I’m a writer, storyteller, cultural strategist, accessibility advocate, and proud fangirl. I’ve spent my career exploring the intersections of culture, creativity, disability, and identity, with a particular interest in amplifying disabled and neurodivergent voices that are too often sidelined.

My work spans zines, essays, music, cultural criticism, podcasts, and communications, all threaded together by a love for first-person stories, pop culture, and DIY philosophy.

Journalism and Narrative Change

I started my career as an editor at the award-winning Clamor Magazine, where I edited personal essays and interviews. I have been a regular contributor to the groundbreaking media outlet Bitch Media and featured in their anthology BitchFest: Ten Years of Cultural Criticism from Bitch Magazine, and a frequent contributor to Chicago alternative newspaper NewCity as a music reviewer, columnist, and interim editor.

I co-founded and published The Learned Fangirl from 2008 to 2020, a frequently cited website that spotlighted voices in fandom, technology, and online culture, and was nominated for 2020 IGNYTE Ember Award for unsung contributions to genre. My other writing and essays have appeared in The Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Reader, Uncanny Magazine, Prism, Time Out, and Paste.

I’ve worked for JSTOR Daily, Citizen Engagement Lab, and other organizations, and I currently serve as Program Director at Disability Culture Lab, where I run the Disability Rising Fellowship Program, which supports media opportunities for disabled leaders.

DIY Publishing and Expressive Writing

I’m the founder and publisher of Wild Ramp Publishing, an independent micro-press dedicated to disability justice, DIY publishing, and experimental storytelling. Through Wild Ramp, I publish original zines and chapbooks while supporting other creators through disability-focused microgrants, community publishing initiatives, and collaborative projects. I believe that zines are accessible, affordable tools for self-expression, community building, and documenting histories that traditional publishing often overlooks.

Much of my current creative work centers on expressive writing as a practice of healing, self-discovery, and social change. I’m developing workshops that combine reflective writing and personal storytelling with zine-making, inviting participants to move beyond polished narratives and instead embrace process, experimentation, and truth-telling. I’m particularly interested in the ways writing can reconnect people with their brains and bodies, challenge internalized narratives, and transform isolation into collective care.

Credentials and Leadership

Over the course of my 20-plus years in communications, journalism, and digital media, I’ve built a recognized body of work at the crossroads of culture, accessibility, pop culture, and narrative strategy, with a deep commitment to disabled and neurodivergent audiences. I’m a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC) through the International Association of Accessibility Professionals.

I’ve held significant fellowships and leadership roles, including as a 2024 Emerge Fellow at the Longmore Institute on Disability; a 2020 Leadership Institute Fellow with Disability Lead; a member of the 2021 Borealis Philanthropy Disability Inclusion Fund Grantmaking Committee; and a member of the Fulbright Specialist Roster from 2023–2026. I was also named one of Crain’s Chicago Business’s “Notable Black Leaders” for 2024.

I’ve shared insights at conferences like the Experience Music Project Pop Conference and MIT’s Media in Transition, and have been interviewed on Chicago Public Radio, WGN Radio, and KPCC in Southern California.

I’m here to help creatives tell their stories and ensure that every kind of voice gets its chance to be heard.