Communication Work
I am passionate about how we can communicate better. Our success in everything we do is dependent on the quality of our communication, and good communication includes how we listen to others. In my professional communication practice, Mermaid Enterprises Group, I actively create the space for others to speak their truth and be heard. Whether it’s during a business meeting, a discussion at home between family members, translation services and self-advocacy, or during public conflict - the needs are the same: everyone wants and deserves to be heard and understood, and when we can do that for one another, everyone benefits.
I have spent years mentoring staff, managing communication crisis, and coaching leaders of organizations around best practices. I am passionate about this work, just as I am passionate about my creative work and linguistic work - I have found that one informs the other.
Writing and Research Projects
Displaced - An Ethnography of Language and Identity Loss
MA Thesis - Applied Linguistics, Portland State University
Reimagining Applied Linguistics Through a Southern Lens: An Un-booking Approach - A collaborative writing project in conjunction with Pennsylvania State University, Portland State University, and internationally-based researchers, community members and scholars
Co-presenter, AAAL, Houston TX 2024
The Serbia Project - A book project based on my MA Thesis: an autobiographical journey around language and identity loss - in process
Podcast! The Apprentice Dialogues Podcast and Project with Michelle Arendt - dropping episodes Spring 2025
Publications
Displaced: An Ethnography of Language and Identity Loss
Portland State University, 2025
Researcher and Co-author, Language Use in Somalia: Research Report - How Can We Speak the Truth if They Can’t Understand Us?
Read the Clear Global report HERE
Clear Global and Portland State University, 2023
Co-author, Sex, Happiness, and other Stories: People talk about finding joy in their relationships
Interviews and reflections with Rodrigo Baena, 2014
Awards, Recognitions & Presentations
Presenter, Portland State University 2024 Student Research Symposium, May 2024
Colloquium Co-presenter, Southernizing Applied Linguistics, American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL), Houston TX, March 2024
Recipient, James R. Nattinger Scholarship, Portland State University, Department of Applied Linguistics, 2023-2024