ABOUt aLI (she/Her)

MY STORY: educational liberation, community-building, contemplative practice, social justice, joy, and using it all


"Remember to imagine and craft the worlds you cannot live without, just as you dismantle the ones you cannot live within.”

~ Dr. Ruha Benjamin            

In my 13 years as a white, cisgender student attending predominantly BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) District of Columbia public schools, I witnessed educational inequality and the cradle-to-prison pipeline on a daily basis. These experiences, and the fierce compassion, heartbreak, and anger that accompanied them, ultimately led to my decision to become an educator.

After graduating from college and working in Ghana, I started teaching high school English as a New Language (ENL) and literacy in the Brooklyn public school system. As an empath who was on a first-name basis with anxiety and struggled to feel at home in my own head, heart, and body, teaching woke me up to the realization that I was going to burn out if nothing changed. I was already seeing a therapist, and a veteran teacher suggested that I develop a mindfulness meditation practice: “Dive in the deep end! It doesn’t matter that you’ve barely meditated! Go on a silent retreat and you’ll come out with a meditation practice!” Desperate, I took his advice, and in the middle of my first of what would become many meditation retreats, clarity arose: “This is the toolkit and way of being that I’ve been longing for.” As I began to engage in embodied awareness and compassion cultivation meditation practices each day, my relationship to my own internal world and to being human with other humans shifted significantly: What would it feel like to view fear as a messenger rather than the captain of my internal ship, and to live as wholeheartedly as possible, grounded in moment-by-moment invitations to embody presence, compassion, connection, and a flexible, responsive stability?

Embodied mindful awareness practice also offered a compassionate “radical honesty” toolkit for identifying and questioning the biases I would unexpectedly witness within myself: the “smog” of -isms I had breathed in throughout my life. This radical honesty began to soften internal barriers to loving, productive connection so that I could partner with students and colleagues in more generative, anti-oppressive, and equitable ways.

In addition to the positive effects on my personal and professional relationships, embodied mindful awareness practice became essential to stress reduction, burnout prevention, and self-awareness in my day-to-day life. I quickly became passionate about sharing the benefits of trauma-informed mindfulness and mindfulness-based practices with students, colleagues, and parents.

I was also lucky enough to receive excellent instructional coaching from experienced NYC educators. As a result of their coaching, in conjunction with intensive training in mindfulness practice and mindset theory, my niche became successfully partnering with students who were having difficulty succeeding on the New York State English graduation exam. While working as a literacy teacher, I also founded a successful high school mindfulness program. Seeking to pay forward the coaching support I had received, I moved into coaching principals, teachers, and parents.

I now support people of all backgrounds, especially school community members, in skillfully and compassionately navigating their inner worlds, relationships, and daily lives. I incorporate an ever-evolving combination of practices and tools, with an emphasis on restorative practices, mindfulness, nonviolent communication, antiracist and culturally responsive pedagogy, and laughter. Whenever possible, I co-facilitate with Dr. Rehema Kutua and other beloved, inspiring colleagues.

QUALIFICATIONS

  • Human Development and Learning PhD program

  • Ongoing training in trauma-sensitive mindfulness instruction (Thank you, David Treleaven!)

  • University of Massachusetts Medical School Center for Mindfulness, qualified Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher

  • Mindful Schools, Certification Program in Mindfulness Education, certified Mindful Schools Instructor

  • International Institute for Restorative Practices, trained in Restorative Practices

  • Fordham University, M.A., Teaching

  • Harvard University, B.A., Sociology

SELECTED PAST EXPERIENCE

  • Summer 2016 faculty at Columbia Teachers' College Summer Principals Academy: "Self-awareness and Mindfulness Training for School Leaders: Leading from the Inside Out"

  • Founder and director of the Mindfulness Program at Williamsburg Preparatory High School in Brooklyn, NY

  • Founder and facilitator of the Williamsburg Prep Mindfulness group for educators, an after-school stress reduction group

  • Designer and facilitator of mindfulness classes for educational and nonprofit organizations, such as:

    • The Collegebound Initiative: workshop for New York City public school college counselors

    • The Jamaica Youth Justice Coalition: workshop for social workers and juvenile justice professionals assisting court-involved youth in Queens, NY

    • The Avodah Fellowship: workshop for social service professionals working in antipoverty organizations throughout New York City

    • Phillips Academy Andover: workshops for high school students, staff, and faculty

    • School for Democracy and Leadership, Brooklyn, NY: training for school staff

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS & PROFILES

SELECTED HONORS

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