My name is Nizhonłií. I grew up in Southern California where I found my way to college through an athletic scholarship. After four years of participating in a Division I Track and Field program as a student-athlete, I graduated from the United States Naval Academy with a Bachelor’s of Science in English and a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps (crazy, right?).

I spent the next eight years in an immersive leadership environment serving as an officer of Marines and earning a second degree, a Master’s of Arts in Strategic Communications, from American University. During this time, I deployed overseas twice and served one tour while stationed overseas, all while holding a wide range of leadership billets that allowed me to lead small teams, individuals, and a company of Marines and Sailors.

In 2018, tired of sitting on the sidelines and settling for service as ‘doing enough’, I founded a Leadership Development Workshop called Spark: The Pop Up. Spark is targeted towards empowering women to step into their full potential as leaders in a still very male dominated world. The importance of leadership development as well as championing the real-time capability and success of strong women became and continues to show itself as an underrepresented but highly needed area of focus.

After departing my overseas tour that same year, synchronicity struck, and I was selected from a panel of applicants open to the entire Marine Corps to return to the Naval Academy to teach, you guessed it, Leadership. I spent the next three years teaching and leading through a dynamic environment that required the institution to continue developing young people for service through a global pandemic. At the completion of my tour in 2022, I made the difficult decision to transition out of the Marine Corps and start a family while continuing my pursuit to vertically grow in leadership by pursuing a Doctorate in Executive Leadership.

Recognizing the demand and need in this particular field, Spark has evolved to specialize in creating leadership and development curriculum for organizations who value people, diversity, and a culture of authenticity for their employees and clients to thrive.

My experiences as a leader of Marines gave me multiple opportunities to see great leadership in action while also providing just as many opportunities to see the opposite. What I found from my observations was a deep desire to teach, coach, and mentor those around me to seek leadership development and foster a desire to continuously grow for the betterment of themselves, and their people. My mission is to empower diverse leaders and organizations to grow through development, education, and resources.