About Me

My enthusiasm for all-things-culture began in the farmlands of Wisconsin, USA in households of both migrant Dutch and Jamaican families. As a child growing up in a largely homogenous community, my unique background stuck out. Thus, the topics of belonging and cross-cultural understanding became important to me at an early age.

I enjoyed exploring histories, myths, traditions, and stories that shaped cultures similarly and differently across space and time - whether that was filling my sketchbook with Greek mythological creatures, reading all 700 pages of Alex Haley's Roots for a 4th grade book report, or dressing up and dancing in traditional Dutch clothes at every summer cultural festival (yes, including the wooden shoes).

However, those formative experiences also heightened my ability to bring different worlds together. I launched at an early age as a global pattern-finder with a service mindset. Some of those adventures took me to:

-volunteer community development projects in Mexico,

-island hopping with my family throughout the Caribbean in search of a new family home

-an independent research project gathering oral children's stories in Rwanda,

-a community development certificate in Uganda,

-living abroad, counseling university students in East Africa,

-art and architectural exploration throughout Italy,

-an orchestral study abroad tour throughout Japan,

-consultation for a counseling center in South Korea,

-collaborative research of adolescent mental health in Thailand,

-remotely supporting Syrian refugee students in Turkey,

-supporting and promoting Latin and Caribbean businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area during COVID-19

As you can see, the way in which I've explored has been quite diverse. However, the goal has always been the same: finding the unifying principles that bring diverse perspectives together. I'm interested in helping you do the same on your next 'venture.