Resume

A national senior leader in movement coalition who designs and implements original programming, connects coalition members, and builds innovative initiatives to eliminate systemic barriers for women seeking political leadership. This includes developing national, state, and local policy change priorities and best practices. Key responsibilities include strategic program planning, needs assessment research, developing rationale and proposals for expansion and funding, authoring original reports, building relationships with key stakeholders at the national, state, and local levels (including policymakers), providing technical assistance, developing and disseminating key agency communication pieces, analyzing policy proposals and presenting new policy ideas with sample language, convening coalition member program staff, publishing original work to highlight current topics in women's representation, supervision, creating and updating visual representations of data, and overall strategic direction of all national programs.

Programs Director

ReflectUS • New York, NY • August 2020 – Present

• Exceeded expectations by establishing ReflectUS state network as a national initiative including conceptualizing, designing, strategizing, implementing, and evaluating the new program, overseeing scalable growth initiatives, securing funding and institutional support, creating data visualizations for public-facing analysis, and managing program staff, within reduced time frame.

• Recruit and manage new partnerships with national stakeholders and state and local grassroots organizations for capacity building and increasing women’s political power in all levels of government leadership.

• Design the national, state, and local legislative priorities and agenda and lead advocacy for systems change to reduce barriers for women seeking political leadership.

• Establish partnerships with women’s representation organizations at the national level and effectively leverage relationships to support the women’s representation movement.

• Develop and manage all national programs, including high-level goal-setting, planning, program development, evaluation, and operations.

• Create and manage a national internship program for undergraduate and graduate social work students to provide comprehensive, customized learning experiences while meeting agency research, programming, and evaluation needs.

• Write and publish issue briefs and opinion pieces, develop a process for publications, and provide direction and support for all publications related to women in government leadership.

• Lead development of evaluation tools for programs and database and manage consultant contracts.

• Provide strategic oversight for national programs, including high-level goal-setting, planning, program development, and operations.

Data Systems and Evaluation Director

Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance • Richmond, VA • May 2017 - August 2020

• Oversaw the operation, organizational development, coalition building, and change management of the Action Alliance’s project and services.

• Led a team of six and provided coaching and strategic leadership in the areas of qualitative and quantitative research, data analysis, training and technical assistance, and grants/finance management and served as part of agency's Leadership Team.

• Onboarded Executive Directors and Program Directors from sexual and domestic violence agencies across Virginia and provided ongoing technical assistance and training on leadership, compliance, strategy and other necessary skills.

• Secured more than $1.2 million in new grant funding to date; including funding for coordinated training and technical assistance for victim service agencies in the state of Virginia.

• Managed multiple grants, contracts, and projects simultaneously at a statewide public health organization.

• Built strategic partnerships with multiple statewide and national stakeholders, funders, and policymakers from various fields including homeless services, criminal justice, public health, and social services.

• Contributed to the development of project deliverables including providing data analysis, public health research, and insight for organizational initiatives.

• Provided organizational performance improvement support related to data, research, program evaluation, and policy implementation for sexual and domestic violence agencies across Virginia.

Director of Communications

Virginia Organizing • Charlottesville, VA • June 2012 - April 2017

• Built relationships with diverse stakeholders across Virginia including legislators and non-elected policymakers, on key issues such as: environmental justice, healthcare, consumer finance, criminal justice reform, immigration, employment, and voting rights.

• Responsible for directing the design and delivery of creative and innovative marketing strategies for all the organization's internal and external communications, branding, and public affairs.

• Developed and organized agency positions on legislation and policy development, including state and federal budget items for use in lobbying and strategy.

• Coordinated the preparation and dissemination of newsletters, annual reports, marketing collateral to internal/external stakeholders (donors, stakeholders, elected officials, and media relations).

• Upgraded level of public engagement using social media outlets (Facebook and Twitter); resulting in an average follower increase of 15%-25% per year and an average of 300 media hits per year.

Adjunct Instructor

Virginia Commonwealth University • Richmond, VA • August 2015 – Present

• Instructed graduate level coursework through a classroom and online distance learning environments.

• Instructed the following courses: Human Behavior in the Social Environment I-II (online and classroom), Concentration Social Policy: Civil Rights and Equality (classroom), Social Justice (online), Foundations for Research in Social Work Practice (online), and Policy, Community, and Organizational Practice I-II (online).

• Delivered course content using a variety of teaching models and providing interesting and engaging assignments that demonstrate the real-world applications of concepts covered.

• Researched and stayed abreast of educational technology and implemented new technology for distance education course work.

Virginia State Senate Candidate

Pohl for Virginia • Chesterfield, VA • January 2019 - November 2019

• Managed a state senate campaign, which consisted of three full-time staff and a budget of $750,000; raised $505,000 in cash contributions.

• Identified policy solutions to serve the community on issues of education, healthcare, and infrastructure.

• Engaged diverse communities in political activism and grassroots efforts to increase civic participation which resulted in 51% turnout for the general election.

• Successfully won nomination in a competitive primary with more than 78% of the vote as a first-time candidate.

• Achieved most votes of any non-federal Democratic nominee in the history of the district.

Policy Fellow

Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy • Richmond, VA • August 2011 - May 2012

• Analyzed and tracked policies and regulations that affected local agencies and built relationships with elected officials in order to advocate for Virginia's most vulnerable citizens.

• Met with state legislators and attended committee hearings during the 2012 Virginia General Assembly as a representative of Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy.

• Testified on bills of interest at the Virginia General Assembly.

• Wrote letters to elected officials, op-eds for news media, and letters to the editor on behalf of organization members and partners.

• Organized and presented oral remarks at programmatic events related to Center’s state policy priorities.

Intake Specialist

Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia • Richmond, VA • August 2010 - January 2012

• Coordinated with the Center of Housing Advocacy to educate and advocate for tenants regarding the Virginia Residential Landlord-Tenant Act.

• Provided referral assistance regarding available support from appropriate social service agencies and/or community programs.

• Supported the housing stability specialists with their caseload and maintaining complete working files, activity documentation, copies of all corresponding paperwork, and housing stability workshops.

• Gained knowledge of federal fair housing laws by gathering initial information for fair housing advocacy and participating in fair housing processes.

Hospital Chaplain

CJW Medical Center and VCU Medical Center • Richmond, VA • January 2006 - March 2017

• Provided pastoral care to patients, families, hospital staff, and community during crisis situations, including religious comfort from various faith traditions.

• Worked within hospital systems and with administrators on ethics cases and understanding moral obligations of hospital decision-makers.

• Organized Healthcare Decision Day events at CJW Medical to educate patients, family, staff, and community members on the importance of advanced directives and medical power of attorney.

Master of Social Work: Administration, Planning, Policy Practice
Virginia Commonwealth University • 2012

Master of Divinity
Baptist Theological Seminary of Richmond • 2010

Master of Science: Patient Counseling
Virginia Commonwealth University • 2009

Bachelor of Arts: Political Science and Philosophy
Virginia Tech • 2002

Virginia Fair Housing Board
October 2020 – present

Vice President of Programming, Reams Road Elementary PTA
August 2020 – present

National President of Theta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority, Inc.
August 2017 – March 2020

Chesterfield NAACP Executive Committee Member At-Large, and Religious Services Committee Chair
January 2020 – Present

Program Development • Strategic Leadership • Coalition Building • Budget Management • Fundraising • Social Work • Policy Development and Advocacy • Marketing and Communications • Data Analysis and Visualization • Evidence-Based Strategy • Capacity Building

Adobe Suite (InDesign, AdobePro, Illustrator, Photoshop) • Tableau (Public) • Qualtrics • Survey Monkey • Microsoft Forms • WordPress • Microsoft Office Suite and 365 Online • Slack • Google Suite • Microsoft Teams • Salsa Classic CRM Salsa CRM • Salsa Engage • iCloud • Social Media Platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram • Asana