Maurisa Li-A-Ping, M.S.Ed., M.F.A

My journey began with poetry; it was one of my first languages for making sense of the world. I began writing around 12 years old, and I was slamming competitively by the time I was 15.

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My passion and commitment to poetry opened doors. It led to a fully-funded scholarship at St. John’s University, where I became curious about how identity, belonging, and community shape who students become. This curiosity inspired me to further my education in Higher Education Student Affairs at Indiana University. At IU, I explored how poetry and creative practices deepen belonging and develop critical consciousness.​

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As I worked with educators in higher education and organizational leaders in the non-profit sector, I noticed that best practices for organizational success often overlooked embodied wisdom. In organizations' problem-solving, they were relying exclusively on metrics and frameworks, while ignoring how the work felt in their bodies, and it showed. Li-A-Ping Consulting emerged from this realization. I bridge organizational development with embodied practices to help individuals lead from a place of presence versus burnout. 
 

​As Li-A-Ping Consulting grew, I continued to deepen my creative writing practice. I was awarded a Nancy Craig Blackburn Fellowship in Randolph College's Creative Writing MFA program. At Randolph, I began to explore: What might it feel like to make more space to honor the interiority of Black Queer Women, our tenderness, our longing, our quiet, not just our strength and survival.
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That question shaped my creative work and led to the creation of Tulips in the Garden: A Black Queer Supper Club. We are a soft landing space for Black Queer millennials in Durham, North Carolina. We queer Sunday dinner, celebrate Black Queer joy, and engage in place-based solidarity. 

 

When I’m not writing, facilitating retreats, or stewarding community, you’ll find me on a trail walk, painting my nails pink, or teaching yoga.