a bit About Me
As an Information Designer, I activate communities by sharing complex ideas in accessible ways. I hold a BS in Neuroscience and Entrepreneurship from Johns Hopkins University and I am trained in Human-Centered Design through the Carey Business School. I am self-taught in graphic design, my primary method in developing catalytic visual tools.
With this blend of disciplines, I actively explore the role of neuroscience in designing knowledge-shares within the Baltimore community. My approach begins with building relationships with local organizations who provide essential resources (housing, food, medical, legal, opportunity). We identify critical knowledge-gaps between the organization and their audience and I find full-hearted-nerd-out-joy in recognizing ways their current knowledge-sharing practices make our brain tense-up. Using Neuro-Based Design Principles, I reimagine visual tools, conceptual structures, and learning experiences to optimize how our brain engages with essential yet hairy concepts. As a result, we get to witness what becomes possible when ideas click and people reach an informed sense of agency.
I am dedicated to collaborating with community leaders to further Information Equity as an agent of the Design Justice Network. When individuals have access to the information they need to make critical decisions regarding their livelihood they are better equipped to pour back into their community, cultivating a generative and locally-sustained ecosystem of mutual-aid.
Through my collaborations with individuals within organizations, my priorities in the co-creative process are to remain soft with people working within hardened systems, to honor and build upon centuries-long knowledge-sharing within BIPOC communities, and seek indicators of success that are reflective of the self-identified needs of a community.
building on the shoulders of giants
My work is shaped by the wisdom and bravery of Designers who’ve come before me. This mind-map illustrates the abundant roots from which my work blooms.
Creatives like Jessica Bellamy and Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya inspire me to bridge creative expression with critical knowledge sharing. Heartworkers like Audre Lorde, adrienne maree brown, and Tricia Hersey have given me permission to be bold and radically honest in my practice. Baltimore-based visionaries like Bilphena Yahwon and Denise Shanté Brown breathe life into holding care-centered and generative space with community.
