“More people read Cosmo than the American Journal of Sociology.”

At 23, I entered a Ph.D. program. I aced my quantitative sociology courses covering statistics, data, and multivariate analysis. Selected by the department’s chair to teach my peers by leading a stats lab, I’ve loved math since at least as early as my membership in my high school’s Math Club. I had a blast — and especially loved researching sex and gender — though I remember telling one of my professors, “More people read Cosmo than the American Journal of Sociology.”

By 25, I’d earned my Master’s degree and later published research. Yet, I put off the Ph.D. I was in my 20s. I wanted to: gain practical, real-world life experience; travel the world; and learn languages. (I did all of that.) Plus, I believed in creating a more just world. I didn’t believe the impetus for such change resided exclusively in the Ivory Tower. In fact, the racism I experienced while attending grad school in the U.S. showed me academia certainly has its own problems related to social change.

Life happened, as life does. I’m grateful for life’s many lessons.

At this point, I’ve spent 21 years measuring, reporting on, and communicating in ways that help people thrive.

On a micro level, I do this spreading positive sexual health information to individuals and communities that need it. (Really, we all do.) On a macro level, my team and I do this at my firm, FUNKY BROWN CHICK, Inc.

We help leaders, businesses, NGOs, and nonprofits to translate their work into stories that move donors, funders, policymakers, and the public. When it comes to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) sustainability, we’re firmly on the “S” side: reproductive justice, racial justice, immigration rights, community engagement, health access, and more.

Across combined client budgets of $655 million, we deploy interventions across nine areas of social impact aligned with the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Data without stories doesn’t move people. Stories without data don’t move capital. So, my firm also helps clients stretch their capacity by implementing data infrastructure, impact measurement frameworks, training programs, graphic design, and communications strategy.

I’m American. Based in Europe. Working across the US and EU. I speak Dutch and Portuguese. A more just, joyful, and interconnected world? I’m not waiting for it. I’m building it. Get in touch to build with me.