Anole grew up hanging out with reptiles in the strange land of Florida. While completing a bachelor’s degree in sociology, they co-founded a community land trust and urban farm there. Anole came to the Triangle for their graduate work and received a dual master’s degree in Social Work and Public Health from UNC Chapel Hill in 2016.

Since then, they’ve focused much of their career on violence prevention and response. They’ve run a support group program at a rape crisis center, promoted LGBTQ-inclusive trauma-informed care as a trainer and consultant, done communications for a national transgender antiviolence organization, and provided therapy to youth and families struggling with violence as an Intensive In-Home Therapist.

Anole believes deeply in the possibilities embedded within crisis for healing, connection, and transformation. In response to the youth mental health crisis, they developed a brief suicide prevention model that is facilitated in group settings. It is being rolled out to public health workers across the state.

A poet, Anole is currently pursuing an Expressive Arts Therapy certification and facilitating expressive arts groups at Jubilee. Expressive Arts Therapy is unique in that it interweaves many modalities of creative expression, such as movement, visual art, writing, music, and drama– reclaiming our innate right to creativity.

Anole lives in a converted log cabin in rural Orange County with errant insects. They enjoy walking in nature, talking with friends for hours, writing poetry, cooking with their partner, swimming in the summertime, and (as seen in this photo) listening to nerdy educational podcasts all year round.