Co-Teaching undergraduate capstone course applying real world experience to students final projects.

UrbanForm Studio is a creative studio that was established to provide a cost effective “boots on the ground” and “roll up your sleeves” alternative approach, mindset, and philosophy to service public agencies, non-profits, and private developers. Grounded in the belief by fostering positive economic vitality by identifying individual “navigators” and together creating incremental but positive change. As an independent consultant I specialize in displacing the “norm" and advocating from the ground up one brick and one voice at a time. I believe in creating places, activating citizens, and revitalizing communities together.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT + REVITALIZATION: Lead author of the City’s initial 5-year Strategic Plan for Economic Development providing guidance and a framework for economic initiatives. Established the City’s Business Retention & Expansion program, resulting in the expansion of several local and regional companies and an economic impact of over $50 million of new construction.COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT + PLANNING: Responsible for many short-term and long-term planning initiatives including several corridor and neighborhood plans. Utilized several “outside the box” public engagement tools to gather valuable public input into a variety of executed projects. MANAGEMENT + SUPERVISION: Department manager responsible for managing the Community and Economic Development Department (CED); which included the divisions of Buildings and Inspections, Code Enforcement, Planning & Development, Economic Development, Geographic Information System [GIS], and Property Assessment. Managed a total of four (4) full-time staff members and seasonal interns.CULTURE + TEAM DEVELOPMENT: Responsible for yearly 360 employee evaluations, 6-month performance reviews, and workplan completion. Maintained monthly team meetings; weekly development and code compliance reviews utilizing Microsoft OneNote. Held quarterly team breakout sessions with individual member leadership responsibilities.CUSTOMER SERVICE + PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT: Maintained a customer forward, transparent, service orientated approach to the all aspects of the CED Department. Established “open-door” and pro-active management policies leading to positive conflict resolutions.BUDGET + FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: Manager of a yearly department budget of $500,000, and eight Tax Increment District (TID) budgets. Successfully worked with City Finance Director to close out over 40 existing development agreements and implement a debt reduction plan from over $20 million to under $10 million in less than 5 years.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT + REVITALIZATION: Led village’s municipal campus relocation and revitalization of former 15-acre campus into a $40 million-dollar mix-use development. Worked with CDA Executive Director to establish performance measures and incentive criteria for private development. Established and maintained localized revolving loan grant and improvement program.COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT + PLANNING: Drafted the Village’s Comprehensive Outdoor Recreation Plan (CORP) and established the Village’s I-94 Business Park Zoning District standards. Led many public neighborhood meetings and neighborhood plan updates, and was the village’s representative on the I-94 Master Plan steering committee.MANAGEMENT + SUPERVISION: Manager overseeing a two-member Park and Recreation Department and approximately 60 seasonal employees serving the recreational programs and operational maintenance of the Village park system.CULTURE + TEAM DEVELOPMENT: Led weekly multi-department Development Review Team (DRT) meetings which included meeting with prospective developers and concerned residents. Established cross-disciplinary team; including engaged residents; for quarterly public community chats and neighborhood cleanup efforts.CUSTOMER SERVICE + PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT: Assigned staff liaison to the Plan Commission, Park and Recreation Board, Community Development Authority, and Village Board. Prepared monthly staff reports and led many public meetings and discussions or critical issues facing the village.BUDGET + FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: Maintained yearly Park & Recreation Budget and established fundraising goals for continued growth and financial support of the summer recreation programs. Established and maintained the first two TID budgets for the Village; including financial analysis and Performa reviews of public & private development incentives.