Denise is a Workforce Equity Advocate and Career Adviser who encourages individuals and challenges systems to close opportunity gaps in education and employment. Denise is a past president of the Minnesota Career Development Association, a Certified Poverty Awareness Coach, and an Offender Job Retention Specialist. Her professional development includes participation in the 2019 Equity Works Leadership Institute at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and the 2016 Josie R. Johnson Leadership Academy with the Twin Cities African American Leadership Forum. Denise majored in Journalism with an Afro-American Studies minor at Boston University, and earned a master’s degree in Community Psychology from Metropolitan State University. Her thesis research was about the influence of career advising on reducing achievement gaps among students from underrepresented populations.