What do you love to do outside of the Office of Equity?

"I love the following … music, lasagna, movies, theater, yoga, reading, swimming, roller derby, impromptu adventures, and last but not least, KARAOKE!  Music is my first language."

What do you contribute to the Office of Equity?

"One of my favorite superpowers is the ability to allow people to be themselves all the time.  I don't want the real you to show up in 90-120 days.  Be yourself from "GO." To support PEAR, I bring to the team the hard-won knowledge of a NYC-raised BIPOC Elder. Before I came to the OOE, I worked at  the Department of Services for the Blind as an Admin in Lacey, HQ."

"The most fabulous people I know were forged on the battle grounds of hardship and adversity... Darling, you're Gorgeous!!!" -  Deva

Why are you in this role?

"When people ask me how I came to be in the office of Equity I can say unabashedly that I was called to serve as a voice for the voiceless.  I live my life in a state of permanent identity crisis.  Being raised by white people as a black woman in a town where half the population had a brough (Irish accent) in 70’s/80’s was far from easy.  The first time I was met with violence and called the “N” word, I was 5 years old.  As a teen in the late 80’s, fear + a false narrative = verbal and physical assault because my brother had AIDS. I stopped growing at the age of 12 and stand 4’9”, I am legally little.  Every day of my life I must maneuver in a world that literally … isn’t my size."