As an advocate for women and girls’ empowerment, I believe there is nothing more powerful than a woman or girl who can stand confidently in her own truth, live her own voice out loud, and realize her fullest potential. For some, that may take the form of pursuing one’s education, fulfilling a career ambition or investing full time in her family. For others, it may mean having the courage to speak up for what is right and true when others would rather stay silent, or learning to thrive through adversity, no matter what life throws your way.

Committed to advancing opportunities form women and girls at both the global and level, in 2013 I founded the Global Girls Project — an educational and collaborative writing project focused on women and girls’ empowerment, viewed through the lens of heart-aligned leadership. In addition to online interviews, insights and stories, I also lead presentations, workshops and creative initiatives, all designed to teach the 16 core principles of empowerment and leadership, upon which the project was founded.

Part of realizing our fullest potential means having an equal opportunity to pursue an education, earn a living wage, be afforded equal access to capital, inheritance and ownership, and an equal say in our family lives and finances. In this context, I previously served as communications and knowledge management consultant to UN Women’s EmpowerWomen.org HQ team, a former UN Women Global Community Champion for women’s economic empowerment and Co-Architect of EmpowerWomen.org’s #iamwoman campaign — a global advocacy campaign highlighting stories of economically empowered women around the world as well as the men who have benefited from a strong, empowered woman in their life. This one year campaign, which officially came to a close on February 8th, 2016, resulted in over 300 stories contributed from 83 countries. To commemorate this campaign and highlight the importance of women’s economic empowerment, we produced the book, Voices of Change, available for download or for future purchase via the UN bookstore in NYC and Geneva.

Committed to social justice and serving the needs of my own local community, I also serve on the board of the Foundation for Girls, a NC-based organization focused on engaging, nurturing, educating and empowering underprivileged girls and women in the Charlotte area, including survivors of human trafficking, foster care inequities, drug abuse, and homelessness. As part of my commitment to giving back and leading change for those less fortunate, a portion of proceeds from my new book, Walking the Heart Path, is being donated to the Foundation. Additionally, as part of a joint collaboration, in June 2017 we launched the Leading from the Inside Out leadership program, offered to non-profit organizations served by the Foundation for Girls.

An active advocate for authentic leadership, I’m pleased to partner with KPMG LLP and CREW Charlotte in co-creating and facilitating our inaugural women’s leadership program in 2017, modeled after Martha Mayhood Mertz’s ATHENA model.

To learn more about these initiatives and how you can get involved, click on the links or logos below.