I am an internationally published poet, an auntie, and the poetry editor and publicist at Meadowlark Press. I also work with House of Morrow, an arts-based services organization, serving as the director of our Diverse Voices Literacy Program. Our team teaches creative writing, reading, and public speaking to local fifth graders, and Meadowlark publishes an anthology of the students' work! I am the author of two poetry collections, Cravings (Meadowlark Press, 2025) and Thank You (Spartan Press, 2018), as well as the coauthor of While Away: Travel Poems (Spartan Press, 2022) and Live a Great Story (Analog Submission Press, 2019). Deon and I are both recipients of NextGen Under 30 Kansas Awards and Kansas Governor's Arts Awards. I was born and raised in Emporia, Kansa, and I am excited about helping people and investing in the community through the arts! I am an international painter and advocate of the arts. I serve on several city boards and am a founding member and acting executive director of House of Morrow. I am also involved in coaching youth sports. I think it is important to build the idea of changing your environment for the better, and you can use the arts as a tool. We have to empower our people to take action in their environment in a constructive way, and the arts can be used as a vehicle. When supporting the arts, you are actively listening and communicating with the artist. When supporting the arts, we have to be receptive to being moved.