My philanthropic journey started when I received a scholarship as a work-study student at my university library.A few days after getting the scholarship, I got a text from a development associate at the library, “Hey, could you come up to our offices when you get a second? We need your help.”I walked upstairs to their “fancy” office and spent 20 minutes or so writing a thank you letter to the donor who funded the scholarship and was asked to attend a birthday lunch with him the following week. Little did I know I would be walking up to that same “fancy” office just a few months later to start my first day as a higher education fundraising professional!…Fast forward 7 years and 5 jobs titles later (see “Experience”), I am now a Director of Development in Foundation Relations at that same university, The University of Texas at Austin. My work focuses on cultivating meaningful strategic relationships to advance the university’s efforts in energy and sustainability research, a field that I am very passionate about (see “Education”). Through intentional conversation and a collaborative approach, I work to match our world-class research with leading change-makers in the foundation community.…I also have a whole life outside of work! As a native Texan, sports are a way of life and I have my allegiances. I’m a lifelong San Antonio Spurs fan (that’s 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 championships!) and Texas Longhorn, but more recently I’ve become a diehard Austin FC fan and season ticket holder (I even got a tattoo!) Every Austinite and their mother is a musician in this town, myself included. I’m currently on hiatus from performing but played trumpet, percussion, bass, drums, MIDI controllers, backup vocals, and more for over a decade in a few different groups. I enjoy lounging with my cats, staying active, playing video games, rewatching the same movies and series, and cooking. My DMs are always open to chat professionally or about shared interests!