I am an urbanist, executive leader, and author, working at the intersection of economic development and emerging technology. My career has earned national recognition for building solutions to inclusive growth, innovation, and workforce challenges. Based in New York City, I am the founder and managing principal of Urban Reinvention Strategies LLC, an action-oriented consultancy serving public, private, and social sector clients.

In 2020, I founded Tulsa Innovation Labs, an organization deploying more than $200 million in capital to grow northeast Oklahoma’s tech economy. Tulsa Innovation Labs won both the Build Back Better Regional Challenge and Tech Hubs grants from the U.S. Department of Commerce (one of only two cities nationwide to win both). Previously, I launched Cyber NYC at the New York City Economic Development Corporation, a $30 million investment The New York Times called “among the nation’s most ambitious cybersecurity initiatives.” And, earlier in my career at the Urban Land Institute, I built a national resilience program for cities combatting climate change.

Born in a working-class New Orleans family and raised by a single mom, I completed my undergraduate studies at Northwestern University and, as a Sage Fellow, earned a master’s degree in African American studies from Cornell University. Drawing upon urban planning, critical race studies, and public policy, my graduate research investigated post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans revitalization efforts. More recently, I completed executive leadership training at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.

My writing has appeared in Wired, Fortune, HuffPost, Newsweek, Fast Company, and Stanford Social Innovation Review, among other outlets. I have appeared at conferences around the world, including South by Southwest, CyberTech-Tel Aviv, MIT Solve’s U.S. Equity Summit, Fast Company Innovation Festival, Stanford’s Nonprofit Management Institute, and Jobs for the Future’s Horizons conference.

In 2025, HarperCollins published my book Reinventing the Heartland, a guide for building inclusive innovation economies across America.