77. You Know My Name w/ MyShawn Hall-Artis, Health and Human Services Coordinator

MyShawn AKA “Mush” is a native of Mount Vernon, NY who currently resides in the DMV area. She finds pleasure in her devotion to her family and raising her 3 children. She is a social justice advocate who is passionate about her effort to evoke social change. As a pioneer in the human services field, MyShawn’s professional experience and scholarship are in the areas of juvenile justice, mental health and education. Currently working on what she hopes could be used to make the change she hopes to one day see in the world, the Children and Youth Introspect and Empowerment Commission, the Education Coalition for Change, the Teen Life Taskforce and F.A.B.B. Girls (For All Black and Brown Girls) are her latest creations. She calls it the “quad effect,” a collaborative work effort where community and school-based programs will be used to address racial and educational disparities existing in communities populated by Black and Latinx people along with an empowerment initiative aimed to teach young minority girls of today to become tomorrow’s leaders. With music always being her first love, MyShawn has been singing since the age of 4. Coming from a musical family, her love for this gift is reminiscent of the times where her grandparents would teach their children and grandchildren how to develop a keen ear for good music and create melodious harmonies. From church choirs to school choirs to praise teams and more, MyShawn is a singer and Psalmist who believes in removing all of self. She takes absolutely no credit for her spiritual gifts and gives all glory and honor to the Most High God. A counselor by profession, she earned a Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Health and Science and a Master of Science in Counseling from Mercy College. She also holds a Master of Philosophy in Criminal Justice with a specialization in public management and leadership and she is currently on the home stretch of her doctoral journey of the same at Walden University. She is a health and human services coordinator serving those with severe mental illness and a professor of counseling for the School of Nursing & Health Professions at Trinity Washington University in Washington DC. MyShawn strongly believes it is her calling to press forward in life as a trailblazer for a greater cause. She holds firm to the belief that one’s accomplishments, education or status does not define who they are but rather exemplifies how one humbly, with unwavering sacrifice uses those blessings to bless others. This she believes exemplifies the love and relationship one has with God; and defines how one views their stewardship to the world. Hoping to one day make leave her marker in this life, to sum it up, MyShawn is a mother, a wife, a sister, and a daughter but most importantly she is a WOMAN created, designed and crafted by GOD!