BIO

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I am the 4th of 5 children raised in a low-income household by a single mother in a predominantly Black neighborhood in Sacramento, CA., was bused to predominantly white middle-class schools beginning in kindergarten, knew i liked girls when i was 5, and had my first socially-conscious thought in 4th grade. My academic path post-high school began at a community college, continued at two  CSU universities, and ended at a Psychology professional school. I have been licensed by the state of California to practice Psychology since 2000. Professionally, I have over 30 years of experience in the mental health field as a direct service provider (psychotherapy and "case" management) and senior administrator in community mental health, nonprofit, and private practice settings working with diverse communities that are under-served, and disenfranchised, including low-income, people of color, women, LGBTQ, children and youth, people with severe mental illness, people who are homeless, and combinations therein. I developed, coordinated, and taught in an internship program for undergraduate and graduate level Counseling and Social Work students; provided clinical supervision for staff and interns; and taught at the graduate level. Other professional experience includes being a Program Officer and Fellow in philanthropy, doing grantmaking in the areas of Youth Development, Community Health, Gay/Lesbian, Families, Community Development, Education, and Hunger/Homelessness for family and community foundations. While in philanthropy, I was an executive committee member of Bay Area Blacks in Philanthropy as well as co-coordinated and co-facilitated a cohort training program for people underrepresented in the fundraising field.  I am a graduate of the National Community Development Institute’s Professional Development for Consultants leadership program that taught how to provide culturally-based capacity building for social change for nonprofit organizations. I have been on advisory boards for nonprofit organizations and  have consistently volunteered in in my various communities for over 20 years.  I feed my spirit by playing sports, reading, writing, watching Star Trek and other sci fi/fantasy, watching musicals, cultivating new gardening skills, learning how to play the acoustic drum set, learning dog,  volunteering in my various communities, and spending time with people who make me laugh.