As a Community Faculty member at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science, my research interests have included substance use, the juvenile justice system, diabetes prevention and education, hypertension, community engagement, cancer, mental health, faith-based research, financial literacy, emergency medicine, palliative care, and improving health literacy within communities of color. I am the past Deputy Director of Healthy African American Families II, a 501c3 organization located in South Los Angeles founded by the late Dr. Loretta Jones. During that time, I was mentored by Dr. Jones and gained a full understanding of the principles of Community-Partnered Participatory Research (CPPR) in under-resourced communities. CPPR is a variation of Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) that emphasizes true power sharing and collaboration in all phases of research (Jones, 2018) (Chung, 2010) (Wallerstein, 2006). I bring strong leadership and a commitment to bridging the communication gap between academia and community to improve health and wellness in under resourced communities, as well as a commitment to conducting research that adheres to the tenets of community engaged research.