My Specialities
Social Entrepreneurship and Innovations
Fostering change with different communities and types of brilliance for observable, meaningful and lasting social and economic innovation. Acting as a midwife to group startups and partnerships to identify, develop and implement goals, often addressing community-based challenges.
The Natural Dye Initiative
Reclaiming the propagation, processing and use of the former American slave crop of indigo dye for community and economic developments.
A multi-pronged social enterprise ecosystem for the propagation, processing, use and sales of natural indigo, originally a slave crop in North America. I helped to oversee the project Maryland Institute College of Art, where it started, identified the Upton Planning Committee as the primary community partner, facilitated the transfer of intellectual property and dye inventory to them, led grants for the purchase and restoration of the historic Harriet Beecher Stowe building and equipment, engaged urban and rural farmers and various community partners, handing off functions as new staff come on. Now I lead product development and programming.
Baltimore Stories
Changing the “Master” Narratives of Race, Social Class and Power.
An Outgrowth of the 2015 Baltimore Uprising after the death of Freddie Gray in police custody, Baltimore Stories: Narrative in the Life of an American City, is a community project that staged 20 events with 25 Baltimore community partners, cited by the funder, the National Endowment for the Humanities, as a national model for deep community conversations. Its curriculum received the Seal by the National Education of Office of Civil Rights, is being used by the Harvard School of Education and has been modeled by New York City, Charlotte, Fort Worth and Colombia, South American with the FARC rebels. As project director, I led conceptualization, facilitation and outcomes.
Korner Boyz Enterprises
Reframing the skills and strategies of young street squeegee entrepreneurs into a new and successful LLC.
Korner Boyz Enterprises, LLC, is a five-year project with former corner youth squeegee workers, now an LLC that sells their own branded bottled water by the bottle, case or palette, with large orders primarily to private and municipal organizations. I am the main mentor, also recruiting partners and maintaining internal and external relationships. Our work includes the “soft” work of trust building, and intercultural navigations.
The Baltimore Crochet Project
Reframing the crochet hobbies of working class women into a women-driven business platform.
The Baltimore Crochet Project reframes the skills of working-class female and female identified hobby crocheters into a market based collective, providing high quality materials, training, quality control, marketing and microfinance. I conceived of the project and continue to facilitate with partners, the Neighborhood Fiber Company—a Black female-owned company, Open Works and Common Seeds.
Technology and Underserved Communities
Driving policy by spotlighting the digital sophistication and perspectives of working class African American users.
Can Technology Raise the Quality of Life in Underserved Communities? What are attitudes, practices and values different from the industry and government assumptions? As one of the project’s lead researchers, I conducted a series of community conversations, helped design and disseminate surveys with working class Black community members and facilitated relationships with community leaders. The project was funded by the National Science Foundation and has provided planning data for Baltimore City.
The urgent need for the Humanities & Social Sciences
Demonstrating why we have to have the Humanities and Social Sciences more than ever before.
The Heart of the Matter: The Humanities and Social Sciences for a Vibrant, Secure and Competitive Nation. The Heart of the Matter was a report by a bipartisan US Congressional Commission. The public information campaign I designed and led in partnership with the commission was named the top public college and the top three overall by the American Council of Learned Societies. We partnered with the chairs of the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities and actor John Lithgow.
Let's Connect
Client Samples
