I am a girl from Forest Hill, whose family is from the north side of town but she grew up on the Southside, and eventually graduated from the east side (Stop 6 to be exact). I love Fort Worth, all parts of it. Time, education, and experience have taught me how to focus this love toward a desire to create a better life for others who love this city too. I am a champion for the underdog, the unseen, the unheard, and the unwanted. My goal is to be able to use my modicum of privilege to give voice and power to those who have less than I do. I primarily seek to do this in the areas of educational and mental healthcare equity.

My career pursuits have allowed me to provide services to diverse groups of people, many of whom had school discipline issues, contact with the criminal justice system, and behavioral and mental health needs. As a former school counselor and intervention counselor, I specialized in working with adolescent and young adult student populations with a high risk of dropping out of their educational programs, which includes individuals experiencing homelessness and those with trauma symptoms. Despite whatever reasons they were on my caseload, I advocated for students to receive equitable educational and counseling services, while on my campus and upon returning to their home campuses.

Additionally, I am a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and Certified Restorative Dialogue and Practices Coordinator. I hold an Ed.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision, and serve as graduate faculty for a clinical mental health and school counseling master’s degree program. I have extensive experience conducting program evaluations, needs assessments, community assessments, qualitative and quantitative research, and policy evaluation related to equity, school discipline, and public education. I believe in coalition building and working from a strengths-based solution-focused approach that recognizes the assets people and communities are already developing and utilizing, instead of a deficit perspective that emphasizes lack. Maneuvering from an SB/SF lens fosters equity because it acknowledges the value of those that are often seen as not having anything meaningful to contribute.

Two of my proudest moments are when I received grants that addressed student and community needs. I was a part of the grant writing team that received a North Texas Council of Governments grant to help fund an Adolescent Community Reinforcement Approach program for students with substance use histories and placement at a Disciplinary Alternative Educational Placement program (DAEP). I also individually received an Education Foundation grant to implement an initiative I created called Meeting the GAP (Graduate and Parenting) that addressed some of the challenges students experience when attempting to balance their education with their parental responsibilities.

I enjoy given volunteering for nonprofits that value equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging in all sectors but especially with regard to public education and mental healthcare for underserved and under-resourced communities. I am a member of various organizations, including the Junior League of Fort Worth, TeenLife, Leadership ISD – Tarrant County, PATHSForward, and Women in Power Empowering. Each of these organizations provides me with opportunities to give back to my community through community engagement, philanthropy, and/or training and development, all with an equitable lens.