and found that participants responded favorably to the content. I was determined to humanize the racial experience with the power of narrative.
Storytelling or narrative-sharing has been used for decades in myriad academic disciplines to study the experiences of people in social science (Bruner, 2002); medicine (Randall, 2007); psychology (Church, 1995; Coles, 1989; Shafer, 1992); and higher education (Behar, 1996; Rodman, 2007).
I currently run a race-equity lab that invites students, faculty, and staff to collaborate with me and learn how to conduct research from a critical race lens while orienting them to race-based issues at the intersection of sexual orientation, gender, the workplace, and the counseling profession.
My RaceTalk panels are an educational intervention that provide a unique, storytelling panel-presentation experience that inspire dialogue and interrogate the presence of dominant culture in institutions
Humanize the racial experience by contacting me for a free consultation to discuss your critical race needs.
Racial Literacy Advocates LLC is a consulting firm that addresses racial inequity in corporate, educational, and not-for-profit sectors by integrating race-based models and programming that foster racial literacy, diversity and inclusion practices, cultural competency, and anti-racism initiatives in the workplace.
