SPEAKER · CONSULTANT · AUTHOR

About Me

THE WORK BEHIND

My Name

I am a Black Haitian adoptee, licensed social worker, consultant, trainer, speaker, and founder of F.I.S.T., Fighting Injustice Standing Together. With a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice, a master’s in social work, and a certificate in nonprofit leadership, I bring both lived experience and professional expertise to the realities of family separation, particularly adoption and incarceration.

My work began at Coppin State University, where a poetry program created for 11 incarcerated women grew into a waitlist of 250 and became the foundation for award winning programs. Today, I work directly with people and families while helping organizations strengthen their practices, challenge harmful policies, and create change that lasts. F.I.S.T. was once an organization. It has since become the movement behind Schai Schairer Consulting, carrying the purpose that grounds everything I build and reminding me that lasting change happens when we fight injustice together.

MY PURPOSE

What I’m Working to Change:

Family separation affects more than the individual. It shapes families, identity, communities, and the systems people depend on. My work focuses on adoption and incarceration and addresses both the personal impact and the systems surrounding them.

Mission

To help people and families impacted by family separation understand their experiences, strengthen their voice, and get the support they need, while working with organizations and institutions to improve how they serve them.

Vision

People and families should not have to carry the full burden of systems that need to change. I want to see stronger communities and more accountable organizations, institutions, and policies.

Approach

I work at both levels. On the micro level, I work directly with people, families, and communities. On the macro level, I work with organizations and institutions through training, advocacy, and policy reform. The people most impacted by a system should help shape how that system changes.