Age: 37Company: Minority Inclusion ProjectTitle: Founder/Executive DirectorTown where I live: ManchesterTown where I work: ManchesterCollege: Capella University, Jones Int’l University, University of BridgeportFun FactMy other passion is art. I am a DJ, former radio show host, and Spoken Word Poetry artist.Q&A:What do you do in your current job? Reporting to the board of directors, I […]
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Age: 37
Company: Minority Inclusion Project
Title: Founder/Executive Director
Town where I live: Manchester
Town where I work: Manchester
College: Capella University, Jones Int'l University, University of Bridgeport
Fun Fact
My other passion is art. I am a DJ, former radio show host, and Spoken Word Poetry artist.
Q&A:
What do you do in your current job? Reporting to the board of directors, I lead Minority Inclusion Project, a nonprofit that creates pathways to leadership for people of color. I have overall strategic and operational responsibility for staff, programs, expansion and execution of its mission. My primary focus areas are leadership and management, fundraising and communications, and new business development.
What are your goals in your current job? To move the conversation about race, equity, diversity and inclusion to the forefront of every nonprofit's strategic agenda. I also want to help nonprofits and communities of color implement practical solutions that create pathways to leadership for people of color at the staff and board levels.
What's your biggest passion? Marian Wright Edelman, founder of the Children's Defense Fund, says that “Service is the rent we pay for being.” As an undergraduate at the University of Bridgeport, I personally adopted that quote as the guiding principle of my life. My passion is service to communities of color — primarily youth and families in low-to-moderate income communities — where the aspirations for a better tomorrow are in perpetual conflict with the historical, social and economic realities of today.
What are your future professional aspirations? I want to continue being an asset to my community. I want to help create a world where my kids, Leila and Malcolm, can thrive. I want to assist in the development of future cadres of leaders, primarily people of color from all socio-economic backgrounds, and ensure that they have the tools, resources and networks to fight for community, racial and social justice.
How are you involved in the community? My career has been primarily devoted to community work. In addition to my professional background, I'm also on the board of directors for Scribe's Institute, the Connecticut Association for Human Services and Five Frogs.
What do you hope Greater Hartford will be like in 10 years? I'm proud to live in Greater Hartford — between New York City and Boston — in a place where it feels big and small at the same time. In 10 years, I hope Greater Hartford is a thriving region that attracts and retains younger, diverse professionals who can lend fresh voices and perspectives that will help this region continue to build on its strengths and overcome its challenges. I also hope that neighborhoods in need truly gets revitalized by leveraging the skills and talents in those communities and providing quality educational and employment.
List four reasons why you deserve to be a 40 Under Forty: I'm a transformational leader who founded and leads Greater Hartford's only nonprofit dedicated to addressing the racial and ethnic disparities in nonprofit sector leadership. I'm on the board of three organizations that are addressing systemic, institutional, and individual problems — rooted in racism and social injustice — within the Greater Hartford region. I've got 17 years of experience developing and leading programs and services for communities across Connecticut. I've voluntarily mentored, coached, and advised many young and emerging professionals who are making communities across the state better places for people to live, work and play.
