Nonprofit Leader | Social Scientist | Design Researcher

I am a facilitator, project manager, and researcher. I design programs and processes that empower people to confront shared challenges. Here are some things I love to do: human-centered design, partnership development, community relations, public speaking, communications, event production, grant-making, strategic planning, and network leadership.

I worked at The Sprout Fund for more than a decade, ultimately serving as Senior Program Officer. Sprout improved Pittsburgh by inspiring and nurturing people with innovative, grassroots ideas to positively impact their communities. Helping others become catalysts for civic change defined the organization for nearly two decades. Sprout invested more than $8 million in 1,500+ people, projects, and ideas.

At Sprout, I led the Community Building team, where I created meaningful opportunities for people to contribute to Pittsburgh’s civic and cultural landscape by sharing ideas, discussing community issues, and making consensus-driven decisions. I believe in the value of community conversations and shared experiences to create connections and catalyze community change.

Also at Sprout, I helped steward the Remake Learning Network, a group of more than 500 organizations—schools, museums, libraries, afterschool centers, edtech entrepreneurs, universities, philanthropies—that have come together to create a connected learning community in the Greater Pittsburgh Region. 

I frequently design and lead community conversations, workshops, and other experiences. I have spoken at numerous conferences, including SXSWedu, the Digital Media and Learning Conference, and the Mozilla Festival.

I am on the board of the Consortium for Public Education and I am a co-founder/co-organizer of CreativeMornings/Pittsburgh. I recently worked on a project with OpenIDEO and I teach human-centered design workshops for the LUMA Institute. 

I hold a PhD in Nonprofit Organizational Leadership from Eastern University and a Master of Public Administration (MPA) in Public and Nonprofit Management from the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. 

My research interests include network leadership, nonprofit collaboration, connected learning, and human-centered design. 

I also enjoy street photography, well-curated playlists, homebrewing, and association football.