Credentials

Education

MASTER OF ARTS IN ENGLISH 
Bowie State University, 9 credits completed, 2019

MASTER OF ARTS IN CLINICAL MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING 
Trinity Washington University, 12 credits completed, 2012

BACHELOR OF ARTS IN HUMANITIES AND ENGLISH 
University of Maryland Global Campus (formerly University of Maryland University College), May 2010

LITERARY AND MEDIA ARTS DIPLOMA IN LITERARY AND MEDIA ARTS 
Duke Ellington School of the Arts, June 1994

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Awards & Honors

2024 – 2026 Lighthouse Writers Workshop – Book Project Fellowship (Fiction)

Aug 2024 – Sept 2026 (Fellow) | Lighthouse Writers Workshop
The Book Project is an intensive, two-year program aimed at giving writers of book-length manuscripts the classes, advice, and moral support they need to draft, revise, and—most importantly—finish. Intensives, retreats, and classes with fellow Book Project participants provide a supportive, encouraging community to thrive in. As of 2024, The Lighthouse Book Project has seen 19 book project book deals with major publishers. Several nonfiction books, novels, short story and essay collections, and more have come out–some best sellers and award winners.  

2023 Hurston/Wright Writers Week Workshop Fellow (Fiction)

July 2023 (Scholarship Recipient) | Hurston/Wright Foundation
The competitive Hurston/Wright’s Writers Week Workshop Retreat offers selected fellows with 10+ hours of writing seminars and discussions; one-on-one time with an award-winning instructor; constructive, guided feedback on writing from peers and workshop leader; and access to virtual and in-person panel presentations from publishing industry insiders and veteran authors.   

2023 Tin House Summer Workshop (Fiction) Alumna

July 2023 | Tin House
The prestigious Tin House Summer Workshop is a weeklong intensive that consists of curated workshops with limited participants (eight to ten per class), one-on-one meetings with faculty and agents, craft lectures, author conversations, generative exercises, and readings.

2023 Maryland State Arts Council (MSAC) Professional Development Opportunity Grant

June 2023 | Maryland State Arts Council
Approved for funding on June 5, 2023 to cover costs associated with attendance at the 2023 Tin House Summer Workshop. The MSAC Professional Development Opportunity Grant program encourages and supports relevant professional development opportunities for artists and arts organizations throughout Maryland.

2023 Diaspora DC Writers Retreat Fellow (Poetry)

April 2023 | Day Eight & Washington DC Mayor’s Office of Latino Affairs
A capacity-building retreat for DC area poets focused on utilizing culture, ancestral memory, family traditions, secrets, customs, language, and heritage to honor those who came before us. Who we are and what we write in this workshop are intended to thank and honor the Ancestors for their gifts to us and share them with others.

Jeffrey Banks and Maritza Rivera, editors of the poetry anthology Diaspora Café: D.C., are faculty directors for the retreat, joined by keynote E. Ethelbert Miller.

2022 Paris Cafe Writers Workshop (Fiction)

May 2022 | Paris Cafe Writing with Patricia Tennison
A week-long, small-group workshop filled with positive morning sessions that are filled with lively conversations, techniques, and writing prompts designed to get you writing more—and even better—each day. The venues for the sessions (Parisian cafes) and the destination of the workshop (Le Marais, Paris) provide a bounty of rich resources to inspire and support creative work.

2021 Seatrade Cruise Global Award Finalist for Diversity & Inclusion

One of three finalists for the Diversity & Inclusion Award. This Award recognizes an individual or organization that has demonstrated a particular commitment to achieving equality, diversity, and inclusion in a business environment either onboard or ashore. Supporting evidence should be provided to illustrate a commitment to a diverse culture.

2020 The Most Innovative People In Cruise Travel – Issued by Travel Agent Central

“Our annual ‘Innovators in Cruise’ cover story typically recognizes cruise industry leaders and key team members who’ve soared in developing over-the-top innovation to make the passenger’s cruise experience extraordinary. But nothing about 2020 was typical, so we’ve adapted this year’s approach. Instead, here’s a narrative of how the cruising year unfolded, highlights — good and bad — in the journey back to sailing, and just a few call-outs (not our usual longer list) for ‘Innovation Achievers,’ examples of those people who excelled in a nonconventional year.”

“Another 2020 “Innovation Achiever” was CLIA’s Stephani McDow, senior director of professional development and trade programs; she did much to pivot and innovate to help agents meet their CLIA certification requirements during the pandemic including adding new virtual ship inspections and virtual certificates programs. She also founded and now leads the new internal CLIA COURSE (Charter on Unified Racial and Social Equity), bringing 16 CLIA global regions together to learn about diversity, equity, and inclusion.”

2012 Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) Greisbach Awards Contest Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA)

My client, HMSHost, secured 11 of 38 awards based solely on the copy I’d written and 17 applications of their concessions that I submitted on their behalf to the 2012 Airports Council International-North America (ACI-NA) Greisbach Awards Contest. Airports and corporations submitted 180 concessions and products to the ACI-NA to win one of 38 awards.

2011 Certificate of Recognition for Contributions and Dedication to Building Up the Community 

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, Baltimore City