Directs the planning, resource allocation, community engagement, community initiatives, partnerships for systems change, equity, and impact strategy for UWGK across a five-county footprint, focusing in the impact areas of Health and Food Systems, Early Care and Education, and Economic Mobility and Housing Leads UWGK's Impact Department (6 director-level direct reports; 30 team members in total) - developing shared and measurable goals, creating, resourcing, scaling, and leveraging strategies and innovations for broad community investment and capacity-building with more than 200 organizational partners throughout the East Tennessee region, totaling $10+ million annually, and including 2 large-scale community initiatives - Community Schools (with 15 participating elementary and middle schools in Knox County) and East Tennessee Collaborative (a Tennessee Department of Human Services Opportunity Pilot grant with 10 partner agencies)Responsible for thought leadership and advocacy around UWGK's mission and goals, building and sustaining relationships with leaders internal and external to UWGK, and developing and implementing systems, processes, and tools to ensure alignment across functions and throughout the community to maximize resources to achieve measurable results

Responsible for guiding Emerald's efforts related to innovation and continuous improvement of programs, processes, systems, metrics, and curricula throughout the organization, launched and supervised the Program Development team (4 director-level staff) and worked collaboratively within the Executive team, and with Administrative departments, the Advancement team, and program staff teams (urban youth ministry, K-8 afterschool, post-secondary centers, and youth sports) to ensure that all existing and new programs are consistently progressing toward greater effectiveness and efficiency; creating and sequencing the development and implementation of ideas; led all staff training and professional development; developed and facilitated all quality assurance efforts; and sought to ensure the best possible outcome for each Emerald program, the families and communities served, and Emerald's ministry as a whole, in light of Emerald's vision and values

Advanced the Community Impact work at UWSWVA (recently named one of the Top 10 UW affiliates in the nation) in the areas of Childhood and Youth Success, supervising all education department staff and overseeing program development and implementation, service delivery, data collection, program evaluation, grant writing, reporting and grant compliance; also furthered United Way's impact through long-term strategic planning, partnership development, community engagement, technical assistance to funded organizations and school systems, guidance for resource development, and communication with internal and external audiences and advocacy efforts concerning education priorities, initiatives, and successes.In a single year, led collaborative efforts to develop projects and proposals awarded $659,000 in new local, state, and national foundation funding, doubling the community impact grant budget.Programs included Smart Beginnings Southwest VA (100+ member organizations), Virginia Quality Southwest VA (125+ participating child care centers), Campaign for Grade Level Reading Southwest Virginia (with 25 partner organizations distributing 50,000+ new books), and Ignite + Ignite Internships (serving 87 schools across 17 districts, reaching 29,000+ students annually)

Managed all initiatives related to resource development including the strategic cultivation of relationships with corporations, individuals, events, joint efforts with existing and new private purchasers of services and related activities; provided leadership in marketing and communications, including the development of a multi-faceted communications plan to support the public visibility of AgeOptions that articulated clear and consistent messages about the Agency's mission, vision, values, goals, accomplishments, and capacity to establish & promote the AgeOptions brand; Staffed the Agency's Board of Directors' Resource Development Committee, collaborated with Board, Staff, and Advisory Council; Chaired the agency's Diversity Committee, advancing organizational competence and responsiveness to communities in one of the largest and most diverse counties in the U.S.

Conducted monitoring & compliance reviews, providing recommendations to strengthen services and operations for over 120 programs at over 45 organizations funded through Title III of the Older Americans Act and the Illinois Department on Aging; Managed the Network database of 300,000+ clients, as the primary administrator, supporting over 100 users across 50 organizations in data collection, entry, and management through training, technical assistance, and oversight of the database’s help desk; Served as reporting lead by assisting funded organizations with meeting reporting requirements for the area agency, preparing internal reports as requested, and developing monthly, quarterly, and annual reports for AgeOptions and the network of organizations to private stakeholders, the Illinois Department on Aging, and Administration for Community Living at the federal level; Assisted in the procurement processes including the development of Requests for Proposals and scoring rubrics, reviewing applications, technical assistance and tracking of FAQs, and recommendations of programs/organizations for $15+ million in new and extended funding

Developed and implemented a college-wide mentoring initiative focused on the retention and graduation of minority, first-generation, low income college students; responsible for program branding and marketing, volunteer recruitment, student engagement, academic counseling and advocacy, creating program policies and procedures, and evaluation & documentation

Designed and taught courses in the Grant Writing Certification program in the Office of Personal and Professional Development. Courses taught included basic, intermediate, and advanced grant writing; program evaluation; and grant consulting

K-Town Youth Empowerment Network was a federal system of care initiative for transition-aged youth (14-21) with complex needs and multi-systemic involvement. As the Youth Coordinator, role focused on efforts to inspire and to develop programs and partnerships that provided empowering opportunities for youth at local, state, and national levels, and that built and catalyzed youth/consumer participation and leadership in service planning, governance, and the community-at-large. As Cultural and Linguistic Competence Coordinator, role was to lead as a champion of diversity, access, and equity and to create and maintain strategic, mutually beneficial partnerships with Knoxville’s cultural communities that would increase access to existing services and that would advance responsiveness within systems and organizations to diverse community needs, including the creation of a mini-grant and capacity building program for grassroots organizarions. In both roles, I also provided training and consultation to educators, therapists, case workers, counselors, and advocates working within over 10 different organizations, based on training/certification received through the SAMHSA, the National Institute on Cultural Competence (Georgetown University), and as a practitioner/facilitator of the California Brief Multicultural Competency Scale (CBMCS) Training Program.

Pre-college counselor and instructor, working with Educational Talent Search, Upward Bound, Student Support Services, and the Ronald McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program through the University of Tennessee and the Boys & Girls Clubs of the TN Valley. Led from a passion for assisting youth and young adults in accessing educational opportunity, especially those from disadvantaged, at-risk, low-income, and first generation backgrounds. My roles within these TRIO programs included event planning, workshop facilitation, mentoring, volunteer coordination, course development, and individual case management.

In one year, fully developed the Urban Youth Empowerment Program (UYEP) for at-risk and adjudicated young adults (16-24), including community needs assessment, strategic planning to identify goals and objectives, creating all forms and processes, outreach and marketing materials and recruitment strategies, and establishing key partnerships with Knox County schools, the Department of Human Services, Juvenile and Circuit courts and detention facilities, KCDC, and other agencies for cross referral and support for participants. Fully enrolled 50 participants within 3 months of start (with a waiting list), administered basic skills assessment and taught GED courses, developed and facilitated life skills and job skills curriculum, provided case management to help participants identify and overcome barriers in substance use, housing, child care, transportation, domestic violence, and foster care placement, etc.), and created an internship program with placement with local employers for on-the-job training and mentorship.