In this 1 hour presentation, I will be reflecting on the past 2 years that I have spent working as a Public Affairs Specialist and Federal Fellow for the Roger Arliner Young (RAY) Fellowship. I have been honored to carry on the legacy of Dr.Young, the first African-American woman in the United States to recieve a doctorate degree in zoology, as a member of the 7th RAY Fellowship Cohort.
I will use this presentation to explore the ways I grew as a person, developed professionally as a public servant with a federal conservation agency, and to share some of what I learned.
Themes of environmental justice, poetry, and art will be featured within my presentation and I will facilitate this exploration through the artistic framework of "Hope-craft", a concept I created to explore how people can generate self-empowerment, hope for the future, and resilience through creativity and expression.