Resume

Summary

I am an educator, leader, writer, and youth advocate dedicated to engaging young people and adults with authentic, meaningful opportunities to learn, lead, and thrive. I succeed in this by building and maintaining positive relationships with colleagues and constituents; creating inclusive spaces that acknowledge and honor a spectrum of human experiences; partnering with leaders to support a flourishing workplace; leveraging both creative and analytical thinking; making data-informed decisions; and serving as a values-driven leader.

 Professional Experience

Senior Training Specialist, 2022-Present
University of Michigan

Manage, design, and facilitate leadership and talent development opportunities to support a thriving, values-based

culture for faculty and staff across three campuses and Michigan Medicine.

  • Partner with university leaders to support their strategic goals on career and leadership development.

  • Analyze evaluation data to improve the design and facilitation of leadership and culture programs.

  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to meet the needs of learners across the enterprise.

  • Lead a cohort-based leadership development series for early career leaders held four times per year.

  • Achieved 98% overall satisfaction rate from evaluation respondents from the 42 programs I led with 1800+

  • participants in FY24.

Education and Communications Specialist, 2005-Present
Team Amate (Self-Employed)                                                                                                

  • Provide high-quality copywriting and editorial services across multiple industries (e.g., marketing, law, public utilities, and education) that increase customer/user engagement and loyalty.

  • Expand brand awareness by developing and implementing targeted and captivating digital campaigns via email and social media.

  • Leverage human-centered instructional design to create and facilitate virtual and in-person professional development experiences.

  • Create and lead enrichment programs that meet the needs of P-20 youth and provide opportunities for joy, creativity, discovery, and connection.   

Senior Learning and Development Specialist, 2021-2022
David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality                                                                                

Supported a federally funded research study on the impact of high-quality youth programs on social-emotional learning skill development, in addition to all responsibilities listed in “Training Design and Delivery Specialist.”

  • Consulted multiple grantees through year-long coaching and technical assistance in implementing a

    quality improvement system.

  • Collaborated with internal and external stakeholders to identify and solve implementation issues.

  • Cultivated respectful, empathetic relationships with grantees to ensure they had a voice in the study.

Training Design and Delivery Specialist, 2020-2021
David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality                                                                                   

Designed and delivered equity-focused learning experiences in a variety of modalities to empower youth

development professionals across the globe to change the odds for young people, in addition to all responsibilities

listed in the “Senior Program Associate” role.

  • Managed project timelines and cross-unit teams to ensure the successful development, testing, and delivery of high-quality learning experiences by utilizing a design-thinking framework.

  • Leveraged evaluation data to engage in continuous improvement of training design and delivery as well as my practice as a designer and facilitator.

  • Designed, coordinated, promoted, and facilitated an innovative retreat-style, train-the-trainer program for a newly developed suite of learning programs.

Senior Program Associate, 2017 – 2020
David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality                                                                                               

Served as a program-management and youth-development expert for the Michigan Department of Education 21st Century Community Learning Centers Training and Technical Assistance Support Services team.

  • Consulted 10+ leaders of multi-site programs per year in the development and implementation of data-driven, multi-year, quality improvement plans.

  • Developed and facilitated workshops and training focused on evidence-based, promising practices to groups of up to 100 participants on topics including social-emotional learning, conflict resolution, community building, planning with data, quality coaching, and youth voice.

  • Forged strong partnerships with the funder and other state partners to strategically align efforts to empower program leaders to meet the grant objectives.

Site Coordinator, 2012-2016
Eastern Michigan University Bright Futures After-School Program                                                                

Managed a 21st Century Community Learning Center (Romulus Middle School) that served up to 50 middle school student participants daily.

  • Partnered with the day-school leadership and staff to responsively meet the dynamic needs of students, their families, and the school community.

  • Hired, trained, and supervised program staff, volunteers, and vendors–many of whom were part of the school community–and provided individual support for reflective practices and goal setting.

  • Maintained a yearly budget for all site-level initiatives, resources, and staffing, and ensured compliance of all licensing and grant requirements.

College Preparation Assistant, 2011-2012
Eastern Michigan University GEAR UP    

Engaged high school students (Wayne Memorial High School) with college and career readiness.

  • Advised a caseload of 60 high school students in the class of 2012 with college searches, college applications, essay writing, recommendation requests, resume development, financial aid, and scholarship searches.

  • Counseled individual students in the transition from high school to post-secondary school or a career.

  • Partnered with faculty and staff to provide holistic support to the students.

Project Manager, 2006-2010
Merkle (formerly ePrize Digital Marketing) 

Led cross-functional teams to deliver customized marketing projects and loyalty programs.

  • Mobilized multiple teams of 10 to 15 members to successfully launch projects based on each client's specific marketing requirements, budget, and scope.

  • Planned, coordinated, documented, and implemented over 80 individual online marketing promotions.

  • Administered three large loyalty programs with high-profile clients through ongoing website maintenance, program development, and communication with senior-level stakeholders.

Education and Certification

Master of Arts in Educational Studies, University of Michigan, 2011

Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature/Creative Writing, University of Michigan, 2006

Michigan Standard Teaching Certificate, K-8 all subjects, renewed 2021

  • Highly Qualified: Language Arts, Mathematics

  • Additional Endorsement: English as a Second Language

Community Involvement

Board Chair, 2020-2022
Member at Large, 2019-2020
Local Circles     

  • Served as chairperson of the board for a Detroit-based youth-serving organization that engages teens in critical thinking and job readiness through youth-led research projects.

Co-Organizer, 2014-2015
Stand with Barb Webb                

  • Co-organizer of the Stand with Barb Webb movement, a year-long initiative to promote LGBTQ rights in Catholic educational settings.

 

Training and Assessment Certifications

  • Social Emotional Learning Methods, David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality, 2020

  • Youth Work Management Methods, David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality, 2017

  • External Program Assessor, David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality, 2016

  • Youth Work Methods, David P. Weikart Center for Youth Program Quality, 2015