I don’t understand recognition as something earned alone. Each of these honors reflects a moment where my work — grounded in disability justice, gender equity, storytelling, and care — intersected with collective effort, community trust, and shared struggle.
They mark chapters of advocacy, creative labor, and public scholarship shaped by collaboration, mentorship, and survival. This page holds those moments not as endpoints, but as evidence of what becomes possible when care, accountability, and imagination are practiced together.
USD Pride Alumni Affinity Award (2025)
Awarded to support continued LGBTQ+ community leadership and project-based advocacy beyond graduation. I will be using the award funds to create The Shape of Our Joy, a community-rooted documentary project and accompanying zine following queer and trans artists and drag performers in San Diego. Through filmed interviews, rehearsals, performances, and collaborative reflection, the project documents how creative practices function as living archives of queer and trans life, sites of care, and tools for sustaining joy under ongoing structural harm.
Keynote Speaker — Spotlight Health, Aspen Ideas Festival (2016)
Delivered a keynote address as part of Spotlight Health at the Aspen Ideas Festival, speaking on health, disability, and youth advocacy. The talk drew on lived experience to challenge deficit-based narratives about disability and illness, and emphasized the importance of centering youth voices in health policy, care systems, and public discourse. The keynote contributed to national conversations about access, equity, and lived expertise, highlighting the role of disabled and chronically ill youth as knowledge-holders and advocates for systemic change.
Girls’ Confidence Campaign — Instagram (2018)
Featured as a model and advocate in Instagram’s national Girls’ Confidence Campaign, which aimed to promote confidence, representation, and self-expression among young people. The campaign highlighted diverse identities and experiences, challenging narrow beauty standards and encouraging young people to see themselves reflected in public-facing media. My participation emphasized the importance of visibility, authenticity, and inclusive representation, particularly for marginalized youth navigating gender, disability, and self-worth.
The Trevor Project -- Model (2020)
Participated as a model in campaign work with The Trevor Project, supporting its mission to provide crisis intervention and suicide prevention services for LGBTQ+ youth. Through visibility and representation, this work contributed to public-facing advocacy that affirmed queer and trans young people’s right to safety, care, and support. My participation emphasized the importance of lived experience, authenticity, and inclusive representation in mental health and suicide prevention efforts.
GLAAD 20 Under 20 Honoree (2019)
Selected as a GLAAD 20 Under 20 Honoree in recognition of national-level LGBTQ+ advocacy, visibility, and storytelling. This honor acknowledged my work amplifying queer and trans voices through public speaking, creative projects, and media engagement, and affirmed the impact of youth-led advocacy in shaping cultural narratives, representation, and accountability in media.
Featured Subject — Trust Me, I’m Sick (Docuseries)
Featured as a subject in Trust Me, I’m Sick, a documentary series examining chronic illness, disability, and trust within medical systems. The series centers disabled and chronically ill people as experts of their own lives, challenging medical gaslighting and deficit-based narratives. My participation contributed to broader public conversations about access, autonomy, and the importance of listening to lived experience in healthcare and policy contexts.
Inaugural Gender Equity Award Recipient (2023)
University of San Diego
Selected as the inaugural recipient of the Gender Equity Award in recognition of sustained advocacy advancing gender equity on campus. This award honors work focused on improving safety, access, and dignity for LGBTQ+—particularly trans and gender-nonconforming—students through education, coalition-building, and institutional change, including policy and infrastructure reforms.
Spirit of Public Sociology Award (2024)
University of San Diego
Recognized for translating sociological insight into accessible, community-centered forms of public scholarship. This award acknowledges my use of documentary work, zines, public dialogue, and advocacy to make sociological research legible and meaningful beyond academic spaces, centering lived experience, accountability, and collective care.
Linda A. M. Perry Award for Gender Studies (2024)
University of San Diego
Awarded for academic excellence and sustained contributions to gender studies through scholarship, leadership, and community engagement. This recognition reflects interdisciplinary research, feminist and queer methodological approaches, and a commitment to connecting theory with lived experience and community-rooted practice.
Outstanding Contributions to Multicultural Understanding & Awareness (2024)
University of San Diego
Honored for work fostering cross-cultural understanding, inclusion, and dialogue across campus and community spaces. This award recognizes efforts to create more inclusive educational environments through facilitation, collaboration, and programming that centers intersectionality, access, and mutual respect.
Ezra Wheeler Student Legacy Award (2024)
University of San Diego
An award established in recognition of lasting impact at the University of San Diego. This honor reflects a body of work rooted in care, advocacy, and institutional transformation, and acknowledges sustained contributions to equity, access, and community-centered change that continue beyond graduation.
Yes I Can Award for Self-Advocacy (2017)
California Council for Exceptional Children
Awarded in recognition of youth-led disability advocacy and self-advocacy leadership — work grounded in lived experience, accessibility, and speaking back to systems not built for disabled people.
I hold these honors with humility and clarity: recognition matters, but the work matters more. These moments are not endpoints — they are reminders that care, storytelling, and justice-oriented work can ripple outward when rooted in community. I remain committed to creating work that is accessible, accountable, and in conversation with the people it’s meant to serve.
