Biography

Valerie is a student success facilitator and course coordinator at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst Center for Multicultural Advancement. She is a fledgling leader who from an early age noticed the dissonance between classes, races and regions. This observation inspired Valerie to study the impact of racism on birth outcomes and to develop an intervention program designed to improve the birth outcomes of African-American women through racial healing. Valerie is devoted to building understanding across social identities and differences and giving communities the time and space to heal and to recognize different forms of oppression. She is also devoted to a continual pursuit of self-awareness and the way the same forms of oppression impact her.