Resume

(PDF)

In Short

Versatile writer, editor, and communicator. Proficient in a range of forms, able to get to the core of an issue quickly, and passionate about helping the work of others shine. Experienced in leading complex projects and delivering work in deadline-driven environments. Demonstrated record of motivating constituents to engage and invest by reaching both the head and the heart.

Experience

Art Director of Content / Senior Writer
Carnegie | May 2022–present

  • Helping clients sharpen their voices and invigorate their storytelling. Supporting a fantastic creative team.

Senior Content Strategist
Carnegie | February 2021–May 2022

  • Helping clients sharpen their voices and invigorate their storytelling.

Content Strategist
Carnegie Dartlet | January 2019–January 2021

  • Helping clients sharpen their voices and invigorate their storytelling.

Communications Director, Simpson Center for the Humanities
University of Washington | January 2015–November 2018

  • Leadership: Supervise staff production of email newsletters, flyers, posters, calendars, and funding invitations. Manage contract videographers, photographers, digital marketers, and designers. Manage publicity budgets. Ensure that faculty and students love working with us because of our attentive administrative support (a shared staff goal).
  • Strategy: Clarify core organizational messaging and ensure consistency across platforms; lead a visual rebranding project through thorny institutional politics; write strategic briefs; tapped by the director to write correspondence with major donors and granting organizations.
  • Collaboration: Publicize scholarly conferences and events at one of the nation’s largest humanities research centers, generating media attention for exceptional research and celebrating accomplishments. My outreach led to faculty coverage in The Atlantic, the Financial Times, The Guardian, Mother Jones (cover story), the CBC, and other outlets.
  • Creativity: Storyteller who demonstrates the vitality of humanities scholarship and its value to the public good. Short-form and long-form, social media and newsletters, text, video, and photography. Lively and jargon-free.

Senior Communications Coordinator
Bastyr University | June 2011–January 2015

  • Developed an editorial voice across the institution, managed its highest-circulation publications, and brought journalistic rigor and a user-focused orientation to all content. Helped marketing team meet overall recruiting goals each year on staff.
  • Sharpened editorial focus into key messages, 1) demonstrating the university’s credibility by covering evidence-based research and 2) showing the transformative power of education through compelling personal stories.
  • Proposed and led redesigns of email newsletters (our chief recruiting and engagement publications), informed by analytics data and user surveys. Proposed and led multimedia web projects, including map-based stories and narrative profiles.

Pacific Northwest Correspondent and Associate Editor
Sustainable Industries Magazine | January–June 2011

  • Helped a Bay Area magazine establish its presence in the Pacific Northwest. Cultivated sources, broke news, and built readership with minimal guidance.
  • Wrote magazine features and cover stories along with daily news reporting, editorial magazine production, and strategic redesign.

Staff Writer
Grist.org | January 2009–December 2010

  • High-volume writing for environmental news site; long-form investigation and short-form humor; light touch on heavy topics. Helped articulate the case for new organizational focus away from environmental disasters and toward urban solutions.
  • Reporting from U.N. climate negotiations in Copenhagen, Canadian tar sands, Welsh clean energy labs, Arizona solar plants, and Vancouver green-housing developments.
  • Stories re-published at The Guardian and Mother Jones and cited at The New York Times, The Atlantic, The New Republic, Time, and other sites.

Intern Web Editor
Grand Rapids Press (Michigan) | June–August 2008

  • Helped a print newspaper move into online journalism. Proposed and created its first interactive maps, news widgets, and Facebook applications. Led Twitter reporting initiatives and prepared multimedia coverage for major local news events.

Reporter
Brown County Democrat (Indiana) | August 2005–August 2007

  • Learned reporting on the job at small-town newspaper; learned to write quickly and carefully; learned how—and how not—to interview and build trust with sources; learned to orient all of my work around trying to be useful to a community of readers.
  • Covered nearly every dimension of a rural community: schools, local government, data-driven reporting on local economy, investigative reporting on tax controversies, shadowing police raids, arts and business profiles, and award-winning narrative storytelling.

Education

Indiana University, M.A., Journalism | 2008
Accelerated one-year track, scholarship supported

Calvin College, B.A., English | 2004
Writing and religious studies minors, Dean’s List every semester

Freelance and Volunteer Work

Freelance Writer, 2007–present
Includes reporting in The Guardian and Mother Jones; creative and critical writing in River Teeth, The Christian Century, and the Seattle Review of Books; contract writing and editing for Grenzebach Glier and Associates, Lincoln Park Zoo, Wilburforce Foundation, and the U.S. State Department.

Mentor, Seattle youth mentoring program, 2012–2018

Tutor, Brown County Indiana Literacy Coalition, 2006–2007

Residence Staff, Woodstock International School, Mussoorie, India, 2004–2005

Care Provider, Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2003–2004

Counselor, Camp Roger, Rockford, Michigan, summers 2001–2003

Awards

  • Collegeville Institute Scholarship, Writing Spirit, Writing Faith Workshop, 2018
  • News Writing Gold Award, Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District 8, for “An Inside Look at Cadaver Lab,” 2015
  • SimpsonScarborough Scholarship for New Higher-Education Communications Professionals, CASE, 2012
  • Nieman Narrative Journalism Scholarship, Nieman Foundation Conference, 2008
  • Story of the Year, Hoosier State Press Association Division 2, for series “The State of Brown County Tourism,” 2007
  • First place, Business/Economic News Coverage, Hoosier State Press Division 2, for “The State of Brown County Tourism,” 2007
  • First Place, News Coverage (Non-Deadline), Hoosier State Press Division 2, for “Teacher Travel: How Much is Enough?” 2007
  • Story of the Year, Hoosier State Press Association Division 2, for “Native Finds Love in African Village,” 2006
  • W.E. Williams Award for Best Single In-Depth News Story, Northern Illinois Newspaper Association Group 2, for “Worth the risk?” in The Palos Heights Reporter, 2006

Professional Service

  • Selection Committee, Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau, 2016–2018
  • Contributor, Elevate UW Forum on Equity, Race, and Diversity, 2017–2018
  • Advisory Board Liaison, Seattle City of Literature UNESCO, 2017–2018
  • Congressional Lobbyist, National Humanities Alliance, March 2017

Speaking and Media Appearances

  • Invited speaker, “Better Media Outreach,” National Humanities Conference, November 2018
  • Panel organizer and moderator, “Detoxifying Masculinity through Story and Verse,” Festival of Faith and Writing, Calvin College, April 2018
  • Panel organizer and speaker, “Creative Cross Training: Integrating Writing into Busy Lives,” Festival of Faith and Writing, Calvin College, April 2016
  • Radio interview on oil spills and energy solutions, The Marc Steiner Show, May 2010
  • Radio interview on the Winter Olympics and the environment, Community Matters with Lee Callahan, CBS Seattle, February 2010

Skills

InDesign, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, multiple CMS platforms, HTML, social media, email campaign software, Microsoft Office, and AP and Chicago style. Familiar with CSS and video shooting and editing.

References available upon request.

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