Lisa is a dynamic force in creative production and management, known for turning vision into unforgettable experiences. With over 35 years of expertise in live event production, creative marketing, and talent management, she brings a uniquely powerful blend of artistry and precision to every project.

Lisa’s career began at The Mingo Group NYC, an urban market advertising agency where she worked on numerous CLIO-nominated and award-winning campaigns for major brands including KFC, Seagram’s, Pepsi, and Sony. She went on to expand her expertise at LINTAS:NY and Ann Taylor Corporate, holding strategic creative and marketing roles.

In 1998, Lisa launched Totem Productions, LLC, managing the career of internationally acclaimed jazz artist Wycliffe Gordon, a former principal member of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. Her company also nurtured emerging musical talent, helping shape their future in the music industry.

By 2003, Lisa took on production management at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), the sixth-largest performing arts center in the U.S., where she directed stage and production operations for top-tier acts including B.B. King, Alice Coltrane, Sonny Rollins, McCoy Tyner, John Legend, Alicia Keyes, Corrine Bailey Ray, and AlvinAiley Dance  Theater, among others.

In 2007, Lisa expanded into film, serving as Associate Casting Director for Notorious, the biopic of rapper Christopher “Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace. She also contributed to casting for Image Award Winner, The Secret Life of Bees, and The Blind Side, the latter earning Sandra Bullock an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Lisa’s event production skills took center stage again in 2009 with the launch of Totem Entertainment Network (TEN). Her first project: producing the official Smithsonian African Art Museum Gala during President Obama’s historic inauguration—an event that earned TEN a spot on the Smithsonian’s preferred event planners list.

From 2010 to 2011, Lisa production-managed two major performance properties for the Verizon “How Sweet the Sound™” brand, collaborating with gospel greats like Fred Hammond, Donald Lawrence, and JJ Hairston. Between 2011 and 2016, she directed a diverse slate of productions at Newark Symphony Hall, including the

WOFABE African Dance Festival and the First Annual Theater Festival. Lisa later reinvented herself again—this time as a mature curve model and wellness advocate under her lifestyle brand She is LVA. She has since been published in national magazines, walked in New York Fashion Week (SS18), and appeared in various media campaigns and on several day-time talk shows, promoting holistic living and self-empowerment.

In 2019, Lisa co-led the development of a mobile app initially designed for an international entertainment series in South Africa. After parting from that project, she and her collaborator transformed the platform into digital payment platform, a fintech “super app” designed to support transactions in both fiat and digital currencies. Today, she serves as Director of Business and Software R&D, focusing on tools for financial & digital literacy and sustainable wealth-building.

Lisa’s dedication to education and advocacy broadens. In 2023, she produced a multi-day conference hosted by the International Truth and Justice Tribunal at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. ITJTs central objective is to champion the voice of all Indigenous people impacted by colonization campaigns. The 2023 Conference focused on the plight of the people from the Congo. Program highlights incorporated a tribunal mock court program, and several speaker panels which included officials attending from the Congo.

Currently, Lisa co-hosts a podcast focused on empowering urban communities through practical insights into financial & digital literacy, digital asset acquisition, fintech development, and AI awareness. As a companion to the podcast program, education modules have been produced to be presented via webinar platforms, in person sessions and masterclass presentations featuring key influencers in the financial arena.

The goal is to educate and empower underserved urban communities with practical, future-focused skills that prepare them for financial independence and careers in the digital economy.

Lisa was recently appointed President of the International Quest for Truth and Justice (IQTJ), a re-imagined version of the ITJT and new initiative emerging from the legacy work of the Joe Beasley Foundation. IQTJ builds upon the foundation’s mission by launching social impact programs that address historical injustices and support sustainable development across Africa, Brazil, the United States, and other regions with significant Pan-African Diaspora populations.