From 2019-2022, I was a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Fisk-Vanderbilt Center of Excellence (FVCE) working with Drs. Nicole Joseph and Dina Myers Stroud. Working with the FVCE was such a fulfilling experience, in large part because of my own training and research interests centering Black Women and girls in STEM, but also because of my affinity for Historically Black colleges and universities given my own academic trajectory. My time as a Postdoctoral Fellow was enriched by the relationships fostered across both institutions, my work with the Vanderbilt Postdoctoral Association, and my role with the Joseph Mathematics Education Research Lab (JMEL). All of these experiences informed my praxis as a research-practitioner and prepared me for my role as the Assistant Director at the Margaret Cunningham Women’s Center from 2022-25, advisor for OBGAPS and the Peabody GWOC, as well as community engaged work with, the TIPS funded Black Girls Becoming Research Institute and the Black Girl Magic Crew at Martin Luther King Jr. Academic Magnet High School. Throughout my time at Vanderbilt, creating a sense of belonging and community was a major priority and played a role in truly making the Women’s Center a more salient resource for all faculty, staff, students, and postdocs. As a result, I was awarded the Postdoc Service Award by the Vanderbilt Postdoc Association, the Dr. Jimmie Lewis Franklin Award by the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center, the Excellence in Collaboration Award by Vanderbilt Student Affairs, and the Vanderbilt Organization of Black Graduate and Professional Students Mentor of the Year.
Now in my current role as the Director of the Women’s Center at the University of Minnesota, the first university-based women’s center in the United States, I continue to engage work that concretizes the importance of inclusion, community, and belonging for historically minoritized communities while also expanding the boundaries of the Women’s Center. This comes at a particularly interesting time given the closing of identity centers across the country, gross levels of censorship in teaching and learning, as well as the removal of grants and funding opportunities that ultimately will adversely affect education (PK-20) and STEM research for years to come. However, I’m hopeful and enthusiastic to be part of efforts that address issues regarding equity in research, provide opportunities and support for emerging scholars at the University of Minnesota and beyond, while maintaining intentional relationships with colleagues and research partners across the globe.