If you would like to know more about my professional trajectory, here is a link to my personal website:
The Back Story (Project Butterfly's Humble Beginnings)

In 1996, after 17 years away, I returned to Chicago. My time away, spanning from 1979 to 2000, was filled with growth and discovery. I studied at Michigan State University and spent eight years as a flight attendant, living and traveling across the country.
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I experienced a challenging seven-year marriage, marked by emotional and verbal abuse. Ending it was the start of my profound healing journey, leading me back to Chicago. Here, I rekindled my creative passions and pursued a Master's in Art Therapy. Halfway through, I realized clinical work didn't resonate with me. I dreamed of a place to create and share art, focusing on women.

A twist of fate led me to a three-story greystone in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood. The building felt like a vision board come to life. When my friends moved out, I seized the opportunity, left grad school, and opened "Mijiza, Art Gallery and Creativity Center," inspired by the Swahili word for "working with hands."

At Mijiza, I hosted workshops and created art. One day, sculpting clay figurines, I envisioned women with butterfly wings, symbolizing transformation. This inspired a series of female figures and became central to my workshops.

Months later, a middle school teacher who attended one of my workshops asked if I could develop an afterschool program for sixth-grade girls. They needed positive self-respect and a healthy view of themselves. I agreed to create a curriculum for them.

​Soon after, a friend managing a residential drug treatment facility for adolescent girls asked for a new program model. I adapted my curriculum to meet the needs of at-risk girls ages 11 to 17. Then, the Department of Children and Family Services contacted me about creating a self-development program for girls in foster care. I accepted, driven by the lack of resources for girls of African descent.

I researched and found no suitable curricula, so I decided to write a book. "Project Butterfly: Supporting Young Women and Girls of African Descent Through the Transitions of Life" was born. I used my background in psychology, spirituality, and art therapy, engaging a focus group of around
100 girls. Their stories and insights shaped the book, completed in nine months.

In 2002, the original Project Butterfly book, in its 8 1/2 by 11 inch, spiral bound, 404-page format was born as the foundation for afterschool programs in the Chicagoland area (including my own called “Project Butterfly”, as well as for countless culturally centered programs for teen girls of African descent across the country. 

In 2004, I founded Camp Butterfly, a 7-day residential camp experience and ran both programs (Camp Butterfly and Project Butterfly)  based out of our Chicago headquarters.

Women, who purchased the book, attended a Facilitators Training based on the book, or volunteered at Camp Butterfly, continue to use this book as a foundational curriculum guide for their own programs. It served as a valuable resource for rites of passage and as a culturally sensitive tool for personal and spiritual development.  Two women used the program in their doctoral research: Dr. GiShawn Mance and Dr. Rashida Govan-Gyamfi. 

After over 20 years, much (if not all of the content) is ready for a refresh.  Our society has changed quite a bit over the years and our girls have changed too.  Despite it all, at the core, there are foundational and fundamental aspects that are consistent.  Our girls still need relevant material that caters specifically to their cultural identity and anchors them spiritually, emotionally, and psycho-socially to the truth of who they are.  So, here’s the updated version of Project Butterfly!
Today, I continue to expand the personal development of girls through Chrysalis Circles Training -designed for the phenomenal women who support them. 
As divine timing would have it, while I was writing the book back in 2002, Joye B. Moore (who I had never met) was writing a song called "Project Butterfly".  We both smiled at the divine sychronicity.