Born and raised in Southern California, I had the joy of growing up in a climate rich with diversity—linguistic, ethnic, socioeconomic, and beyond. This environment had an undeniable influence during my formative years. Most importantly, it enabled me to forge deep, lifelong bonds with people from entirely different walks of life. What did I learn? That our shared human experience transcends difference—whether that be place of origin, language, religion, etc. The AU Connects program is built on these principles and I am honored to be a part of the current cohort of facilitators. Professionally, I have been working as a project manager at AU for the past five years. I serve on the President’s Council on Diversity & Inclusion and am an alumna of SIS.

I am an Assistant Director of International Admissions in the Office of Enrollment. I am also a proud AU alumna (BA, SOE 2013) from Trinidad and Tobago. My experiences both growing up in Trinidad and Tobago, and now living in the US, have broadened my perspective on diversity and the wealth of culture that we have right here on campus. As an AU Connects facilitator, I look forward to creating space for important dialogue surrounding issues of diversity and inclusion. I am excited to be a part of this initiative as I truly believe these conversations are essential to creating a more inclusive community.

I currently serve as a First-Year Advisor and AUx Instructor. As an AUx Instructor, I strive to create a community of dialogue where everyone feels empowered to bring their own unique worldviews into the shared learning experience. So, I am thrilled to bring my dialogue facilitation strengths out of the AUx classroom and into other realms of campus including students, staff, and faculty. I gained my love for dialogue as an undergraduate student at Clemson University in South Carolina, where I learned to facilitate conversations primarily for first-year students and residential communities. My training has been supplemented by attending the Social Justice Training Institute and through my Master’s degree in Student Affairs from the University of Maryland in College Park.

I am a facilitator with ten years of experience in human resources. I helped develop and run focus groups, designed surveys, conducted full lifecycle recruiting, and managed a team that built a performance management system for a small nonprofit. In my facilitation role, my work includes creating and running several leadership development groups. I am Meyers Briggs (MBTI) Certified, a certified career coach, and I hold a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership. At American University, I currently serve as a Coaching Administrator in the Key Executive Leadership Program where I manage coaching partnerships and 360 assessments. When not working at AU, I facilitate leadership development courses in the federal government and coach individuals on career and leadership development.

I am a second-year Master’s student in the School of International Service. As a Midwesterner living in St. Louis and working at a refugee resettlement agency at the time, my drive to promote diversity and race relations was ignited during the Ferguson protests. Soon after, I moved to South Africa for the Peace Corps, where race is a regular part of daily conversation. I quickly realized the importance of maintaining a constant open and honest dialogue to bridge gaps of misunderstandings and miscommunications. As an AU Connects facilitator, I hope to bring in tools I’ve learned over the course of my professional career (as well as learn from my colleagues and those around me), to create an environment dedicated to inclusivity and equality.

I have worked at AU Central since March 2010. I am currently the Associate Director in AU Central. Additionally, I am an adjunct instructor in the School of Education, where I teach the AUx1 and AUx2 courses to first year undergraduate students. I previously worked in financial aid at the University of Maryland College Park, and at Sallie Mae, where I worked with schools and students on loan repayment and financial literacy. I love working with students and parents, and am looking forward to utilizing my skills to work with faculty, staff and students in a different context. My husband Jay and I are the parents of two awesome and active daughters. I enjoy basketball, 80s music, trivia and watching my daughters’ sporting events.

My commitment to cross-cultural understanding and communication has been the focal point of my education, professional and personal life. The challenges and misunderstandings that I have faced while traveling, working and living abroad have taught me to be compassionate towards others and helped me develop a capacity for cultural sensitivity. My multi-cultural upbringing, Peace Corps service in rural China and experiences working with immigrant communities serve as the catalyst to facilitate conversations around culture, race and identity. Continued dialogue around these topics are more crucial now than ever. Because of this, I chose to serve as an AU Connects Facilitator. As a staff member and graduate student, AU Connects presents the opportunity to apply a unique perspective as well as put into practice relevant coursework.

I am an Assistant Director of Admissions for the Office of Enrollment at American University. I coordinate recruitment efforts in Connecticut and Upstate New York. I also work closely with community based organizations in the Northeast region of the United States. Prior to joining American University I served as an admissions counselor for Old Dominion University and Virginia Commonwealth University. My background in facilitating started as a counselor, where I assisted my colleagues with intergroup dialogues related to the recruitment of underrepresented students.

I am thrilled to be part of the AU Connects Facilitator team. Currently, I am the Manager of Financial and Academic Administration in the Office of Undergraduate Education. My background in facilitation comes primarily through outdoor and experiential education, having worked in various roles at outdoor facilities in Ohio, New Hampshire Western Massachusetts, and Connecticut. Additionally, I led international service trips with groups of students at Saint James School, a residential high school in Western Maryland. The common thread for all of these experiences is the focus on engaging groups in conversations and activities that aim to push groups to be (and think) outside of their comfort zones in order to gain a new understanding of themselves and their interactions with their environment.

I am a first-year graduate student in the Ethics, Peace, and Human Rights Master’s program at American University with a concentration in Middle Eastern Politics: Identity, Nationalism, and Women’s Rights. I also study the Muslim and Woman identity, and where the intersectionality lies in the categorization of the Palestinian identity in the United States and internationally. My experiences with the Obama Foundation Community Leadership Corps, Lutheran Services Carolinas, and being part of a group students to help bring inclusive policies at my undergraduate institution inspired me to engage in dialogue. My passion for social justice, conversation, and understanding is what encouraged me to join AU Connects and become a facilitator to help bring change!

I was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama. In my youth, I observed a lot of tension between different racial communities which sparked my initial interest in racial dialogue. My goal in joining AU Connects as a facilitator is to break down barriers that prevent people from engaging in these kinds of tough conversations. Creating and maintaining a safe space will be my biggest priority. As a graduate student, my interests are in training (design and facilitation) and program evaluation. I am very experienced in working with non-native English speakers since I was a former ESL/EFL teacher both in the US and abroad in Turkey, Russia, and Kazakhstan. If you would like a facilitated conversation that will involve students from varying levels of English, I can support that request!

I am an educator with a M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration with years of experience as a facilitator. Currently, I am the Financial Operations Specialist at the University Library where I manage budgeting, the Front Desk, and student employment. Developing a passion for diversity, inclusion, and community organizing, I serve as the Co-Chair of the LGBTQ+ Faculty and Staff Affinity Group. I am also on the AU Library Internal Diversity & Inclusion Committee. No matter what my role is at AU, I always find ways to advocate for access and the inclusion of diverse experiences and identities. In my free time, I enjoy video games, hiking, and going on new adventures with my partner, Dom.

I received my Master of Public Administration degree at Virginia Tech in May 2017. Additionally, I sought two graduate certificates in Women’s and Gender Studies as well as Higher Education. With a passion for positive social change, I worked with pre-service teachers to further develop inclusive classroom practices and curriculum. My research interests include social policy on a university campus, educational curriculum and identity development for communities of color. I’ve done facilitation of dialogue across difference at various institutions around the east coast. I currently serve as the Graduate Programs Coordinator for the Master of Arts in Teaching and Special Education programs in the School of Education.