Personal and Professional Experience Peppered with Poetry!
Photo credit Keith Claytor
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Professional
Brenda's Child, also known as Dr. Boz, began her first job in human services at 19, and since then she has worked with youth and families in several capacities, from crisis intervention to family stabilization. She has collaborated with and consulted for with the Department of Children and Family Services, the Department of Youth Services, after school programs, Job Corps, summer camps, and community centers. In 2006, she established her own arts and mentoring program,
K.Y.D.S -Keep Youth Dreaming and Striving. In 2010 she published her memoir and parenting advice book-
The Right Amount of Sunshine...Cultivating Little Girls into Young Ladies
With a special education teacher certification, Brenda's Child taught in alternative high schools for 15 years. She currently consults as a Behavior Specialist for an inner city public school system and is also an adjunct professor in Education & Human Services. She has B.A. in Sociology, and an M.S. in Nonprofit and Philanthropy, and a PhD in Social and Community Service. Her research of course, involves young women.
Poetry
Using her pen name, Brenda's Child began sharing her poetry in front of audiences, with hopes of inspiring them to overcome similar obstacles. With little bit of brass, plenty of bold, and the right amount of vulnerability, she has performed as a spoken word artist all over from her hometown of Springfield, MA to San Diego, CA. In 2007 she published her first poetry collection. Since then she has published 12 more books of various genres, all with similar themes of
H.E.R.S ( Health, Empowerment, Resilience, Self-worth).
In 2012 she challenged herself by collaborating with two fellow artists to help write, direct, and act in the stage play
The Thick Chronicles...A Body Image Story
which has toured college campuses in the New England Area.
Brenda's Child has been a longtime contributor for the monthly publication
An African-American Point of View Newspaper where she writes about issues specifically impacting women of color. Her parenting and self-esteem articles are have been featured on Blackandmarriedwithkids.com and ForHarriet.com
She was also an original columnist for Lioness Magazine, an online publication for women entrepreneurs
She has received multiple awards for her empowerment work including: Eye of the Beholder, 100 Women of Color, Eyes of Courage, and Business West's 40 under 40.