ON STAYING CREATIVE AND HAVING FUN

I found the four things that I love to do and found a purpose for them. And, they pay me. It doesn’t look like a typical nine-to-five I work with people to identify gaps and provide opportunities, and often that means that I step in to provide the experience so that the conversations that matter can happen My talent is my voice It’s my job to bring energy to the room Real connection occurs when people are having fun We need to have fun, even when it’s something serious like hosting Controversy/History at the Valentine Museum* and even when the topics are heinous, like the racism in Richmond.

We have to have energetic conversations that are open and human-focused Education with energy evolves things

I want to continue to lift people up and then get out of the way I know I stand on the shoulders of Mother Maggie ** You don’t have to remind me of that We are living and creating because of what she started She fought harder battles than what we have to fight now As she and others fought, they knew their legacy work would be carried on They passed their torches to the generation before us who then passed them to us And we will continue to pass them on I want the next generations to keep creating access and connections I can’t wait to see who opens up the next space

*Controversy/History is a series of conversations exploring the challenges that face our region from the perspectives of speakers and guests, and together we discuss a way forward as a community

**Entrepreneur and educator Maggie Lena Walker (July 15, 1864 – December 15, 1934) transformed Black business practices and gained national prominence as the first woman to own a bank in the United States She lived, worked, wrote, published, and led transformative change in the Jackson Ward neighborhood of Richmond.