About

a little about me…

Hi, my name is Mel. I am a lyricist, poet, singer, and life-long researcher of adversity and intersectional identities. A life-long experimentalist looking to find methods and variables to turn challenges into channels for growth. Many experiments I have failed. Yet I am still here, trying out new ways, drawing inspiration from others who have lived through life’s challenges and have not lost hope. We are interconnected, whether we are conscious or accepting of it or not.

Without the dark corners, there would not be a flicker of the sun, visibly dancing and doing so vigorously, defiant and hopeful. I have tried my whole life through creativity, through advocacy , and through my own kind of faith to turn growing pains, well, into glowingpains. This site and its pages are an act of a sun ray dancing through those painful corners that need to be turned in life.

If you are here to be immersed in the writings and audio-visual content that is (far from perfect and) informed by lived experience with intersectional identities, then please check out the blog page here, as well as my creative expression page here. I hope these are beneficial to you if you are looking for a space that is relatable, as a person with minoritized identities. Or, perhaps you are looking to learn as an ally, and as an inclusive leader. And if you just need to feel through the myriad of things life can throw at us, perhaps some of my words on these pages can be a source of comfort, motivation, and hope. I would love to hear from you if this has helped you in any way.

a little about what i do…

In my work, I focus a lot on Social Mindfulness and Interconnectedness to help shed light on often neglected experiences. The power of a sense of belonging is undeniable in social relations, no matter what kind (e.g., employment contexts, educational spaces, and other community spaces). With my expertise in interpersonal and group dynamics, I brings the awareness and tools for improved social and relational conditions. My work is enriched by my own intersectional identities, which is why I take an intersectional approach as I focus on our interconnectedness.

I am very passionate about creative expression and have not only benefitted from the creative arts through adverse times, but I also like to employ arts-based and creative methods in my work as a researcher, consultant, and educator.

if you want to work together…

For those of you who are interested in collaborating through research and advocacy or are interested in work engagements, read on. My official title is Applied Social Psychologist (PhD) with expertise in Qualitative and Quantitative Research, as well as in Equity & Inclusion & Anti-bias work. I focus on immigrant and LGBTQ+ rights, gender justice, dehumanization & speciesism. I use the ‘traditional’ methods (with the word traditional being relative here), but as I am also very much a creative individual, I do employ Arts-Based Methods. There is much power in creative methods to gain/collect data and/or to communicate the insights gained through research to your audiences.

I have over a decade of social science research practice behind me, in addition to overseeing research teams and projects, focused on helping organizations build better initiatives, programs, processes and policies. I have expertise in evaluation and policy work, as well as DEI Consulting and leadership training. See here for samples of my research, policy and advocacy work over the years.

If you are looking for someone who combines expertise in research with creativity and lived experience with intersectional identities, you have come to the right place.

Let’s Collaborate.