Dewanna is an Administrative & Program Coordinator at the Perception Institute. She collaborates with stakeholders, project managers, and client leads to coordinate administrative tasks, project development, budget, and execution.
She is a passionate advocate who is committed to helping solve collective social and healing justice issues. Dewanna is a lead Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) taskforce member at Postpartum Support International where she facilitates engagement and advocacy-related initiatives around culturally-responsive perinatal mental health and wellness. She also supports members of the community as a full-spectrum birth worker inspired and graciously influenced by the richness of southern U.S. granny midwife traditions. Her work and dedication to promote nurturing communities centered on equity, belonging, and justice is what inspires her most about the evidence-based frameworks and application of the mind sciences.
Dewanna graduated with a Bachelors in Psychology magna cum laude from Georgia State University and subsequently earned a Master’s degree in International Policy Management from Kennesaw State. Her academic background includes research on the impacts of governmental policy responses to dissent of historically and systematically oppressed populations across Asia, as well as comparative research on digital advocacy in the context of modern democratic participation in Myanmar and Mexico. She originates from Atlanta, Georgia and currently resides in the Metro Phoenix area with her husband and two daughters.