About

The UpThink Narrative Initiative is a research-forward, narrative change platform dedicated to reshaping how institutions understand and communicate the historical roots and present-day realities of racialized capitalism.

I’m a doctoral researcher at the University of Southern California and award-winning long-form journalist who engages think tanks, scholars, and research institutions to translate complex systemic research into accessible public scholarship. Through historically grounded narrative work, we explore how race, finance, labor, and memory are inextricably linked.

Through collaborative scholarly storytelling, we explore how race, finance, labor, and memory are inextricably linked—and how reshaping the stories we tell about them can reframe what's possible.

I’m not merely labor. I consult as a narrative change strategist and public scholar, working at the intersection of research and structural critique.

I engage with institutions seeking more than content—those ready for narrative synthesis, story-led research translation, and systems-level narrative transformation.

Clients commission me for long form narrative development, embedded research roles, and public scholarship initiatives within aligned organizations.

I hail from an American resistance lineage that dates back to the 18th century. It's defined by fortitude during times of oppression and a steadfast commitment to progress. I bring a combination of skills and experience shaped by my lived experience that make me rare among narrative scholars. That includes:

• 25+ years of award-winning financial journalism
• Advanced doctoral research exploring the historical narratives that have shaped anti-Black exclusion in modern U.S. finance
• Expertise in corporate and institutional narrative strategy, focused on systemic interrogation, not branding
• A family legacy of truth-telling, cultural preservation, and resistance to economic erasure, informing the heart of my narrative lens

This rare convergence of personal legacy, professional excellence, and rigorous scholarly inquiry positions me to lead a different kind of narrative scholarship—one rooted in ancestral truth and aimed at shifting institutional systems, not simply describing them.

For generations, dominant institutions have shaped narratives that obscure or erase the systemic forces that disenfranchise Black families and communities.

These aren't just false stories—they are policy scaffolds.

They are economic blueprints.

And they are institutional memory.

Through The UpThink Narrative Initiative, I contribute to revising these memory systems.

The goal is not to "educate the public" or "inform stakeholders" in the traditional sense. It's to engage with those already committed to the work of equity in the financial sector to bring narrative coherence to their findings, insights, and evidence.

The UpThink Narrative Initiative exists for those who understand narrative as infrastructure—not ornament. I engage with organizations and scholars examining systemic power, advancing counternarratives and reshaping institutional memory, or surfacing research that illuminates the racialized architecture of modern finance.

I welcome opportunities to work with:

• Researchers at economic justice-focused think tanks
• Interdisciplinary scholars exploring systemic inequity
• Foundations and research-backed funders documenting racialized outcomes
• Historical memory initiatives, public scholarship programs, and cultural institutions
• Scholarship-focused publishers and media that emphasize narrative transformation as a means of racial restitution

These engagements are rooted in intellectual alignment, critical inquiry, and a shared investment in reshaping how financial institutions reckon with the past and reimagine the future.

• Narrative essays that reframe research into readable, story-rich public pieces
• Collaborative storytelling projects translating field data or archival material
• Multi-part narrative-driven thought leadership campaigns drawn from institutional research
• Visiting writer, narrative fellow, or embedded scholar roles in aligned institutions

Each commissioned engagement translates scholarship into narratives that challenge dominant frameworks, support institutional accountability, and build narrative power in historically resistant systems.

If you’re looking to move rigorous scholarly research into accessible, equity-centered narrative form, build ethical storytelling capacity within your institution, or commission scholarly writing grounded in historical truth, I invite you to reach out.