Who Am I?

PhD Candidate

I am a doctoral candidate in the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS) program at the University of Kansas specializing in transnational Reproductive Policy and Administration in North America and the English-speaking Caribbean, and the dynamic interplay between the two regions.​ I am a birth and postpartum doula, childbirth educator, lactation, sexual and reproductive health, and contraceptive counselor. My approach to birth work and health disparity and equity research is that of an activist-scholar advancing knowledge production for better practice.

​

As a feminist theorist specializing in transnational and decolonial perspectives on international development and reproductive health, my focus lies in promoting social justice and critical analysis of the underlying social structures that contribute to reproductive health disparities. Consequently, I employ the frameworks of Reproductive Justice (RJ) and Intersectionality-Based Policy Analysis (IBPA) to guide my problem-solving approach as a theorist and practitioner. With over 10 years of experience collaborating with development-oriented organizations, including community-based groups, state agencies, and international organizations, my expertise encompasses program management, community consultation, and resource mobilization in the realms of education, sexual and reproductive health and rights, women's and youth advocacy, sexual orientation and the law, and critical analysis of prevailing discourses on human trafficking. Research is the realm where I discover profound purpose.

​

My current research explores the impact formal state-sanctioned biomedicine and traditional healthcare systems have on reproductive pregnancy-related healthcare and outcomes in terms of mortality and morbidity.  I aim to explore and examine stories of causation that shape healthcare policies and practices in ways that give visibility,  voice and empowerment to experiences that are marginalized in “maternal” mortality and global reproductive health disparities in international development and health discourses.

​

I hope through this research, I will be better equipped to one day work in the academy and/or in public service as a sexual and reproductive policy analyst at national, local and/or international level.

​

Thank you for visiting.