Research & Teaching Interests

These two feminist frameworks underpin my epistemological approach to theory building, research, critical inquiry, and just living my life. I have taught the principles of these frameworks and challenge students and those I engage with to understand their purposes in capturing and problem-solving inequities. I have centered these frameworks in research for the past 7+ years, and now, these are central to my career interest in reproductive policy, global health, and development. I use these frameworks to contribute to the discourse of international development and public health. I plan to continue to immerse myself in the histories and contexts and debates that shaped the emergence of these two frameworks, and engage with the scholars, and their applications of the framework's central principles and goals as I discuss issues such as health disparities, hate crimes, reproductive oppression and human trafficking.

Intersectionality Policy Analysis is an innovative tool that is needed in a world that is working to capture, recognize and examine traumas, social structures, and policies that underpin the disparities we witness today. Intersectionality is a growing theory and framework that will, I believe, one day be confidently referred to as a critical theory of inquiry across fields such as Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies (WGSS); Public Policy & Administration (SPAA) & Global Health & Development. I currently employ the Intersectionality-Based Policy Analysis (IBPA) framework in my dissertation research, teach on its origin, applicability and critique. My work thus far shows that the IBPA framework has great potential for capturing institutionalized trauma and bridging the different ways knowledge is created, curated and evaluated, and formulating policies for a more just world.

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Also: Under this subject of tools for problem analysis and formulation of solutions, using Qualitative and Mixed Methods Research Designs is my primary approach to understanding and strategizing for better outcomes. 

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My work utilizes the Reproductive Justice (RJ) framework as a tool for advancing how Public Health and Reproductive Policy is constructed and operationalized.  Everything is about Public Health, and engaging with the social determinants of health can be an inroad to better understanding the call for RJ in Reproductive Policy planning, monitoring & evaluation. When it comes to Reproductive Policy, my work primarily focuses on the populations below, but my analyses are not limited to these:

·        Queer & Trans

·        BIPOC

·        Women 

·        Men

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Topics of reproductive health disparity, reproductive medicine and social determinants of health are my primary research and teaching interests.

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Also: I co-own a consultancy business with Dr. Timmia Hearn called Who Gets To Parent. Who Gets To Parent is a transnational consultancy that focuses on reproductive health disparities and equities through education and policy research.

Transnational connections through political economy and social justice movements have been a research and academic interest of mine for 10+ years starting with the role of Community Youth Facilitator as a United Nations (UN) volunteer. Studying International Development Studies at York University with a concentration in public policy, gender and the political economy has helped me to hone a wealth of knowledge on Theories, Models, and Institutions of International Development frameworks. This knowledge has shaped my practice relating to expanding the multidimensional nature of national and individual welfare. This research/skill area allows me to meaningfully participate in  discourses relating to:

• Political Economy with a focus on Standard Welfare Economics + Capabilities Approach Gender Analysis in International Development 

• Human Rights framework & International Development 

• International Women, Gender & Sexuality Rights

• Anti-Trafficking Narratives & Policies

• Hate Crimes & Inequalities 

How much do we consider the power dynamics that are filtered through languages in Development discourse? How are experiences of poverty and wealth, health and illnesses, epistemic violence, confidence, and inferiority complexes connected to language? For the past 4 years, I have been using these questions to explore the potential of full legitimation (sociologically speaking) of Creole languages to counter imposter syndrome and problem-solving for more self-determination. I am currently exploring how Creole epistemology functions as an anti-colonial decolonialization tactic for non-white once colonized, enslaved, indentured and those living with a history of unrecognized genocide. I argue that if our first language is stigmatized as: inferior, uncivilized, dead, unintelligible, and incapable of theory building, then right there, sits the crux of our incapability to intellectually, linguistically, materially and psychologically control the narrative compositions of self, and justly engage with those and that around us. I center a Creole epistemology as an anti-colonial decolonial tool in my pedagogy and how I theorize my research process.

My goal is to tell and share stories and reconfigure narratives using the technologies around us, and that are commonly used by diverse populations. I currently have 1 active digital storytelling project entitled: Who Gets To Parent? This is a series of short digital stories, a cross between documentary and vlog, that looks at the experiences of Queer, Trans and BIPOC people navigating pregnancy and birthing within a medical system that presents many systemic barriers that are racist, classist, xenophobic, sexuality and sexist based. This docu-series is used for information sharing, community-solidarity, advocacy, training, and education. I value digital storytelling in the classroom and utilizing it as a knowledge engagement and dissemination tool. 

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Also: I co-own a storytelling production company called Three-Faced Productions with Dr. Timmia Hearn.