I am an urbanist and historian based in Washington, D.C. and interested principally in issues of community organizing and governance, federal urban policy, twentieth-century American social thought, and the semiotics of city form. Current ProjectsI am currently a doctoral candidate in the Department of History at George Washington University, My dissertation, provisionally titled "Measuring Liberalism: 'Creative Federalism', Empowered Citizens, and the Shaping of the Great Society City," explores contests and collaborations among residents and federal policymakers in the effort to shape the city of Washington during the mid-twentieth century. I consult on public and local history projects in D.C. ExperienceI have worked in community development as an organizer, advocate, and nonprofit manager. During 2006-2007 I served as interim Executive Director of The Historical Society of Washington, D.C. I have served as chief lobbyist at the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, and as strategic planner coordinating implementation of the city’s economic development plan in the District’s Department of Housing and Community Development. I worked in program development and fundraising for one of Washington’s community development corporations and with a variety of grassroots community and business organizations. I have worked extensively with community newspapers as both writer and editor. I am past Co-Chair of the D.C. Bar’s D.C. Affairs Section and a member of the Committee of 100 for the Federal City, a planning group. I serve as Book Review Editor for the journal Washington History, and as Editor of the Urban History Association’s Urban History Newsletter. My previous degrees are B.A., J.D., and M.B.A., from the University of Chicago.