Tell us a little bit about yourself!
I’m originally from Detroit, but I’ve lived in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Ann Arbor during my undergraduate and graduate years! I’m a proud alum of the University of Michigan and earned my bachelor’s degree in Afroamerican and African studies, alongside a major in women’s and gender studies and an additional minor in community action and social change. I stayed at U-M to obtain my master’s in social work, and started working here full-time in 2015. I’ve worked as a program advisor at the Center for Campus Involvement and an academic advisor at the Newnan Advising Center.
I left Ann Arbor in 2021 to be an advisor at UNC Charlotte, but I was inspired to return to the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies and work as an administrative coordinator. I’ve enjoyed working with operations management, performance measurements, administration, process standardization, and above all, making a positive impact on others. Outside of work, I’m in three book clubs and I love fostering dogs, baking, power-lifting, and running!
What inspired you to return to DAAS?
As someone who went to a Detroit public school, I had to teach myself a lot of things when I started my undergraduate years at U-M. Everyone at this university is an overachiever, which means that I was surrounded by super intelligent people. This forced me to become good at budgeting my time and prioritizing efficiency, which led to an interest in administrative work and operations management. My undergraduate degree within the department definitely illuminated the work that needed to be done within DAAS, and I’m now able to apply my skills in efficiency and procedure standardization to the progress being made at my alma mater.
Do you have any major end goals or long-term priorities as DAAS’ administrative coordinator?
I definitely hope to incorporate more student engagement and allow students to feel supported and like their needs are being met by the department. I hope that I’m able to ensure that our programs are aligned with the political climate and what’s happening on campus, and I hope I can optimize our standards to make our programming even more impactful. I think we need to look into how we’ve done things in the past in order to inform our future.
Professionally, my end goal is to work as a project manager or a portfolio manager, which means I’d get to choose projects I work on and map out my own timeline! I’m in the process of becoming a certified Lean Six Sigma Manager, which would allow me to standardize processes for efficiency.
What part of the DAAS mission speaks to you the most?
Literally the first sentence, “strengthening the fields of African American and African Studies by encouraging the production and public dissemination of original research and scholarly knowledge about Africa and its diaspora.” A lot of the events DAAS holds can feel niche at times, but they’re very necessary. We just finished the Black Ecologies Symposium, and it led into some very intriguing and unexpected conversations with students, staff, faculty — even folks who were just walking by.
Bringing awareness to all of the resources and knowledge and oral history that exists within Afroamerican and African studies is what speaks to me the most. The moment this history is put on display for others to see will be a beautiful moment. Sharing the passage of history will have a heavy impact and bring some acknowledgement and framing to Afroamerican and African studies.
Do you have any fun facts to share with readers?
I have fostered 13 geriatric dogs and I have a twin brother!
