A Little About Me

I have rebuilt myself many times over.

I know from experience what sacrificing your own vitality for others can do. I lost, then slowly and unexpectedly regained, my vision while healing from multiple pre-cancerous tumors very early in my career.

Pushing myself to achieve and telling myself that it was a waste to rest, I ran my health into the ground.

This is why I absolutely prioritize wellbeing, creativity, and peace in my leadership and life.

I care about supporting you to be the thoughtful, empathetic leader you were meant to be — joyful and thriving, instead of struggling and burnt-out.

I see a world where we are able to live unbounded and multifaceted lives — free from societal expectations of who we are and what we are supposed to be doing.

I support people in leadership roles who want to thrive yet are stretched thin and producing from a place of force instead of creating from a place of ease.

Over my 15-year career, I’ve worked and partnered with some of the most impactful organizations in the world including: The ACLU, The International Rescue Committee, Harvard Radcliffe Institute, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Women’s Democracy Lab, Faith in Action, and Working Families Party.

I run The Ringgold, a management & strategy consulting firm for purpose-driven organizations. My success and collaborative style has led organizations to invite me in to support their emerging and senior leaders to live and work at their most thoughtful, empathetic, and creative.

Creativity is the driving force behind everything I do. 

Let this sink in deeply, please:

You deserve to be abundantly compensated for your work.

You deserve the opportunity to negotiate for yourself.

You deserve to live and lead with the fullest expression of your authentic self.

And you deserve to maintain your health and wellbeing while doing so.

It’s a journey that begins with a single step. 

 

If you would like to take that journey alongside someone, instead of walking alone, I’d love to be your guide.

 

 

10 more things to know about me...

  • 1

    I started my career with a ton of responsibility—teaching middle school in my hometown of Baltimore—22 years old in charge of 80 kids. Sometimes I look back and think, “What? How?”

  • 2

    I became a community organizer before I even knew what that meant. Our school was on the verge of being shut down, so I rolled up my sleeves with other teachers and families to save it!

  • 3

    I work best in coalition and partnership. I co-chaired an education coalition of 20+ organizations in Baltimore. The coalition’s work not only stopped over $100M in education budget cuts, we won nearly $1B in new funding to build schools. It was a huge win and test of my leadership (but it nearly blinded me). The experience solidified why I prioritize my wellness no matter what, from now on.

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  • 4

    Yoga got (and gets) me through—we’re talking more than once. I’ve completed my 500hr instructor certification and over 1500 hours of training in vinyasa, meditation, yin, and prenatal yoga, and I teach with HealHaus and Ompractice. (Inhale. Exhale.)

  • 5

    I’ve always been a writer and highly creative person—it’s the way I process things and what I’ve turned to in times of hardship. My favorite topics to write about right now are leadership, wellbeing, and sustainability.

  • 6

    An essay I wrote for Elephant Journal, “Amplify Black Voices: Yoga, You Can Do Better,” is now assigned reading in several yoga teacher trainings.

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  • 7

    I get granular with research. I co-authored a whitepaper with the Principal Impact Collaborative on holistic leadership development in education called “Empowering School Leaders to Thrive.''

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  • 8

    I’m all about creating art through the texture of sound. I created the NPR audio documentary, Higher Purpose, a sound art piece “Ahimsa” on yoga, wellness, and Black lives, and I'm working on an audio project called “Daughters of the Yam and the Mothers They Become” which made it onto Creative Capital’s On Our Radar list.

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  • 9

    I’m good at school. And just might go back later in life for that MFA. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in International Studies and Master’s Degree in Teaching from Johns Hopkins University, a JD from University of Maryland School of Law, and a Doctorate in Education Leadership from Harvard.

  • 10

    My vision in my left eye is distorted—every time I look at an edge of something, there's a bend to it. It doesn’t bother me, though, because it reminds me, in a literal way, that perspective is everything and reality is not what it seems.

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