I am a queer, first generation Afro-Dominicana from Washington Heights, New York. I completed a B.A. in History from Baruch College (CUNY), a Master of Science in Social Studies Education from Pace University, and a Master of Arts and a Ph.D. in Latin American and Caribbean History from The State University of New York at Binghamton.

My research on gender and public health in the Dominican Republic led me to become involved in the contemporary global movements for reproductive justice. In my dissertation, “Zones of Scandal”: Gender, Public Health, and Social Hygiene in the Dominican Republic, 1916-1961,” I argue that debates and discourses (especially around prostitution, abortion, and motherhood) surrounding the behaviors and bodies of women throughout the early and mid-twentieth century (from the first U.S. Occupation until the end of the Trujillo dictatorship) were central to state building and modernization efforts in the Dominican Republic.

I am the founder and director of The Abortion Diary, the only audio archive of abortion stories and provider stories. My own abortion story and the deep impact sharing it (13 years later) had on me, my family, friends, and complete strangers inspired me to create The Abortion Diary in the summer of 2013. Since beginning the project, I have travelled to 27 states across the United States, over 10 European cities, Canada, The Dominican Republic, and Thailand to listen to and record over 300 people share their reproductive experiences. These experiences are quite diverse across geographic location (36 U.S. states and 21 countries), socioeconomic background, age (18-85.5), ethnicity, race, religion, and gender, and span from the late 1950s to 2019. This public oral history project is at the crossroads of digital humanities, historical knowledge, transmedia storytelling, and reproductive justice advocacy, activism, and organizing. I am also curated a traveling multimedia exhibit, “ar·ti·facts: abortion stories and histories,” that gives voice to these often silenced experiences through audio stories, images, and objects— ar·ti·facts gathered by me over the past twelve years for The Abortion Diary. This project is democratizing history by providing new opportunities for community members and academics to access histories of reproductive experiences and interact with the people who are sharing them.

Currently, I am also the Senior Associate of Research and Education at State Innovation Exchange (SiX), where I contribute to advancing transformative public policy by supporting  state legislators nationwide in championing progressive, evidenced-based policies through consistent integration of scientific research expertise. Prior to joining SiX, I was the Director of Research and Partnerships at Choix Telehealth Clinic, and a special projects consultant at Plan C Pills, a public health campaign that normalizes the self-directed option of abortion pills by mail.

I also worked as a researcher and senior project manager on Project SANA (Self-managed Abortion Needs Assessment), an interdisciplinary research group at The University of Texas at Austin that researches self-managed abortion in the United States. During my 4 years on the Project SANA research team I primarily worked as a social science and public health researcher relying heavily on the qualitative: listening to people share their experiences in order to improve systems, bust stigma, inform public conversation, foster understanding, influence public perception and policy change, and advance access and inclusion across the spectrum of reproductive healthcare. At Project SANA I interviewed people who used an online abortion telemedicine service to self-manage their abortions as well as abortion providers at clinics throughout the country that partnered with us in fielding a survey of approximately 20,000 people for the research study.

I am also Society of Family Planning 2019 Changemakers in Family Planning Awardee and the former board chair (2020-2024) of inroads (the International Network for the Reduction of Abortion Discrimination and Stigma). I was also the 2015-2016 Laura C. Harris Fellow in the Women’s and Gender Studies Program at Denison University, where she taught classes in Latinx Studies and Reproductive Justice.

In my free time, I care for my bees and bunnies, play (lots of) mahjong, enjoy hiking, collecting physical media, listen to records and cds, watch horror and sci-fi movies and series, and read science fiction.