How do families navigate financial systems—formal and informal—amid challenges such as documentation status, discrimination, and cultural mismatch? And more importantly, how do they draw on their cultural knowledge, community networks, and learned resilience in pursuit of their version of the American Dream?

At the core of my scholarship is a commitment to shifting the narrative around families’ financial lives and realities. Rather than viewing immigrant communities through a deficit lens, I use asset-based, qualitative methods to elevate the stories, strategies, and strengths that often go overlooked when explored through dominant frameworks. My dissertation brings this to life through two studies that examine how immigrant-origin college students make sense of early financial socialization experiences and how such insights can be incorporated into culturally responsive financial education approaches to better reflect their lived realities.

My long-term goal is to reshape how financial education is taught and practiced—whether in classrooms, community settings, or policy discussions. Thus far in my career I’ve been blessed with several opportunities to work towards this goal by designing and facilitating financial education programming for a variety of audiences. this includes first-gen college students at the University of Minnesota, immigrant parents across rural and urban contexts, and a growing online community via free webinars and short-form educational content. In each case, my approach centers cultural responsiveness, critical reflection, and learner empowerment as guiding principles in learning the ins-and outs of money and our relationships to it.

Through my research, teaching, and community engagement, I am working to advance economic justice and educational equity, and I invite you to join me in creating new pathways forward.