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Welcome
Compassionate Creative Coaching
Inclusivity & Creativity Expert • Award-Winning Author • Patient Advocate • Artist •
Creative Coach
About Tonya
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Artist, Author, and Advocate
Tonya is a Type 1 Diabetic with a medical alert service dog, Rambo.
She has worked with organizations like Women Against Rape, Police Athletic League and Planned Parenthood since 1998. Her experience as a patient and victim advocate and community educator stems from her personal journey as a queer and chronically ill woman of color. Her advocacy focuses on medical bias and seeking legal accommodations in higher education and work settings. She also supports patients and medical professionals suffering from social stigmas of health through the lens of Narrative Medicine. Hegamin attended the New School University’s Creative Writing MFA program, and she holds a certificate in Diversity and Inclusion Education and Training from Cornell University Institute of Labor Relations. Tonya’s novels, short stories and poetry focus on cultural history, inclusion,(dis)ablity, LGBTQIA+, body positivity and womanist perspectives. She has won awards, reviews and recognition from The New York Public Library, The Christopher Award Foundation, Fortune Magazine, The Washington Post and Essence Magazine. Currently, Tonya is a tenured Associate Professor at CUNY’s Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn, NY. She has spoken internationally about integrating compassion into healthcare, creativity, teaching, and leadership.
As Seen In
