What is transformational leadership?

I believe transformational leadership is about building and deepening from the inside out.

What does this mean? Building a safe space that cultivates thriving, while encouraging an inner space for deepening introspection. This is the common thread that weaves through the self, the team, the product, to the organization, all the way to the community at large.

I love building and scaling teams in which each individual feels safe, heard, and seen. I structure an environment where trust and empathy are the cornerstone of communication.

This is the culture of every 1-on-1, check-in, and celebration of wins, as well as losses. With each review, we are intrinsically motivated to be further aligned to our purpose and values. Transformational leadership means a culture of individuals, who are highly engaged, thriving, and transformed.

A unique perspective

At age 11, I moved to Harlem, NY from Trinidad & Tobago and I immediately got involved with HarlemLive (a world-renowned youth journalism organization). In the span of over a decade, I explored being a photographer, designer, engineer, journalist, mentor, and advisor. HarlemLive nurtured me into a leader and an advocate for the voices within my community. Equipped with a press badge, I had the agency to ask questions and a platform to be heard internationally.

Today, I am a community builder and a coach-leader for teams at software technology companies, strategically championing Product Design, User Experience Research, Brand Design, and Design Systems. Most importantly, as a mentor of mine often says, "I am an artist who cares." - JD

Pioneering culture

As co-founder and president of the first parkour/free-running facility on the East Coast, I created a community where all movement practitioners could connect, learn, and grow together in a Brooklyn warehouse.

"They are skateboarders without skateboards, urban acrobats who scale walls, hurdle mailboxes and leap between buildings in stunts that might give Spider-Man pause." - NYTimes

Today, the alumni of BEAST can be seen all over the world, from tech, commercials, tv/film, entertainment, print, advertising and even opening movement facilities of their own, in the US and internationally.

Read NYTimes article

Community-first approach

As a Capoeira teacher and practitioner for over 20 years, I have committed my life to the transformation of systemic racial, economic, social and environmental oppression. This means empowering grassroots leaders and their communities.

Approaching impact in different ways...

• Motivational Monday’s - Weekly sessions to transform “job seekers” in Harlem to “innovative problem solvers” in collaboration with NYC Human Resource Administration led by activist Jeremiah Drake.
• The Franconian - Supporting emerging journalists in Harlem with not-for-profit leader and educator Rich Calton.
• The Movement Creative - Exchanging with the leaders of The Movement Creative to make movement, learning, and play accessible to all.
• Capoeira - Collaborating with martial arts leaders internationally doing local community work.