How my journey began

My goal is to empower the people I work with to become the change agents and thought leaders they seek in their organizations. My work experience captures how I do just that.

Global Director of Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion - Virgin Pulse

2021 - Present

Joining Virgin Pulse was a natural progression of my career. Not only could I get back to my roots of advancing DEI efforts for tech companies, but I could now apply my experience in healthcare (from UTSW) to help connect the tie between DEI, health and wellness. At Virgin Pulse, I am responsible for leading our global justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI) strategy and operations across the talent lifecycle. In my work I oversee all JEDI programming, education and skill-building, conflict mediation, employee impact group engagement, and culture change management. In my short time at Virgin Pulse our training attendance level has totaled 660, our event attendance level has totaled 759, we have enrolled 247 employees in prospective employee impact groups, and increased engagement with the JEDI Council. Our trainings have an average NPS of 85 and 92% of attendees report that JEDI events make them feel more connected and engaged at Virgin Pulse. The next phase of our JEDI strategy will focus on leadership retention and development, diversity recruitment, client relations and product development. In a few short months we’ve already created impact to change lives for good. Check out the work we’re doing for JEDI at Virgin Pulse here.

Manager of Diversity & Inclusion - UT Southwestern Medical Center

2020 - 2021

I was very excited to work at UT Southwestern, as I was able to come back to Texas after over 9 years in the Bay Area. As Manager of the Division of Diversity & Inclusion, I oversaw  the  institution’s  strategic approach to promoting a culture of inclusion and belonging. In my time there we were able to accomplish quite a bit: not only did I facilitate trainings to over 1,200 employees on bias, inclusive leadership, and virtual inequality, but I also led change management efforts through cultural awareness campaigns, webinars, DEI toolkits, and competency initiatives. I oversaw the successful implementation of 41 diversity and inclusion events in 6 months, reaching over 1,440 employees. I also supervised 6 employee resource groups through operational guidance, budgeting, engagement analysis and Talent Acquisition partnerships. In addition to doubling ERG membership in 5 months, we were also able to triple ERG engagement in the same time period as well. Want to learn more about my experiences at UT Southwestern? Check out this interview here.

Assistant Director of Equity & Inclusion - Stanford School of Engineering

2018 - 2020

As Assistant Director of Equity & Inclusion, I was responsible for graduate outreach and recruitment, on-boarding programs, and graduate retention programs. This job hit especially close to home for me, as it allowed me to live out my dream of creating an inclusive culture for students who didn’t feel like they belong. As part of my work, I redesigned the diversity marketing strategy and led recruitment efforts to increase the percentage of incoming Women and URM graduate students the highest Stanford Engineering had ever seen, with 39% of incoming PhD students identifying as female, and 17% of incoming PhD students identifying as URM. As part of my work I also created and directed on-boarding interventions for URM’s which increased sense of belonging by 20%, developed and delivered trainings on bias and cultural competency to over 100 students and staff, and hired, on-boarded, trained, and supervised a team of 4 part-time office staff. My work at the School of Engineering was truly a labor of love, as it afforded me the opportunity to pay it forward while also forging a new path for advancing equity at my alma mater.

Scientific Diversity & Inclusion Consultant - Forshay

2018 - 2020

As a scientific D&I consultant, I worked with companies to build more inclusive environments. In particular, we analyzed our client’s procedures, processes, and practices to diagnose challenges and implement solutions. As part of my work at Forshay, I conducted recruit and hire assessments, evaluated implicit biases and gender gaps in talent acquisition and promotions processes, and collected process and experiential data to advise URM retention and advancement initiatives. Part of my work also involved overseeing communications analyses to inform inclusive marketing strategies, as well as creating and analyzing D&I surveys to inform company policy and engagement strategies. Read an article I co-authored about my experiences working with clients on DEI efforts here.

Co-Founder & Program Director - Challenge Accepted

2015 - 2017

As a graduate student, I often felt compelled to do DEI work. As the only Black woman in my PhD cohort, I wanted to join efforts that built community for those who were the only ‘X’ in the room. I would often stop working on problem sets for my quantitative methodology courses to go plan the next Black Graduate Student Association (BGSA) event, a precursor to my eventual career calling. As part of the executive leadership of BGSA, we worked hard to cultivate a community of Black scholars on Stanford’s campus, as well as devote resources to outreach. We created Challenge Accepted: Empowerment of the Bay Area Black Youth because we wanted to see more faces like ours at elite institutions like Stanford. As part of this work, I created and implemented curricula to prepare 40 minority high school students for graduate careers, and I also recruited, trained, and managed a team of 20 course coordinators, mentors, and financial advisors while facilitating seminars myself. Though we were full time graduate students, we managed to run this program for two years. Not only will Challenge Accepted serve as a beautiful reminder of my time at Stanford, but also my impetus into the field of diversity & inclusion. Read more about my journey as a first generation college student and Black identifying woman pursuing her PhD here.

Education

Stanford University | Doctorate of Political Science | 2018

Texas A&M University | Bachelors of Arts in Political Science | 2012