Sexuality-Focused Work
Are you looking for someone who's passionate and experienced in creating space for connection around sexual health, sexuality, gender, and sexuality and gender-based issues?
Working with Condomino at a college in 2018
Tabling at Worcester Pride in 2019
Presenting at the 2018 Partners in Sex Education Community Conference
Halloween as a sex educator?
A Dental Dam, of course!
Sexual Health Lobby Day
With Fellow Board Members of the League of Women Voters of the Worcester Area
2019
Cultivating Sex
Undergraduate research project connecting cultivation theory and adolescent sexuality, inferring that the prevalence of adolescent sexuality in popular media creates an exaggerated fear of it in older generations
Conferences and Connection
Connecting with friends and community members focused on ending sexual violence and increasing visibility and access for trans and nonbinary people
Sexual health and sexuality can be serious, silly, and lifechanging, all in one workshop.
I've been working in health promotion and sexuality in various capacities since 2013. Discovering peer health education, studying sociology and psychology, and attending every workshop I could set me solidly onto this path during my undergraduate experience. I presented on sexuality topics at conferences and to peers on campus. My final academic project in 2015 connected cultivation theory and adolescent sexuality. The quick version? People are afraid of how "the kids these days" are acting sexually not because what they're actually doing is that different than previous generations, but because we see adolescent sexuality constantly on TV, in movies, and on social media. I was then lucky enough to spend time back at Framingham State as an Assistant Wellness Educator after graduation, where I continued to work with peer health educators.
When I began working with Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, I was able to blend my passion for sexual and reproductive health with my years of customer service experience as I connected with community members about accessing healthcare. Answering questions and finding solutions for someone's unique needs are especially rewarding. At PPLM, I was lucky enough to do that work externally and internally. This included strategic planning around community racial health disparities, forging creative organizational relationships, connecting with advocates for comprehensive sex education, and internal action teams focused on employee experience and equity planning.
When it was time for graduate school, I balanced my desire for more sexuality education and community engagement skills. I enrolled in a Holistic Sexuality Education certification with the Institute for Sexuality Education and Enlightenment and then an accelerated M.Ed. fellowship in Community Engagement at Merrimack College. I focused my capstone project on a need I saw again and again in community-based sexuality education work:
Self-Advocacy in the Exam Room: Tools and Techniques for Contraceptive Care.
After graduate school, I volunteered as a planning committee member for Pride Worcester and was hired as a short-term Capacity Building Consultant for the Worcester Youth Deserve Coalition. These opportunities refocused my engagement skills in my immediately local community and allowed me to return to work solidly engaged on sexuality and education themes. Shortly after, I joined the team in Dartmouth College's Office of Pluralism and Leadership, where I provide programmatic coordination and support for Latinx, Caribbean, and Queer students on campus.
Related Experience
Program Coordinator for Leadership & Community Development, Dartmouth College
Board Member, Bisexual Resource Center
Holistic Sex Education Certification (CHSE) from Institute for Sexuality Education & Enlightenment
Capacity Building Consultant for Worcester Youth Deserve Coalition
M.Ed. Capstone: Self-Advocacy in the Exam Room: Tools and Techniques for Contraceptive Care
Partners in Contraceptive Choice and Knowledge (PICCK) Community Advisory Board Member
Worcester Queer Coalition, Founding Member
Community Outreach Manager at Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts
League of Women Voters of the Worcester Area, Board Member
Worcester Pride, Volunteer
Community Outreach Specialist at Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts
Assistant Wellness Educator at Framingham State University
BA in Sociology with a Minor in Psychology from Framingham State University
SEALS Student Coordinator at Framingham State University
SEALS Peer Health Educator at Framingham State University