About

NYU 19' B.A. in Psychology with a concentration in Human Cognition and a minor in Anthropology. Passionate about mental health and holistic living while integrating facets of cultural humility and human empathy. All things minimalistic, dietary, fitness and travel-related, homeopathic, anthropologic, alternatively medicinal, and mindful in nature.

Fellowships

AmeriCorps VISTA - 2019
Impact Evaluator
Building capacity to serve underrepresented youth population in the Providence metro area.

GivePulse Stats

Groups

  • BrownEngage

  • Beat the Streets

  • The Swearer Center

  • Swearer Center Community Partners

  • Brown University AmeriCorps VISTA Fellowship

  • Impacts

    Brown University AmeriCorps VISTA Fellowship

    Success: We submitted the grant to the RJWF Fund! That was pretty exciting. Bior, the BYW ED and I, submitted it together with 5 minutes to spare. That was really cool. Fingers crossed we at least make it to the finalist stages and can secure some funds. We also started the preparation process to onboard our intern this upcoming week. I've be streamlining that process by creating all the necessary documentation and telecommuting forms. We've created a file where his resume and things of that nature are stored and intend follow this methodology for other interns in come. We are in the final stages of the Million Minutes challenge which is also awesome!

    Challenge: A challenge of mine has been longing for some face to face human interaction. I am doing a lot of the necessary systems building and capacity for the organization but sometimes it's difficult to see the fruits of my labor with all thats been going on. I hope to at least get to see something of physical value sooner than later.

    Aspiration: Move on to next grant which I've already started. It is an Aldi business grant where they have a presence, so I feel like it could tie in well to a local initiative. I'm going to start pumping these things out left and right and really want to help BTS financially so that when programming does resume they have be sitting on a nice stock pile of funds to work with. I'm excited to hone in on my writing skills and employ them in a way that can benefit my service site!

    Gave 37.50 hours between 05/02/2020 and 05/08/2020 with BrownEngage, Beat the Streets
    Brown University AmeriCorps VISTA Fellowship

    Success: Boston Youth Wrestling, BTS National, and I worked together tirelessly over the course of the week on a $25,000 joint submittal grant through a fund in Princeton, NJ. We aggregated data on a National level and crafted a well-rounded narrative relating to need-based funding predicated on a ton of lost contracts and fundraisers over the spring. We are also starting our preparation for an intern through Bryant University Management Department.

    Challenge: One challenge throughout these times has been the emphasis on Social Media, as I am not active on those platforms. Personally they do not interest me and do not seem of value to me, so I am not really useful for BTS in that realm. I want to do my best to be of utility for them where they need me, but social media is really something I've always shied away from. Hopefully that doesn't become a focal point to our program and my service.

    Aspiration: One goal I have in mind is accomplishing a lot of the content discussed on a coaches' team call. We pretty much brainstormed ways to increase brand exposure, future outdoor training opportunities, and ways to better our program before the start of next season. Some ideas mentioned were reaching out to local press and becoming involved in PVD's festivals just becoming more of an accessible open presence. Increasing that exposure of what we do and involving ourself within the fabric of the city will only improve our cause. I hope to champion some of these efforts in the months to come.

    Gave 45.00 hours between 04/25/2020 and 05/01/2020 with BrownEngage, Beat the Streets
    Brown University AmeriCorps VISTA Fellowship

    Success: We are making significant headway on the grant mentioned last week, as well as a few others in the pipeline. We have our eyes on an Aldi Grant and also a videochat talent grant. Our kids having been working tirelessly toward our million minute challenge and I think this will be the perfect opportunity to show some of our work. Especially with the story that Ayenna made on behalf of the communications team.

    Challenge: Grant Writing, lol. Trying my best to keep up. Plain and simple. I am familiar with academic writing, thesis-driven papers, and argumentative pieces but it seems as though the tone of grant writing is sightly different. Aggregating the data from a national level is a little difficult also. Communication and transparency is key here.

    Aspiration: Outputting a quality grant proposal for my team. This is the goal at hand and I am doing pretty significant research to offer something of value for BTS National and also Providence/Boston.

    Gave 40.00 hours between 04/18/2020 and 04/24/2020 with BrownEngage, Beat the Streets
    Brown University AmeriCorps VISTA Fellowship

    Success: A major success of mine this week was being able to fundraise over $1,000 for one of our student-athletes who was backlogged on his tuition payments for this past semester at RIC. We were able to fundraise $1,035 exceeding our goal for this young man. We used the gofundme platform and I wrote the pitch. My program director was very happy to see this manifest into something fruitful for our most dedicated student-athletes. Aside from this, I worked vigorously on compiling all data in the form of infographics for school administration to secure funds for this upcoming season. I made significant headway there, and one school went so much to even say he had funding alloted aside specifically for us. How encouraging! Also, my COVID-19 impact report is coming along swimmingly and helps validate us in the eyes of donors.

    Challenge: One challenge is juggling my work and life environment and also the multiple levels of BTS. Currently Boston and Providence are undergoing a merger and it's sometimes it's difficult to juggle their respective methodologies, while also staying attuned to the national directive.

    Aspiration: I am working on a grant through a specific foundation in New Jersey, and the pressure is definitely on. I want to show my team the high-quality work I can output. A 25,000 Cash grant is on the line. Hopefully we can collaborate as a team and create something impressive in the eyes of the foundation committee. The is my main goal moving forward.

    Gave 38.00 hours between 04/11/2020 and 04/17/2020 with BrownEngage, Beat the Streets
    Brown University AmeriCorps VISTA Fellowship

    Success: Many successes are taking place in our virtual realm! Included but not limited to World Junior Team champions becoming a part of our mission and chipping in to keep kids engaged. Our million minutes challenge is staying consistent with kids logging well over 50,000 minutes which is impressive for our size of a city relative to some of the others monoliths involved (NYC, LA). I'm also doing well with my portion of the social media camping providing 'Thoughtful Thursday' inclusivity exercises that connect student athletes from Boston to our kids in Providence. We are aiming to an ultimate New England collective mission. I've started to create a COVID-19 response infographic giving funders and school administration an idea of some of the work we've done in lieu of traditional programming.

    Challenges: Personally, I feel my home life and professional life blending and that that separation is difficult to maintain. The weather has also been pretty up and down and coronavirus cases seem to be maintaining their levels of new infections and deaths. Hopefully an antidote (remdesivir) and vaccination might provide hope for the future. People seem to be adhering to the social distancing and PPE guidelines so we'll see if we can get back on the mat and in the classroom sometimes soon. Hopefully PPSD middle schools aren't closed for the foreseeable future!

    Aspiration: Maintain hope and continue investing 100% into BTS despite this unorthodox situation. Find new ways to help and stay involved. This is important for me and not letting my investment and consideration waver. Kids' futures are still on the line though we can't physically be there to support them we can maneuver around these obstacles in newfound ways.

    Gave 35.00 hours between 04/04/2020 and 04/10/2020 with BrownEngage, Beat the Streets
    Brown University AmeriCorps VISTA Fellowship

    Success: Things are really coming along in the grant writing world. Richard connected me with one of our board members, Billy, who has significant grant writing experience and we've been making a ton of headway on a $25,000 cash grant application. I think we have a great shot at securing that! Also, our social media content has kept the kids engaged as best as we can. Our coaches are setting up weekly zoom check-ins which our kids find of value and everyone is keeping in touch. I've also become pretty savvy at using the collaborative space, Asana, and designing infographics on Canva!

    Challenges: Covid-19 continues to be a limitation in the programming and impact we can have on our student-athletes. We miss them and they miss being on the mat! Designing ways to get around that and keep our athletes engages proves to be a formidable opponent, no puns intended coming from the wrestling world! Keeping everyone connected and engaged and tackling objectives is difficult in a time like this. I think everyone's headspace has been altered to a certain degree.

    Aspiration: Securing a grant is definitely a big goal of mine! I also want to complete the data generation process to provide to our school partners. Present our infographics to them and make a pitch to continue funding despite all these setbacks. Also for Covid-19 cases to plateau and/or start dropping so we can have a light at the end of this tunnel! Fingers crossed.

    Gave 40.00 hours between 03/29/2020 and 04/03/2020 with BrownEngage, Beat the Streets
    Brown University AmeriCorps VISTA Fellowship

    Success: There were many successes this week. Beat The Streets National's million minute challenge is really taking off. The kids are really invested and we are seeing participation really get some traction. As of the end of the week, Providence has accumulated 30,000 out of the National campaign's 200,000 minutes. That is including but not limited to cities like NYC, Philly, Cleveland, and Los Angelas! We may be relatively small, but we are making an impact! I have been tasked with the 'Thoughtful Thursdays' exercises for kids as I have some experience in the mindful realm. This week's exercise was based around a man named Rohan Murphy who was born without legs but wrestled competitively for Penn State. He is a bronze medalist Paralympic athlete and is an inspiration to all! He is doing a Q & A with us the following week and based off his involvement, I challenged kids to tag or post a person who is inspiring to them! I also learned how to use CANVA and have been becoming pretty well-versed with its capabilities. I also have been working on a PPSD consent form release spreadsheet, amalgamating all kids' data and scanning it into a file alphabetically. Overall, it's been a productive and meaningful week.

    Challenge: A major challenge for me is balancing the home and work situation that has enshrouded all of us. This has also mad communication and collaboration with the BTS team challenging. Zoom, thankfully has been a nice resource to facilitate this, but it has its inherent limitations. Sometimes things are miscommunicated because of the technologically barrier that exists between us. Being able to just meet and discuss things openly would aid productively exponentially. COVID-19 has just been a challenge. Sigh..

    Aspiration: My aspirations moving forward are to become more well-versed in the game of wrestling! Do some research on the moves, and the technicalities involved so when programming does resume I am more informed as to exactly whats happening! I also want to learn how to use ASANA, a collaborative platform we are beginning to make use of. I want to complete the PPSD consent form spreadsheet, and finish two data packets for West Broadway and Esek Hopkins I have been working on. I also want to start researching grants and apply for several during this time! Much to do.

    Gave 40.00 hours between 03/22/2020 and 03/28/2020 with BrownEngage, Beat the Streets
    Brown University AmeriCorps VISTA Fellowship

    I am going to scrap the formerly used template at least for the time being, because this was arguably the most confusing weeks as a VISTA and even as a human. The coronavirus that develops into COVID-19 has been all but insidious. It's seem to announce itself in every facet of our life. It's really taken the limelight of much of everything.

    Everything is closed for several weeks and not much can be done. We have been backtracking and reorganizing several repositories as an organization. I've been putting together any data available and looking toward grands. We are also looking to rollout a girls spring season in April, and have been doing interviewing and scheduling for that.

    Hopefully everything sorts itself out. Because right now is a very weird time in the world. My service has definitely been affected and I'd say my equilibrium has been altered too.

    Gave 35.00 hours between 03/15/2020 and 03/21/2020 with BrownEngage, Beat the Streets
    Brown University AmeriCorps VISTA Fellowship

    Success: Completing Esek Hopkins Data Packet is something I've been working on for a while now! And that was an exciting stride I was able to take despite all of the setbacks with COVID-19. I was also able to work with the Beat The Streets National Team to create an online/virtual programming rollout that is really the first of its kind for our community and the athletic community at large. We used social media to engage kids at the ground level doing fitness challenges, mindful challenging, and technique related film will challenging others. It is called the Million Minutes, No Mat, No Problem Challenge

    Challenge: Much of our in person events had been cancelled through this week. Therefore, our programming is being put on hold. Trying to navigate that and adjust has proven formidable. Though I am excited to see how Beat the Streets adapts throughout these precarious times.

    Aspiration: I am excited to work with the Beat The Streets community to move forward with our online program and make their a ubiquitous resource available to kids. We want to be available throughout these times as they continuously evolve and develop.

    Gave 42.00 hours between 03/08/2020 and 03/14/2020 with BrownEngage, Beat the Streets
    Brown University AmeriCorps VISTA Fellowship

    Success: This was definitely one of the more unorthodox weeks thus far. I think the entirety of the week was a ravishing success. Though it consisted of long days, and much of the free-time was spent tying up loose ends with BTSPVD, the week was super insightful and useful in a multitude of areas. Ayenna and I traveled via train to the city which provided us an opportunity to better know each other and how our service work coincides at the Swearer Center. I was able to network with a bunch of other VISTA's across the nation. I met several in the RI/MA area which was cool to collaborate with someone of similar geographic location. I also got ahold of some grant writing resources which will be helpful as I transition into this stage of service work. I also attended a volunteer management workshop which will be helpful with the Bryant University volunteers we work with. All in all, I enjoyed this opportunity to grow as a VISTA and experience a new dimension of professional development and improving upon my efficacy as a civil servant.


    Challenge: This week was difficult to juggle both In-Service Training in Philly and also Beat The Streets-related work that continued to pile up. I felt a little absent and guilty not being there for the BTS team. Some emails were overlooked and things I could of handled, but because I was focusing on myself and professional development I wasn't able to be as fastidious as possible. Is it selfish to try to benefit myself when I am doing my best to be a volunteer in service of America? My goal is to improve the standing of the community. I guess a personal struggle of mine this week was relating to that.

    Aspiration: Take what I learned and apply it to my service. I really want to improve upon grant proposals, applications, and overall writing in this regard. Winning/securing funding for the organization for which I serve would be a huge stride for me personally and also for what it is we try to accomplish for the Providence community. I have several grant databases, writing styles, and data focused content I wish to integrate into my grant proposals. I will see which ones seem to work and go from there. Excited to transition into next steps.

    Gave 45.00 hours between 03/01/2020 and 03/07/2020 with Beat the Streets, BrownEngage