A life shaped by movement
From Grenada to New York. From scholarship to story.
I am a scholar, storyteller, writer, oral historian, and social work educator. Across each part of my work, I return to the relationships between migration, memory, belonging, and social change.
My journey from Grenada to New York, through social work practice and into academia, informs the questions I ask and the stories I choose to tell. My African and Caribbean heritage connects me to traditions of extended family, community, and collective responsibility. Those connections remain central to my work with families, institutions, and communities navigating change.
As an Associate Professor in the MSW program at the University of Saint Joseph, I bring together teaching, research, and community engagement. My scholarship examines immigration, child welfare, racial inequity, and the ways institutions shape everyday lives.
Practice, teaching & public life
Listening is where the work begins.
Before joining the University of Saint Joseph in 2017, I worked at New York City’s Administration for Children’s Services, serving in professional development, child welfare policy, and training implementation. That experience continues to inform my research on organizational culture, leadership, and the people who make public systems work.
Today, oral history, film, podcasting, and personal writing extend that work beyond the classroom. Inside Out/Outside In brings scholars, students, and community members into conversation. Connecticut’s Fault Lines examines the inequities exposed by the pandemic. Rising from the Waves preserves the experiences and cultural memory of people in Carriacou and Petite Martinique.
My forthcoming book, Holding on to Pearl, draws on nearly a decade of caring for my mother through dementia. It is part of a wider commitment to telling stories that hold personal experience and larger social questions together.
I call this “soul work”: deep listening and intentional acts that center people’s humanity. Outside my professional work, I enjoy dancing, traveling, reading historical novels and nonfiction, and writing poetry and essays.
Academic foundations
Experience in service of connection.
- Ph.D., Social WelfareThe Graduate School and University Center of New York · 2008
- Master of Social WorkSilberman School of Social Work · 1989
- B.A., SociologySt. John’s University · 1982
Professional background
Explore academic appointments, publications, research, and professional service in the September 2026 curriculum vitae.
Download CV · Word document