Speaking
I've spoken in a lot of different rooms — on a comedy stage in LA, in a boardroom as a strategist, teaching students at my alma mater, and as a guest speaker on race and connection. The subjects change.
What doesn't is the instinct: get past the safe version of the topic and toward the thing that's actually harder, and truer, to say.
Two talks stand out to me more than the rest. Earlier in my career, I led a session at the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services (NYAPRS) Annual Conference titled Removing the Invisibility Cloak: Finding Allies When You Feel Unseen. And during the pandemic, I joined panels examining how racism was reshaping connection in real time — conversations that asked people to sit with something uncomfortable together, in the room, rather than discuss it at a safe distance.
I'm especially comfortable at the intersection of evidence and experience — taking research, observations, and sometimes complicated subjects and finding the human story within them.
The Public Speaker.
I've spoken in professional, academic, and community settings on subjects including mental health, identity, communication, and consumer behavior, bringing both research and lived experience to each.
Some of that has taken the form of a communication panel with faculty and alumni at Columbia, or a conversation with Ithaca College's LGBTQ+ student group about visibility and belonging. Other times, it's meant standing in front of a room as a strategist, translating audience and consumer insights into something decision-makers can actually use.
The Moderator.
I've spent years professionally asking questions — the kind that get past a scripted answer.
As a qualitative researcher, I've moderated focus groups and in-depth interviews across a wide range of subjects and audiences. I also hosted and interviewed guests for my Black Girl on Mars podcast, where conversations explored career, identity, race, leadership, and personal growth.
As a moderator, I listen for what is being said — and what might still be waiting to be said. I'm comfortable guiding panels, interviews, and group conversations while giving participants enough room to think, respond, and surprise one another.
Looking for a speaker or moderator for your project?