After receiving my doctorate in community psychology (with a focus on International Family & Community Studies), I joined the Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research (CHPIR) at Duke University.

As a community psychologist, I am someone who tries to embody and advocate for community mental health and community care into research, policy, and practice, in support of marginalized communities faced with the greatest mental health inequities.

 Much of my research interests go beyond an individual focus to integrate more community- and systems- level influences into intervention strategies that promote mental health and well-being, particularly for marginalized youth and young adult populations such as orphaned and separated children, immigrant/refugee youth, youth of color, and LGBTQ youth and young adults in low- and middle- resource contexts.

I come with 16 years of experience as a community development and child welfare practitioner in South and Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Central and South America, and the Southern United States, embracing collaborative and trauma-informed strategies to address social justice issues concerning marginalized youth and families.

My work as a community psychologist practitioner both deeply informs  my research and vice versa. As such, I strive to stay grounded in community-based work and practice as much as possible.

Currently, this takes shape in the form of facilitating mental health therapy groups for local BIPOC and LGBTQ+ community, creating and adapting mental health interventions to be more culturally salient for specific marginalized populations, as well as consultancy, advising, and teaching courses and workshops on global mental health and ethical storytelling at Duke University.

Additionally, I will be starting a 2-year Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program in 2023 in hopes of further bridging my community psychology research and practice through adapting mindfulness-based mental health interventions to meet the needs of often overlooked populations.