Anti-Racist Community Organizer with 20 years of experience in generating a broad-based movement for undoing structural racism in the field of human services.
Skills Summary:
- 20 years of experience serving as the founding member and anti-racist community organizer for the Antiracist Alliance, a community-based organization whose aim is to bring an end to structural racism
- Organizer responsible for oversight of over 200 undoing racism workshops for 16,000 people
- Highly skilled in inspiring, galvanizing and networking for institutional allies, collaborators and community leaders to participate in the movement to end structural racism
- Architect to website development, training materials, video and other communications to include establishing an internet presence, including Facebook, YouTube, and www.antiracistalliance.com
- Seasoned skill in organizing symposiums, forums, galas, fundraisers, and large community events
- Expertise in managing large groups for symposium and conference development
- Delivered National Symposium to Eliminate Racial Disproportionality in Child Welfare
- Over 20 years of experience working as a licensed clinical liberation therapist working with individuals and families living with addiction and anxiety/depression, holds a Master's in Clinical Social Work with an Addiction Specialty
- Developed and copyrighted an intensive two-semester 650-hour professional training program for Addiction Specialists
- Five years experience teaching social justice course at Fordham University
- Spearheaded New York State Legislation to Eliminate Racial Disproportionality in Child Welfare
- Highly proficient in networking to establish and sustain connections for undoing racism in the northeast region
Professional Experience:
Antiracist Alliance, Inc., (New York, NY) 2002 - Present
Founder
Served as the founder, spokesperson and driving force for the New York City area undoing racism movement. Established the Alliance as an organizing arm of the People's Institute for Survival & Beyond. Lead organizer and architect responsible for delivering 125 undoing racism workshops for 7,400 people
- Vision behind the organizing to bring an analysis of structural racism to NYC schools of social service
- Designed an interconnected network of organizing collectives for antiracist growth and development for workshop graduates from Rockland County, Westchester County, NYC, NJ & CT
- Coordinate 22 monthly meetings to sustain the development of the regional movement
- Mobilized and coordinated requests for anti-racist presentations to large groups and conferences
- Provide ongoing direction to website development, training materials, video and other communications to include establishing an internet presence through Facebook and YouTube and www.antiracistalliance.com
- Create opportunities for diverse organizing collectives to work collaboratively on projects, deliver poresentations, conferences,and support local campaigns
- Facilitate leadership development of regional anti-racist professionals who are working within institutions to understand and embrace community accountability
- Coordinate workgroups, presentation materials, workshop and grant proposals
- Collaboration on a design team to oversee an undoing racism internship project (URIP), an interschool on-campus project aimed at infusing a structural racism analysis into social work education and practice
Fordham University, Graduate School of Social Service,
(New York, NY) 2003 - 2008
Adjunct Faculty, Social Justice Instructor
Instructor with an antiracist lens to the Social Justice course mandated learning for all incoming students
- Taught Social Justice: Working with Organizations and Communities and Case Management with Diverse Populations
Barnard College at Columbia University, (New York, NY) 1998 - 2002
Director, Alcohol & Substance Abuse Prevention Program
Hired to design a campus-wide campaign to combat binge drinking and substance abuse to include providing individual/group counseling and clinical intervention for those in recovery
- Responsible for the evaluation, intervention, treatment or referral of those impacted by chemical use
- Transformed the image of the ASAP Program to one of offering empowerment through education and a sense of community thereby reducing the stigma associated with addiction
- Developed a volunteer workforce of peer educators and graduate social work interns
- Provided training and supervision for the development and delivery of prevention activities and support services for women in recovery and adult children of alcoholics
- Instituted an interdepartmental taskforce whose vision is to infuse the community with a collective sense of responsibility for addressing campus issues relating to alcohol and other drug use
Developed a 7-college northeast collaborative to coordinate activities and share resources
- Served as a Psychotherapist/Consultant to the Barnard Counseling Services to assist the center in designing a social justice model for their clinical services
- Presenter at APA Counseling Psychology Conference and at the APA National Convention, " A Model for Bringing a Social Justice Orientation to a College Counseling Service"
Consultant to the Dean for Multi-Cultural Affairs, 2001 - 2002
Member, President Clinton's College Campus Initiative "Dialogues on Race Relations" on the campus
- Conceived and organized all aspects of a campus-wide program that attracted approximately 1,000 students to commemorate Malcolm X during Black History Month
- Served as a Curriculum Design Consultant and Advisory Board member to ROOTED (Respecting Ourselves and Others Through Education), a peer education training program dedicated to facilitating respectful and informed discussions about diversity in the United States with regards to power and privilege
Rockland Council on Alcoholism, Inc. (Rockland, NY) 1993 - 1997
Executive Director
Recruited by the Board to reinvent the Council's identity and to serve the County's 276,000 residents by advocating and educating on the disease of alcoholism
- Developed and copyrighted an intensive two-semester 650-hour professional training program for Addiction Specialists
- Designed a continuum of addictions prevention, education and intervention services
- Catalyst for the formation of a 25-member countywide Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking
- Spearheaded a 30-member advocacy group (the Committee for Chemical Dependency Treatment of the Incarcerated), responsible for the initiation and award of a $20K Drug Court Planning Grant from the Department of Justice
- Formed a 5-county NY State Coalition for Children from Addictions/Mid Hudson Chapter
- Recruited professionals from 3 local colleges to participate in a 4-year study to evaluate the effectiveness of On Campus Talking About Alcohol, a 10-hour educational/risk reduction curriculum designed to reduce high risk drinking behavior among college freshmen to include obtaining the grant for training faculty
- Established and served as the Executive Director for Rockland Chemical Dependency Studies Institute, a non-profit academically-based Institute for the training of Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselors
- Designed a marketing plan to recruit highly qualified students of color as well as recruiting professionals from a diverse racial and ethnic background to offer a visiting lecturer format
Previous Employment:
Co-Founder, Private Practice, DISCOVERY CENTER (White Plains, NY) 1989 - 1993
Director/Youth & Family Counselor, HARRISON YOUTH COUNCIL (Harrison, NY) 1982 - 1989
Certifications and Licenses:
- Credentialed Prevention Professional (New York State) retired
- Credentialed Alcoholism & Substance Abuse Counselor (New York State) retired
Current and Past Board Memberships:
- Opus30Justice to exonerate the wrongfully convicted (Board Member)
- National Association of Social Workers (Chair, New York City Chapter)
- Social Welfare Action Alliance (Member)
- Social Workers and Allies Against Solitary Confinement (Steering Committee)
- The Center for the Study of White American Culture (Board Member)
- US Human Rights Network (Board Member)
- Undoing Racism committee of National Association of Social Workers-NYS (Westchester Division)
- WESPAC Foundation (Past Chair)
Education and Training:
Masters in Clinical Social Work, University of Maryland (Baltimore, MD)
B.A., Human Relations, Pace University (Pleasantville, NY)
- Certificate in Alcoholism and Addictions Counseling for Health Care Professionals, National Council on Alcoholism & Dependence (White Plains, NY)
