I formerly served as the project manager of the Illinois KIDS COUNT project, a statewide project as part of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, to measure and advocate for child and family well-being across Illinois. This work included managing the data collection and analysis of the KIDS COUNT Data Center’s 85+ indicators and leading rigorous policy and census data analysis using race and gender equity lens on Federal, State, and City issues for deliverables including policy briefs, data walks, and webinars. In this work, I utilized project management tools like Click Up and data analysis/visualization tools of R and Tableau. In addition to this work, I supported other policy, research, and evaluation projects across the enterprise more broadly such as logic models, survey design, and data management.

Served as an expert in data and policy analysis on the M.D. vs. Abbott Monitoring Team, which is a Federal Court-appointed monitoring of the child welfare system in Texas to improve the safety and well-being of foster care children in the state. I led data management & organization of over 1000+ files, survey design for data collection using Survey Monkey & Qualtrics, and conducted data analysis of primary and secondary data to evaluate compliance & policy implementation of orders set by the Federal Judge to improve the child welfare system.

Formerly, a Research Analyst and State Policy Fellow, a two-year fellowship through the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, at the Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin, Texas to conduct research around state and local level policy in the state of Texas. I focused on data-based policy projects to drive the Center’s policy and advocacy work, including the Texas KIDS COUNT project, the Texas Counts Campaign, a statewide effort to count all Texas people in the 2020 Census, and other data-related projects for the Center’s partners including funders and state/local governments. I have a commitment to ensuring the voices of underserved communities are amplified in the state policy-making process. I believe in the importance of qualitative and quantitative data to develop policy solutions, which must be based in the community. My goal is to develop and communicate effective policy solutions to solve the current racial and economic inequities in Texas.

I worked as a Graduate Assistant at the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living on the CATCH My Breath Youth E-cigarette Prevention program. I was in charge of recruitment and management of 50+ middle and high schools in the Central Texas area for implementation of the program. I collected data from participating schools to uncover the state of E-cigarette use in Central Texas among adolescents and provide public health interventions to those students. Our findings have been used to secure a CVS Health grant of 1.5 million to make the program free for every school nationwide.

I served as the Summer 2017 Crook Fellow at Bread for the World Institute. I conducted research for the Institute to develop briefing papers, factsheets, and blogs for Congress and our advocacy members. My focus is of my work at Bread for the World was food security, immigration, mental health, the 2018 Farm Bill, and SNAP.

I served as the legislative intern for the Health & Human Services Committee. My duties include, policy analysis on all bill that come through this committee, proposal of legislation, and meeting with constituents on behalf of the Senator.

Brighter Bites is a a food access and nutrition education non-profit in Texas focused on increasing access and knowledge of healthy food environments. I assisted program managers in providing direct services to children and their families by providing 30 lbs. of produce per week to participating families. In addition, I lead nutrition education classes for the participating children. Lastly, I developed a summer programming curriculum based on CATCH (Coordinated Approach to Child Health) to be used in summer child care centers.

WeViva is a non-profit in Austin that provides free health & Wellness classes to low-income communities. I assisted the Development Director on WeViva site visits of donors and community partners, as well as multiple Kendra Scott Gives Back nights, in which proceed from sales went to WeViva. Together we planned and managed the inaugural Envision Luncheon for WeViva to help raise over $200,000 dollars for the program.

My role as Building Coordinator requires management of Activity Supervisors and the faculties that we operate. I work in four different recreational sites in which it is my duty to perform daily tasks and prepare for special events that occur on the regular.The atmosphere requires flexibility and decisive design making especially in situations of special circumstances. Along with my supervisor and fellow building coordinators we create and implement policies for our facilities to create a safe fitness environment. My position requires me to exert leadership skill on my peers and communicate effectively with patrons.

ProjectSEED is a current study on Mexican adolescents who act as translators for their parents and important to the families survival. We are studying the developmental effects that this kind of translating can have on the children and their parents by performing multiple visits to households. In these visits we survey and collect hair samples to test cortisol levels. My role in the project consists of handling all equipment used for the project from the office space to those that go with the Spanish research assistants that go out into the field. My position is very detailed and organized so that we are able to adequately obtain the information needed for the project. I assist my advisor, Dr. Kim with ordering new supplies, editing protocols, and solving equipment problems. In my daily routine, I use Microsoft applications and Google accounts to communicate and plan for future visits and ultimately, the future of the project itself.