As VP of Communications, Strategy & Marketing, I perform three key roles for IGT: to develop and implement strategic communication plans and impact reporting frameworks for new and existing clients; to provide direct oversight to IGT account management staff; and to optimize account management practices that ensure day-to-day excellence in media outreach, client relations, launch events, and internal team practicesOn a client-facing basis, I oversee the initial phase of client onboarding, work with our account management teams to develop the strategic framework that defines our client’s communication objectives and the metrics we use to measure the impact of communication efforts. Internally, I am leading efforts to craft IGT's brand marketing strategy and to carry out tactical marketing communication efforts that will expand IGT’s brand presence. Finally, I am helping to oversee endeavors to enhance the operational effectiveness of the agency by revamping a variety of practices, processes, and workflows. I have had the pleasure of working with marketing and leadership at some of the following: Canyon Bicycles NA & Canyon Global Offices, Giro Sport Design, Blackburn Design, Zwift, Rapha, MAAP, Pas Normal Studios, CADEX Cycling, Lectric eBikes, Wild Alaskan Company, CSS Composites, Forge + Bond, Signa Sports United, Roka, CAKE Motorcycles, Onewheel, SnoGo, N+ .

In this role, I served as an Account Director at TRUE Communications (the name of our group before merging with InGoodTaste). In addition to leading Account Managers and overseeing day-to-day client communication and media outreach efforts, I provided counsel on brand marketing tactics and communication strategy to senior members of our client's marketing and executive teams. Clients served in this role included Zwift, Rapha, Giro Sport Design, Canyon Bicycles, Blackburn Design, CADEX Cycling, Stages Cycling, Onewheel, Trust Performance, CAKE Electric Motorcycles, PKRS.ai, The Pro's Closet, and Nurvv Running.

As the Brand Manager of Portfolio Brands at Backcountry.com, I oversaw the brand marketing efforts of Competitive Cyclist, the biggest online retailer of bikes and bicycle accessories in the US. I briefed in and oversaw the execution of our largest marketing campaigns and made sure that our brand vision and value proposition came to life on the website and across all the brand's channel touchpoints. I also managed our external vendor marketing relationships with key partner brands like Castelli, Gore Wear, Pearl Izumi and others. In addition to managing brand marketing efforts of Competitive Cyclist, I also oversaw marketing efforts of the in-house brand, Basin + Range and provided marketing guidance to Steep & Cheap.Here is a small example of the campaigns generated: Brand Campaigns2018 Road Bike Buyer's Guide: www.competitivecyclist.com/sc/road-bike-guide 2017 Andiamo! Campaign: www.competitivecyclist.com/sc/andiamoTrail to Tribe - Yeti: www.competitivecyclist.com/sc/trail-to-tribeSpoils of Victory - 7Mesh: www.competitivecyclist.com/sc/7mesh-chilcotin-trip Vendor CampaignsGore Wear - Shakedry Stretch: www.competitivecyclist.com/sc/gore-wear-shakedry-stretch Castelli - The Maglia Rosa: www.competitivecyclist.com/sc/castelli-maglia-rosaShimano - New Dura Ace 9170: www.competitivecyclist.com/sc/shimano-dura-ace-9170 Enve - New M-Series Wheels: www.competitivecyclist.com/sc/enve-m-series-wheelsMachines for Freedom: www.competitivecyclist.com/sc/introducing-machines-for-freedomAlchemy Bikes: www.competitivecyclist.com/sc/introducing-alchemy-bikesGuidesPower Meter & Computer Guide: www.competitivecyclist.com/sc/powermeter-buyers-guideCollectionsHelmet Collection: www.competitivecyclist.com/collection/road-mountain-helmets Bike LaunchesYeti SB100: www.competitivecyclist.com/sc/yeti-sb100Factor O2 Disc: www.competitivecyclist.com/sc/factor-O2-discSanta Cruz Hightower LT: www.competitivecyclist.com/sc/santa-cruz-hightower-lt

I worked as part of the management staff to coordinate activities relating to the growth and development of the Mellow Johnny's brand - one of the most well-known and controversial bike shops in the world, owned by Lance Armstrong. This included managing direct marketing efforts on the online store as well as digital and search engine marketing efforts of Google AdWords and Merchant sites. I also created and managed visual content for the website and online store, managed the social media presence and produced our email marketing campaigns, reaching over 40,000 email subscribers. I also helped facilitate shop and community events that built brand awareness and goodwill among riders.

Starting in 2012, I helped a wide range of business owners - from ranchers to restaurateurs - assess business systems and develop processes that enabled them to scale various food production systems to meet federal, state and municipal regulatory food safety requirements. I developed policies and procedures for the safe and effective operation of state and USDA licensed meat processing facilities, helped craft growth and sustainability plans for a heritage breed hog operations and established HACCP based sanitation and monitoring procedures for numerous restaurants and artisan food producers in Texas, California and Michigan. In 2014, I formalized this business as Country Road Consulting, focusing on helping businesses assess and develop more efficient production processes and mitigating business risk through a careful evaluation of food production systems.Recent Collaborations: - Olamaie Restaurant - Austin, Texas - Sonny Boy Jerky Company - Austin, Texas- Octavia Restaurant - San Francisco, California- Texas Ranchers Network - Houston, Texas- Thunder Heart Bison - Carrizo Springs, Texas- Eat Local, Eat Natural - Ann Arbor, Michigan- Legend Meats - Gorman, Texas- PhoNatic Vietnamese Cuisine - Austin, Texas- East Side King - Austin, Texas- Number 13 Steakhouse - Galveston, Texas- The Bistro at Hotel Sorella - Houston, Texas- Black Hill Meats - Houston, Texas- Salt & Time Butcher Shop and Salumeria - Austin, Texas

I was part of the Knowledge and Learning Systems Working Group (KLSWG) of the World Bank's Global Food Safety Partnership (GFSP). Our strategic team crafted recommendations and other documents for open business models and identified business practices that help to not only transfer expert food safety knowledge to practitioners, but also improve food safety training and public awareness of manufacturing practices. Our paper was presented at a GFSP meeting in Denmark in May of 2014 and is published in an Open Journal, F1000 research: An open ecosystem engagement strategy through the lens of global food safety: http://f1000research.com/articles/4-129/v1I also worked on a consulting project with Michigan State University and OER Africa's AgShare Initiative to develop various educational / promotional resources for generating buy-in among African agricultural faculty members and students for developing and sharing Open Educational Resources (OER).

I returned to the world of Open Education after learning about a unique center at the University of Texas. I joined the Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning (COERLL) as a Program / Product Manager and supported foreign language faculty within the College of Liberal Arts by coordinating the development of free and open online instructional materials - also known as Open Educational Resources. I managed the administrative needs of a variety of COERLL projects, including preparing project requirements, creating project plans, managing production workflow, tracking process of projects, compiling project reports, promoting our work online via social media and giving talks and presentations around the country. I also provided support and training to faculty and students on copyright and other intellectual property related issues and also helped them use open source technology and authoring tools to produce online educational resources.

I was one of the co-owners and managing members of a cooking collective that ran a catering company (Underground Catering), two restaurants (Underground Kitchen & Forequarter), and a meat business (Underground Meats). The company catered nearly a hundred events each year in and around Madison, ran a successful restaurant (until it burned down 9 months after opening) and focused on special collaboration events and pop-up dinners with restaurants / chefs in Madison, New York and Chicago. The main focus: source local ingredients direct from farmers and create amazing food that helps bring people together. I exited and sold my stake in the company in 2012.

I left Open.Michigan to become a managing partner and owner of a cooking collective called the Underground Food Collective. A mutual friend from graduate school introduced us after learning about my growing hobby in bacon and sausage making. Following my entrepreneurial spirit, I joined the business, specifically to work on developing the Underground Food Collective's artisan salami business, Underground Meats. I led up the development and management of nearly all aspects of the operation: from acquiring the equipment, designing the physical plant layout and operational processes, developing recipes and submitting formulations, and learning the entire regulatory compliance process regarding food safety and sanitation. I managed a team of five employees, participated in all aspects of product creation, oversaw marketing and sales staff, conducted classes and workshops. Our products included a whole host of salami products, fresh sausages and other unique smoked and preserved items. In our first year we went from supplying our own restaurant and catering business to providing product to over 30 wholesale accounts, 3 grocery stores and hundreds of direct to consumer sales. Our product also received national acclaim, winning two Good Food Awards. The business continues to produce some of the finest charcuterie and salami in the country.

As part of an extension of my work at Open.Michigan, I was asked to develop and teach a class for the University of Michigan's Technology in Education Master's Program. I was honored to developed the curriculum, readings, activities and assignments and also teach EDT 585 – Open Pedagogy. The course was an early example of a Small Open Online Course - (SMOOC), which was conducted online for anyone to see and access in real time; discussion took place in the course's blog, wiki, and via email discussions.

In the fall of 2007, our research team was approached by the Office of Enabling Technologies of the University of Michigan Medical School to implement at the Medical School our distributed, participatory system for students and faculty to collaborate and publish OER. That is when I agreed to graduate early and work to turn this research project into something of a start up called Open.Michigan. In my role as a Business Systems Analyst and Open Education Specialist, I continued to draw upon the enthusiasm and expertise of our research team while working with the new staff and resources available to us within the Office of Enabling Technologies to streamline our unique and cost-effective publication model for UM OER materials. We enhanced the software used to manage the educational content as it was published, raised awareness among about how to get involved among medical school faculty and students and regularly met with University General Counsel to discuss aspects related to copyright and risk assessment. Open.Michigan received two grants from the Hewlett Foundation as well as funding from the Medical School to implement our model, which made UMMS the first medical school in the world to openly license and place online the majority of its first and second year medical school curriculum. The grants also enabled us to form connections and partnerships with medical schools in Ghana and South Africa. We also branched out to the entire University to solicit participation from each college and school to share educational resources. Today, Open.Michgan boasts hundreds of course materials and other educational content available for free for students and educators around the world.

I investigated the viability publishing openly licensed educational content from the University of Michigan. As part of a group of five graduate students interested in Community Informatics and Social Entrepreneurship, I spent nearly a year working with this team and an advisory group of faculty to design, developed and form the basis of an Open Educational Resource publishing methodology and software. This project would attract the attention of the Hewlett Foundation, the University President, many other Universities in the US and overseas. Most important, the value was was recognized by the University of Michigan Medical School, where I eventually co-founded Open.Michigan.

As a graduate student employee of the University of Michgan, I conducted daily usability tests on development versions of CTools, the University of Michigan's Sakai based course management software - similar to Canvas and Blackboard. I generated, tested and reported bugs and other software or system issues to the software development team. This is also the same office where I would begin working on and collaborating with senior staff on a different interest, sharing educational resources as Open Educational Resources.

As part of my summer internship in graduate school, I pursued my interest in the area of Information and Communication for Development (ICT4D) and was fortunate enough to intern with Canadian-based International Development Research Centre (IDRC). I worked specifically on a brand new initiative called telecentre.org, and was tasked with using social media outlets to raise global awareness among the thousands of telecentre operators about an online reference resource for operators and researchers to share best practices, business models, and effective management strategies.Telecentres are computing facilities set up in communities (much like Internet cafes), where access to computers is free, classes are held about using technology to help improve small business opportunities and develop technology skills. These have generally been funded by foundations and governments, but were also encouraged to join the telecentre.org network to receive more operational support. I made the decision to work remotely in La Paz, Bolivia specifically so I could meet with and learn from telecentre operators. I sought to practice directly what I had been studying in the area of Community Informatics and ICT4D, which was to develop a deep awareness of the environment and practices of the users and operators involved so that I could generate more compelling stories to share.