About me
Becoming.
Born outside Tokyo, Japan, I had my first passport and international flight when I was just 10 months old. Perhaps travel as an early stage of my life absorbed into my system and fueled my desire to fly to new places and learn from different places and people. Being born outside the country may have also immediately influenced my worldview.
At a young age, a teacher told my parents that I would never graduate high school, that I wasn’t smart, and that they should prepare to take care of me. From that moment. I channeled my energies into showing tht learning and expressing intelligence comes in many forms.
Now, that effort lives in others through the project, Unlocking Silent Histories. My life experience underlies my expertise in:
- Nonprofit strategy and visioning
- Educational innovation and disruption
- Cultural exchange organizing
Storyline
- 1985
Graduated from Lake Lehman High School in Pennsylvania; 12th in my class.
- 1989
Completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Physics from Susquehanna University.
- 1996
Earned a M.S. in Technology in Education Leadership Strand,
- 2004
Obtained a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania. (Dad joked that I wasn’t a real doctor!)
- 2012
Left my tenure track position to persue my passion for creating educational designs that reflect cultural knowledge and traditions.
- 2013
Founded Unlocking Silent Histories
- 2016
Featured at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) where three youth leaders from Guatemala presented their Unlocking Silent Histories films and the films of their students in New York City and Washington, D.C.
- 2016
Delivered a KeyNote speaking engagement at New Zealand’s International Indigenous Research Conference.
- 2017
Awarded “2017 Women To Watch” for the category of education from WILMA Magazine.
- 2017
Awarded “Distinguished Scholarly Engagement and Public Service” from UNCW.
- 2018
Collaborated with the Lumbee Tribe on an adoption of Unlocking Silent Histories.
- 2021
Formed an alliance between Unlocking Silent Histories and the Kusi Kawsay Association. USH is now a formal program led by two Quechua young women, who are expanding the program to various communities within Peru.
- 2022
Co-Founded and organized Across the Americas with the Kusi Kawsay Association, a youth-led cultural exchange program between the Quechua Nation of the Andes and the Pueblos of New Mexico to inspire a global youth movement, elevate and reignite Indigenous wisdom, and amplify youth identities.
- Today
Reviewing. Synthesizing. Writing. Reflecting.
Ready for new opportunities!
“
May we all enter spaces humble,
with a willingness to learn about ourselves
and each other.
May we all unleash our collective creativity
and innovation to not accept what is,
but rather to imagine what is possible.