I am a founding board member of HOPE Foundation, a nonprofit established in Springfield, MO in 2010. HOPE Foundation provides financial and emotional support to families whose children are battling pediatric emergencies. Through fundraisers and the generous donations of our supporters we provide financial assistance to families in 22 counties in southwest Missouri. www.askforhope.org

Innovative and entrepreneurial education program serving 100+ area high school juniors and seniors launching 2015-16 school year. Students are embedded into regional businesses for 2.5 hours a day, getting high school and college credit, turning the education model upside down, promoting career readiness alongside real-world learning. Follow us on Twitter @GOCAPSedu to keep up with this amazing program!

I manage the Chamber's workforce development initiatives including efforts and programs around talent attraction, retention and development, and provide direct management to the GO CAPS program. I also manage the P-20 Council of the Ozarks, which strives to achieve alignment between our education system and our local workforce needs.

In this role I led communications and marketing efforts surrounding the Request for Proposals for New Schools in Chicago. Also, I developed best practices related to new school processes in both authorization and renewal divisions.

Honors thesis: "Why Students Reengage: Evidence From Chicago's Alternative Schools"

The Chicago Policy Review is an all-online public policy journal that is dedicated to bridging the gap between academic research and policy practice. The Review provides actionable insights from academia and facilitates the exchange of ideas between policy practitioners and academics. The organization – comprised of more than 60 graduate students – has the goal of promoting promising ideas and policy innovations by making the best ideas of research more accessible through research briefs… Show more The Chicago Policy Review is an all-online public policy journal that is dedicated to bridging the gap between academic research and policy practice. The Review provides actionable insights from academia and facilitates the exchange of ideas between policy practitioners and academics. The organization – comprised of more than 60 graduate students – has the goal of promoting promising ideas and policy innovations by making the best ideas of research more accessible through research briefs, interviews and podcasts. Show less

At OTC I worked in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Advancement on a variety of research, development, and communications projects.

I performed a baseline evaluation of, and made recommendations for the Ozarks Teacher Corps Program.

With Alternativas I developed organizational strategies, composed urban food policy materials for Bolivian municipalities, and assisted with day-to-day operations of this new organization and its sister project, the farm, Manduca."Alternativas teaches urban residents in Bolivia how to grow food indoors and outdoors so as to ensure households and communities have greater availability of and access to healthy, nutritious food. In addition, citizen awareness campaigns are aimed at… Show more With Alternativas I developed organizational strategies, composed urban food policy materials for Bolivian municipalities, and assisted with day-to-day operations of this new organization and its sister project, the farm, Manduca."Alternativas teaches urban residents in Bolivia how to grow food indoors and outdoors so as to ensure households and communities have greater availability of and access to healthy, nutritious food. In addition, citizen awareness campaigns are aimed at heightening community awareness on food security, health, and nutrition." - http://alternativascc.org Show less

At Advance Illinois I worked under a P-20 Council subcommittee member modeling and developing a framework for new Illinois College and Career Readiness standards for Illinois' schools.

Through Net Impact I helped CPS identify and evaluate resources available to non-returning students in CPS' Alternative Schools Network.This research work comprised the foundation data for my master's honors thesis.

With Veridian Events and Sensory Integration I held both management and development responsibilities in human resources, accounting, event management, client services and marketing.

In this management role I launched a national legal publication for plaintiff attorneys, reaching 12,500 firms nationwide, monthly.

Ozarks Farm & Neighbor is an agricultural newspaper for livestock producers in Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma. As Managing Editor, I researched and assigned stories, managed more than 30 freelance writers and edited all editorial content in both papers. Two editions of the newspaper are published every three weeks, each printed on tabloid newspaper, ranging in size from 32 to 96 pages. Total circulation is 25,000, with a combined readership of 59,000.

In this student position I was responsible for oversight of projects and legislation that determined the use of millions of students’ dollars. I selected and managed 15 student leaders as cabinet members, coordinated student lobbying efforts for equal funding in higher education and a much-deserved university name change, and hosted student trips to the capital, culminated by a 50-student lobbying effort, with students meeting directly with state legislators.