Hi, I'm Tenaja
I believe the future is something we shape, seed by seed.
As a Black, queer, disabled woman, I carry an intersectional perspective that shapes how I show up in this work. My lived experience, combined with learned expertise, allows me to hold both rigor and imagination, structure and possibility. I believe in data, but also in stories. I believe in strategy, but also in spirit. And I believe, as Octavia Butler taught us, that adaptability, persistence, and vision are the building blocks of survival and change.
I am a strategist, researcher, and facilitator with nearly two decades of experience across philanthropy, nonprofit leadership, and grassroots community work. My journey began in child welfare and youth justice, where I saw firsthand how systems can fail the very people they are meant to serve when those people are not empowered to shape change. Since then, I have dedicated my career to building capacity, shifting power, and resourcing change led by those most impacted.
I’ve served in management and leadership capacities, helping to elevate equity-centered grantmaking practices, expand a national research agenda to promote more inclusive data collection, and convene learning communities to build and deepen networks of equity practitioners. As a consultant, I’ve partnered with foundations, advocacy groups, and community-based nonprofits to clarify strategy, strengthen infrastructure, and weave narratives that move people to action. I'm also a working creative, and often blend my experiences as a poet, fiction writer, and workshop facilitator into my approach.
Project Octavia is the home for this philosophy in action. At the core, my work is about collective liberation. It is about helping movements and institutions live into their values, center those most marginalized, and build futures where equity is not an aspiration but a practice.
