USER

- Master in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis, December 2012

- Master in Business Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business, December 2022

Professional Background:
- Clinical Research Assistant at Washington University School of Medicine, Siteman Cancer Center/Barnes - Jewish
- Education Coordinator at a regional medical center in Missouri.
- Clinical Social Worker in an academic medical center solving complex patient issues from pediatrics to geriatrics in Richmond. 
- Teaching BSW and MSW students on clinical practice, social justice, research methods and statistics (2017-present).

Empowerment Practice:
- Serving as lecturer, presenter and panelist at Interprofessional Events.
- Leading empowerment sessions of diverse teams in guided self-reflection and self-empowerment skills that foster benefits from the micro level of the individual team member to the macro level of the organization.
- Working to use multiple teaching strategies with the goal of improving team performance, increase team well-being and advance care to those we serve.
- Strengthening individuals at each level with the basis of thought that "healthy individuals create healthy teams/groups which then create healthy organizations/communities".

Presentations in 2019-2020:

• We're All In This Together Faculty/Student Connection During Social Distancing. VCU Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence and the Center for Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Care. Online (2020, May). Panelist with Dr. Alan Dow, Dr. Chuck Klink, Dr. Chris Woleben, Dr. Kim Case. 
• Poverty Simulation, Center for Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Care at VCU.  VCU Health Administration and Gerontology. (2020, March). Facilitator.   
• Real-world Experiences of Collaborative Practice: A Frank Discussion about Team Skills in Today’s Healthcare Environment.  Eighth Annual Jewell and Carl F Emswiller Interprofessional Symposium (2020, February). Panelist.
• Collaboration in Healthcare: Removing Challenges, Fostering Benefits.  VCU Health Pauley Heart Center Nursing’s 17th Annual Heart Matters Conference (2019, November). Speaker.  
• VCU Health Assessment Simulation. VCU School of Nursing (2019, November). Facilitator.
• Mid-Atlantic Inter-professional Leadership Conference: Poverty Simulation Break Out Session (2019, October). Facilitator. 
• Real World Perspectives of Inter-professional Collaborative Care. Healthcare System and Community-based Organization Perspective. VCU School of Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Pharmacy (2019, October). Panelist.  
• Caring for Complex Patients with Community Centered Care.  VCU School of Nursing and School of Medicine. (2019, September). Speaker.
• Poverty Simulation. Center for Interprofessional Education and Collaborative Care at VCU.  VCU School of Nursing, Medicine, Social Work, Pharmacy and Public Health (2019, August).  Facilitator.
• Health Exploration Panel for High School Students. The Social Work Perspective of Working at VCU Health Systems with other Disciplines.  VCU Health Systems (2019, August).  Panelist.

Who Am I:
I am a professional woman striving to be the best clinician, professor, researcher, student, mentor, colleague and mom to my kids. My colleagues and friends know me as an optimistic, energetic and driven person who adores fashion, a runner who encourages others to get moving, an adventurer who will travel anywhere and an empowering soul who loves helping people in organizations maximize their potential.  My personal slogan for my life is: Be Bright, Be Bold, Be Beautiful, Be YOU!