Curriculum Vitae

Strategic, empathetic leader working for the benefit of all beings

Seasoned executive with 20+ years designing strategies, programs and products to address complex, cross-sector, multi-stakeholder issues with public, private and nonprofit partners.  Deep, cross- functional experience in business development, strategic partnerships, marketing and communications and business operations.  Empathetic, high-EQ leader able to foster safe, collaborative, team cultures, cultivate alignment around a strategic vision for growth and impact, and ensure delivery though operational and project management excellence.  Confident and engaging public speaker, facilitator and event host with outstanding interpersonal skills.

Work Experience

CivicMakers, LLC
Co-Founder & CEO

San Francisco, CA
June 2014 – March 2023

CivicMakers is a strategic consultancy and community of practitioners that envision a world where every person has the tools, skills, and confidence to advance collaborative decision-making. As founding CEO, I was responsible for all aspects of the organization, from business development, financial operations, and organizational culture to community-building, marketing and service delivery.

  • Founded CivicMakers meetup group and hosted 50+ events for 5000+ civic professionals in partnership with dozens of prominent civic organizations including Code for America, Mozilla Foundation, B Lab
  • Started and grew a consulting practice to $1 million+ annual recurring revenue as business development lead
  • Managed team of 8 FT employees and dozens of independent contractors
  • Served a client base of dozens of local governments and civic organizations, including Code for America, SPUR, the cities of San Francisco, San Jose, Berkeley, Mountain View and numerous California State agencies
  • Facilitated development of city-wide strategic plans for 3 municipalities in coordination with Council, staff and residents
  • Managed monthly newsletter with 3,000+ subscribers and CRM with 10,000+ leads, contacts and accounts

Accela
Senior Product Manager

San Francisco, CA
October 2015 – August 2016

Responsible for all aspects of the product development lifecycle for citizen-facing products, including ideation, market research, persona development, product design and validation, roadmap planning, agile scoping, user testing and product marketing.

  • Launched Contractor Central mobile app (iOS/Android) to streamline municipal licensing and permitting
  • Built and tested a mobile web prototype of Civic Life app designed to aggregate open data for resident information 
  • Conducted user interviews and scoping for CivicID, a SSO (single sign-on)  service for the Accela Platform

Change.org
Director of Nonprofit Community

San Francisco, CA
May 2012 – September 2015

Developed and managed a community of thousands of nonprofit organizations and political campaigns actively engaged with the Change.org petition platform.  Managed marketing communications through webinars, web, public speaking, social media and email as the public face of Change.org for this key audience.  Recruited and managed team of two to plan and create outbound campaigns and collateral to support sales staff, develop brand awareness through thought leadership, and generate qualified leads. Gathered user feedback and partnered with product team to develop new products and features for nonprofit users.

  • Crafted and implemented B2B content-marketing program
  • Cultivated strategic partnerships with SXSW, TechSoup, Nonprofit Technology Network and more
  • Hosted 25+ webinars and launched thought leadership blog on digital advocacy & fundraising for nonprofits 
  • Managed email list of over 50,000 nonprofit and political professionals
  • Spoke at SXSW, SXSW Eco, Nonprofit Technology Conference, Social Media Week

Change.org
Social Media Manager

San Francisco, CA
September 2011 – April 2012

Managed corporate, international and vertical profiles across social channels. Advised on strategy to maximize petition reach and impact.

  • Developed global, integrated social media strategy to align 40+ corporate and advocacy vertical profiles
  • Developed social media tone guidelines to ensure brand compliance across all social profiles
  • Wrote Employee Code of Conduct to cover personal content shared publicly online via social media, blogs, etc.

San Francisco Environment Department
Internet Communications Coordinator

San Francisco, CA
May 2008 – September 2011

Managed external online communications and internal information infrastructure to support programs of the nation’s leading local environmental agency.

  • Launched city’s first mobile app based on an open data feed
  • Founder and project lead for multi-agency software development collaboration for next gen recycling info platform
  • Managed development and launch of new department website
  • Developed first social marketing strategy, launched email newsletter
  • Managed deployment of first department-wide CRM

StopWaste.org
Program Communications Specialist

Oakland, CA
February 2005 – May 2008

Supported, promoted and taught environmental behavior change programs for residential, commercial, and public agency audiences.

  • Developed curriculum, conducted outreach, hosted trainings, and evaluated success of dozens of adult education programs
  • Recruited and coordinated hundreds of volunteers for annual county-wide garden tours
  • Implemented GIS mapping and dataviz for public-facing collateral
  • Managed migration to new agency-wide CRM and trained staff

Self-Employed
Web Developer & Graphic Designer

Burlington, VT
May 2001 – January 2005

Full-spectrum web design services for nonprofits and small businesses, including programming for web applications, DB admin, graphic design for web/print/branding, marketing consultation and technical training.

Contact

Soft Skills

  • Deep curiosity
  • Conscious leadership
  • Effective communication
  • Empathic listening
  • Community-minded

Hard Skills

  • Strategic Planning
  • Stakeholder Engagement 
  • Human-Centered Design
  • Project Management
  • Strategic Partnerships
  • Marketing, Communications & Brand Management
  • Event Design & Facilitation
  • Org Operations (finance, HR, IT)
  • CRM management

Education

Bachelor of Science, Rutgers University

  • Major in Biology (Ecology)
  • Minor in Natural Resource Management

Training

  • Planning & Techniques for Effective Public Participation Certification, IAP2
  • Nonviolent Communication 101, BayNVC

Awards & Interests

  • Eagle Scout Award, Boy Scouts of America
  • Chair of the Board, We Vote (501c3)
  • Avid hiker and birdwatcher
  • Singer, songwriter and guitarist

Writing Samples

Sample of Client Projects

Strategic Planning

City of West Sacramento, City Council Strategic Planning Retreat, Project Manager (2018-2022). Designed and facilitated two-day virtual retreat for City Council and City staff to identify, discuss and decide on a policy agenda for the City’s annual strategic plan. Facilitated retreat for 4 consecutive years.

City of Hayward, Citywide Strategic Plan, Project Director (2018-2022). Designed and facilitated planning retreats and oversaw implementation and evaluation efforts for City’s first strategic planning effort to align Council, staff and public priorities.  Supported plan updates for 4 consecutive years.

City of Mountain View Citywide Strategic Plan, Project Director (2020-2021). Led a citywide strategic planning effort that culminated in a two-year Action Plan of top projects to help accomplish the City’s vision and seven strategic priorities.

Santa Clara Valley Water District, Board of Directors Strategic Planning Retreat, Project Lead (2019-2021). Led Board and staff engagement effort to design and facilitate an annual Strategic Planning Retreat. Facilitated retreat for two consecutive years.

City of Fremont, “Smart City” Strategy, Project Director (2017-2019).  Partnered with the City Manager’s Office and Chief Innovation Officer to lead staff engagement and cross-departmental collaboration (ideation workshops, surveys and advisory committee management) to develop Fremont’s first “Smart City” Strategy.

Program Design & Implementation

City of Berkeley, Citywide ERP Change Management & Training, Project Director (2017-2019).  Oversaw efforts to support the rollout of a new city-wide financial accounting system through change leadership, process improvements, and training development.

San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Innovation, “Startup in Residence” Program, Project Director (2016-2018).  Developed and facilitated 16-week training curriculum for government staff and entrepreneurs to facilitate their collaboration developing technology solutions to pressing challenges during a regional, then national expansion of the “Startup in Residence” Program. Created marketing materials, recruited startups, advised teams, and produced Demo Day for 3 consecutive years.

California Health and Human Services, 1849 Collaborative, Project Lead (2018).  Conducted stakeholder outreach and interviews, facilitated co-design sessions and synthesized data to develop the prototype of a learning platform that marked to share innovative approaches to using data to improve health and human services program design and delivery.

San Francisco Department of Technology, “Public Voice” Civic User Testing Pilot, Project Director (2017-2018).  Designed and implemented project plan and engagement strategy for innovative program that recruited a paid pool of residents to test city products and services. Supported expansion of pilot to full service program housed in Digital Services office.

Stakeholder Engagement & Collaboration

San Francisco Environment Department, Climate Action Plan Funding Stakeholder Engagement, Project Director (2022-2023).  Facilitated series of meetings for multiple sector-specific working groups to assess options for funding the equitable implementation of San Francisco’s CAP.  Conducted stakeholder assessment,  designed agendas, facilitated meetings and produced a final report with concrete next steps for a CAP funding strategy.

San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority (WETA), 2050 Service Vision and Business Plan, Project Director (2020-2023). Led discovery phase (stakeholder interviews, focus groups, half-day visioning workshop) to kick off process to adopt new 30-year service vision.  Continued region-wide stakeholder engagement efforts both online and in person throughout plan development to support Board, staff and technical team.

San Francisco Department of Technology, Community Internet Needs Assessment, Project Director (2022).  Conducted stakeholder assessment, desk research and door-to-door, in-language outreach to understand the internet needs and service availability for residents of affordable housing properties.  Developed report of research findings to support application for federal and state funding and inform future “Fiber to Housing” Program works.

City of San José, Charter Review Commission, Lead Facilitator (2021). The San José City Council established The Charter Review Commission to consider potential changes to the City Charter related to the City’s governance structure, election cycle, and improving accountability, representation, and inclusion at City Hall.  Facilitated 20+ meetings of the 23-person body over the course of 2022 and produced a final report with the Commission’s recommendations for City Council.

City of San Francisco Planning Department, Recreation & Open Space Element Implementation, Project Director (2018-2019). Facilitated a multi-stakeholder committee of 15+ City agencies and co-created a process to evaluate success toward the implementation of the Recreation and Open Space Element of CCSF’s General Plan.

Pew Charitable Trusts & National Parks Service, Parks and Tech Challenge, Project Director (2018). Researched problem space, designed weekend-long event and recruited 100+ participants for a “design challenge” to address the $11 billion deferred maintenance backlog of the National Park Service.