Artist, Storyteller, & Researcher

I am a PhD student in the Department of Health Promotion & Policy at University of Massachusetts Amherst. My research and practice is grounded in the use of arts for public health. An applied theatre artist, storyteller, writer, and percussionist, I believe in the healing and transformative power of the arts. I use many creative modalities to examine and address the human condition, riddled with issues like racism, white supremacy, sexism, ableism, & ageism.

Through an intersectional, anti-racist, social determinants lens, I focus on the health of Black women and children, as well as other historically excluded communities including Native, Latine, youth and Queer populations. I have found particular interest in pleasure-centered sexual/reproductive health, reproductive justice, violence prevention, chronic disease management/prevention, mental health and juvenile justice and education reform. 

My scholarship is transdisciplinary and community-centered. I utilize critical narrative intervention (CNI), participatory narrative analysis, participatory action research, and Theatre of the Oppressed tools to tackle research questions and practice community-accountability.