Rona is really cramping everyones style. I thought by August this would be cleared up so I could live my best life for my birthday but here we are. Us Leos are NOT OKAY!!!! Instead, I've planned a wonderful event to celebrate and uplift Black excellence! Check out all the dope people I have lined up for you all and don't forget to RSVP here.
Meet the Contributors:
Brianna Elum (she/her/hers) was born and raised in Detroit, MI. She is passionate about creating and holding space for womxn as they focus on healing, liberation, and self-love. During her time in higher education, she has created and implemented programs that focus on intersectional feminism for Women Living Learning Communities. She currently serves as a Residence Coordinator at Flordia State University. She has been working through traumas that have affected her physically, emotionally, professionally, physiologically, and spiritually. A major aspect of my healing has been working with her therapist to heal the wounds from her inner child. By sharing her journey, she has inspired others to start their healing process towards a sound mind, body, and soul!
Tyra Kaymore (she/her/hers) was born on a marine base in North Carolina and was raised in Detroit, MI. She is passionate about vulnerability and have been actively working to live my life openly. I have witnessed firsthand how lack of forgiveness and shame effect creating healthy relationships and hinder goals as well as self-image. My journey has been ongoing; filled with reflection, having tough conversations, and facing trauma head-on. This has been a courageous journey, challenging me to push the barriers and uncover the truth. By sharing my journey, I encourage others to be honest about their feelings and find the courage to explore the deepest parts of their being.
Instagram- @flouriish.llc Website- Flouriish
Aliyah Wooten is a graduate of William and Mary with a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and a Master’s degree in Business Analytics. She currently works for a premier financial institution in finance technology. Aliyah is interested in giving back to her community, mentoring, and increasing her financial knowledge. She hopes to use House of A Financial to empower young African American women and start conversations about finance that she wishes to have had earlier. In her free time, she loves binge watching A Different World and Living Single with a nice glass of red wine.
House of A serves African American women in the age range of 18 to 30, as this is a formative period of time, defining habits and placing the integral building blocks of their financial legacy. We want to assist women at a pivotal transition into their budding careers, promoting positive habits to equalize the playing field for young African American women, rewriting their generational narrative.
Instagram- @houseofafinancial Facebook- @houseofafinancial
Lets Heal is a mental health literacy program that was started by Marissa Disla & Keith Rogers on July 21, 2019. Since then they have hosted 6 events educating and creating a safe space for people who are interested in expanding and learning more about their mental health. The mission is to restore community through conversations that educates and create a safe space for your mental health.
Instagram- @letshealmh
Dr. Courtney Allen is a native New Yorker and has over 14 years of experience in Higher Education within Student Affairs. She worked for organizations such as: Rowan University, Widener University, Clemson University, and DC Government. She is currently the Director of Housing & Residence Life at Notre Dame of Maryland University in Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. Allen earned her Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Clemson University. Her research interests focus on: The Impact of Sister Circles on the retention and experiences of Black Womyn Collegians to develop, succeed and persist at a Predominately White Institutions (PWIs). Additionally, she also researches the experiences of graduate students of color at PWIs. She is the Founder and CEO of EDU Diversity Consulting LLC, which provides services in the following areas: Sister Circle Program Development for Educational Organizations, Doctoral Student Coaching, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Workshop/Training.
Instagram- @dressence_of_court1922
Tamra Newton is a Higher Ed professional by day and a Vegan Enthusiast and Toxic Free warrior by night. She has spent the last year of her post grad career researching and rethinking what it means to holistically healthy. In January 28, 2020, she made the change over to veganism after she realized how much her diet was impacting her health. On July 14, 2020 Tamra launched The Black Amateur Vegan in an effort to document her journey of Vegan and Toxic Free living and educate African Americans about the impacts of the food industry on their health. Her hope is break generational curses one vegetable at a time!
Instagram- @theblackamateurvegan
Taylor is a spiritual counselor and counseling psychology PhD student. She is a therapist in training and her research focuses on the mental and spiritual well-being of Black people in America. She received her M.Div. prior to beginning her current doctoral studies. Her content seeks to inspire individuals to engage in their own mental and spiritual healing journeys.
Instagram- @taylortalkshealing
Chris Venant is a 23 year old, business mogul from the outskirts of NYC. He graduated from SUNY Cortland with a degree in business economics. From building his brand as a DJ (known to some as Spotlight) hosting events, interning at HOT97, to now running several businesses and handling investments as a Financial Advisor, in Midtown NY, he continues to push education, optimism and action toward his peers.
Instagram- @theindustryadvisor @spotlight.cv
Chiedozie 'Dozie' Osondu a Nigerian American, born 1991 in Queens, New York. Co-owner of both A Tee Shop and the Fine Wine Series. A Tee Shop is an online custom apparel/merch shop where we help businesses, brands, and individuals print custom merchandise and clothing. Part of what we do at A Tee Shop is promote creativity by using a portion of our profits to buy art supplies for students in Africa who may not be able to afford it. Fine Wine Series on the other hand is an event series created to cater to young black professionals. This event was created to add some flavor to the typical wine tasting and create a safe space, where people could come together to drink and learn about wine while socializing and having fun with other like minded individuals.
Instagram- @a_teeshop @thefinewineseries Twitter- @finewineseries
LaLisha Hurt, CISA, CGEIT, CRISC currently serves as the Deputy Chief Information Security Officer for General Dynamics IT (GDIT), a $10B company focused on strategy, technology and mission services. In her role, she is responsible for managing cyber operations, engineering and intelligence shared services for internal and external customers across federal, state and local government agencies to protect the nations most critical data and infrastructure. Prior to joining GDIT, LaLisha served in various IT risk management, IT governance and cyber security leadership roles at companies such as Ernst & Young, LLC, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and General Electric. Cyber wonder warrior by profession and systems engineer by academia, LaLisha has her Bachelors of Science engineering degree from the University of Virginia, a MBA from the University of Baltimore and a Masters in Information Assurance from University of Maryland University College. She also completed Carnegie Mellon’s Chief Information Security Officer Executive Program in 2017. LaLisha has a successful track record of driving organizational change, building high performing team cultures, spearheading cost savings initiatives and has a strong passion for developing a diverse cyber workforce.
In addition to protecting against nation state actors, LaLisha is also the Principal Owner of Homeland Financial Group, LLC (HFG). HFG was founded in 2009 with the mission of connecting underrepresented individuals to their dream home through financial awareness, home renovations and new construction builds. To date, HFG has renovated over a dozen homes for families in central Virginia and has established subdivisions along the Rappahanock River within Virginia. When not working, LaLisha enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, football (Go Ravens!), coloring, decorating, and sipping wine!
Nyckiyah Mulkey received her Bachelor of Science in Public Health at SUNY Old Westbury and my Bachelor of Science in Nursing at University of Rochester. She is currently a Pediatric Registered Nurse in Rochester, NY. I am also the creator of NaeStayTrippin. A brand she started to commemorate her love for traveling and adventure. Her platform is used to inspire young black people to travel and explore both the United States and abroad. She documents her travels and shares how to budget and plan her ventures.
She recently started another business as an umbrella brand called Nae’s Natural Life. She started this company to sell hair oils that she made for myself and close family. She discovered that the oils were yielding great results and decided to start selling them. All products are homemade with 100% natural ingredients. As an effort to stay within the boundaries of her travel business all hair oils and body products are travel friendly.
Instagram- @naestaytrippin @naesnaturallife YouTube- Nae StayTrippin
Karyn Dyer is the Founder, Breathworker and Alignment Coach of AlignmentWork. I would like to bring awareness to breathwork, the mental, emotional, and physical benefits, and how powerful it is for setting intentions for transformational alignment in your life.
Instagram- @alignmentwork
Facebook- AlignmentWork
Twitter- @alignmentwork