Senior policy manager for the Higher Education Policy Program at New America. Research, policy development, and advocacy on financial aid and higher education funding, accountability, accreditation, issues impacting parenting students, and student basic needs issues.

Senior Policy Advisor for the Higher Education Policy Program at New America.

Adjunct Professor: The College Affordability Crisis. Teach summer course for masters and doctoral students. Covering the challenges that today’s students face with college affordability and the possible policy approaches available for addressing the challenges.

• Project lead or manager for multiple research and practice projects, this includes research design and execution, mapping deliverables, managing constraints, and assigning and supervising workstreams to ensure that work is completed consistent with project objectives• Project lead or project manager for projects totaling more than $5 million in funding over the three roles at the Hope Center• Translate Hope Center research into recommendations for practitioners and policymakers with an emphasis on improving equitable access and outcomes for postsecondary students from minoritized communities• Foster cross-team collaboration by ensuring alignment of project goals and deliverables across the organization • Design and deliver technical assistance to higher education institutions that improve policies and practices that hinder student success• Contribute to the design and development of Hope Center research projects to improve actionable data collection regarding financial emergency aid • Provide subject matter expertise to the policy team on the Hope Center’s strategic priorities as well as the structure, design, and development of administrative and legislative policies particularly in relation to financial aid policy and regulation and authorship of publications• Interpret the work of the Hope Center through public speaking, workshops, keynotes, and media

• Built, supervised, and directed a team of five full-time staff and multiple external consultants to develop and execute strategic communications• Helped develop and implemented the Hope Center’s inaugural strategic communication plan to drive goals programmatic outcomes• Led the structural and process development of the Hope Center’s nascent communications program including operating procedures, a style guide, day-to-day communications operations, and cross-team collaboration• Expanded the reach of the #RealCollege movement by growing the Hope Center’s public profile through the maintenance of existing channels and strategic addition of new mediums

• Led the research design of multiple research projects on financial aid, emergency aid, and student basic needs, as well as acting as project manager and partner liaison• Primary subject matter expert on financial aid issues at the Hope Center• Represented the Hope Center at conferences and public speaking engagements

• Supervised and train outreach coordinator and peer advising staff and supervised six direct reports • Provided financial aid training to on-campus organizations including Undergraduate Admission, Early Academic Outreach, and Community Programs offices• Annually trained high school counselors from Southern California College Counseling Corp on financial aid on how to best assist their students to navigate the financial aid process• Developed and implemented the first targeted communications strategy to students that proactively targets critical junctures in the financial aid cycle • Managed all aspects of communications including print and digital media, website, and mass email campaigns for over 20,000 students and implemented an FATV videos function across communications channels• Managed the portion of the department’s budget allocated for outreach and communications• Led complete re-design of financial aid and scholarship website, including creating substantial new content

• Coordinated and facilitated multiple outreach events each week, both on and off campus that served over 6,000 current and prospective students annually through presentations and workshops.• Maintained current knowledge of state and federal financial aid programs and regulations.• Developed and deliver presentations for a wide variety of events, from small-scale school visits to presentations for audiences of over a thousand people.• Volunteered for additional responsibilities, including joining our website team, helping to develop the site, writing, and editing content. • Maintained knowledge of day-to-day operations, awarding policies and procedures, verification, and professional judgment policies, to ensure I can best advise students during outreach events.