Experienced leader directing design strategy and product development initiatives for government clients in health and civilian sectors (VA and DHA) and defense (Navy and Air Force). Leveraging extensive expertise in technology solutions (Ex: SaaS cloud contact centers and deployment of AI) and product methodologies such as Human-Centered Design and UX in Agile. I provide visionary leadership, mentorship, and technical guidance to cross-functional teams. Managing a team of senior design consultants and analysts, I collaborate closely with product managers, engineers, and stakeholders to ensure solutions are technically robust, scalable, and aligned with business objectives.

Teach and develop courses on social entrepreneurship and design thinking using Human-Centered design methodologies. Plus mentoring and advising undergraduate students on projects, business plans, and social ventures.

Experienced leader in CX and EX initiatives, collaborating with federal clients, internal teams, and JJR partners to drive projects from inception to deployment. As a mentor, I lead a team of UX and Service designers, ensuring a unified approach across JJR Service Areas and stakeholders, prioritizing user-centricity and tangible outcomes. Spearheading the evolution of our service design framework, I emphasize research, ideation, prototyping, implementation, and refinement stages. Overseeing intuitive prototype creation, I validate new concepts for accessibility and user-friendliness. Additionally, I provide subject matter expertise for business development presentations and solution demonstrations. My portfolio management includes digital workforce product design and service design contracts, emphasizing a design-centric perspective. Skills include Product Design, Product Management, and UX in Agile methodologies.

Seasoned Director of UX and Service Design at JJR Solutions, adept at guiding government clients through design thinking processes to tackle strategic, process, technological, and service delivery challenges effectively. As the leader of DesignOps and UX practice, I elevate design's value and impact at scale. Additionally, I serve as the User Experience (UX) design and research lead, enhancing our capacity to deliver transformative digital products. I oversee the design and delivery of technology solutions that prioritize meaningful and positive user experiences while supporting the development of relevant, sustainable, and differentiated products. Mentoring and coaching our growing UX design workforce, I ensure the alignment of solutions with client needs and objectives. Collaborating with clients, I co-create solutions to enhance technology implementations and facilitate cross-functional teams in translating business requirements into achievable technical components.

Experienced in guiding government clients through design thinking processes to develop innovative solutions for strategic, process, IT (hardware and software), and service delivery challenges. Collaborates closely with clients to co-create solutions that enhance technology implementations and translate business requirements into achievable technical components, prioritizing the customer/user experience. Currently serving as the Lead Service Designer and OCM practitioner for a $90M IT modernization project for the Veterans Affairs Crisis Line.

As a Director on the Service Design and Innovation team at Year Up, a $150M training and upskilling social enterprise, I bring strategic innovation to solve business problems and envision and craft services based on a deep understanding of customer needs. I'm a hands-on design expert, taking concepts forward and working hand-in-hand with internal and external partners to test and implement services across the U.S. in a variety of communities and settings. I research customer behavior and common customer responses to particular experiences (digital and in-person), identify problem areas through KPIs, and develop and test innovative solutions and improvements to the customer, user, and beneficiary experience using a human-centered design and lean start-up methodologies. I focus on designing new customer acquisition strategies and working cross-functionally with our marketing and branding teams. Projects include partnerships with JP Morgan Chase, E-Trade / Morgan Stanley, and Jason's Deli.

Doctoral level course at the GW School of Public Health. Course Description: Depth of study in the competencies necessary for creating social enterprises using human-centered design framework to foster public health innovation and managing enterprises, people, and projects.

Launched and co-direct The GW Innovation+Entrepreneurship Lab (I+E Lab). The I+E Lab provides all the physical and intellectual resources current GW students and faculty need to develop and grow ideas and businesses, including one-to-one advising, office hours with industry experts, workshops, and events.

Accomplished professional with a proven track record of success in entrepreneurship education and program management. Recognized for excellence with the GCEC Excellence in Specialty Entrepreneurship Education Award. Director of the GW New Venture Competition, the 3rd largest in the US according to Forbes. Expertise in digital strategy, marketing, and communications, with a focus on user-centered design and website strategy. Skilled facilitator in human-centered design, driving innovation and corporate partnerships. Proficient in web design, program management, marketing strategy, instructional design, and design thinking.

Levedoce meaning "light and sweet" in Portuguese is a food startup with our flagship product our cheesecake in a jar. Our unique cooking technique and quality ingredients offer a low-calorie (50% less than competitors), low-sugar, high protein delightful treat all of us can enjoy with less guilt.

Product developer and in-house entrepreneur directing the creation, building, and testing of products and services via rapid prototyping experimentation to create and scale earned revenue income streams and launched The Welcome Package in 2017 (see link below).Managed business strategy and design to scale products and services serving B2C businesses. Used human-centered design (HCD) to define problems, execute experiments, and test prototypes. Directed idea generation, strategy, and workflows to create first class end user experiences. Designed immersive research plans and behavioral exercises to determine key pain points of users. Translated research into big picture insights that sparked new ideas and concept development. Visually mapped out a user’s journey with highlights of pain points, unmet needs, and opportunities. Developed prototypes and MVP’s testing them to determine ROI, impact, and value with end users. Developed and tested a digital (mobile and desktop) customer acquisition coupon product. Designed go-to-market strategies through understanding user need and researching competitor products.

Dynamic Executive Director with a comprehensive leadership background and managed a $700,000 budget and supervised seven staff across three cities. Spearheaded the Mobilizer Academy Incubator, allocating $100,000 to nurture 25 social ventures. Pioneered a hybrid Human-Centered Design/lean start-up curriculum for youth. Led a team of eight staff, overseeing operations in Washington D.C. and Philadelphia. Achieved significant cost savings through internal operations optimization while increasing program retention by 44%. Successfully expanded programs into two new cities within a year. Proficient in youth development, philanthropy, team management, fundraising, and directing website design and launch initiatives. Adept at pitching to Fortune 500 companies and billion-dollar national foundations to secure support for organizational initiatives.

Charged with identifying innovative solutions to bring 175,000 people out of poverty in five years. Guided leaders through design thinking processes to generate creative and effective solutions. Developed ideas (Ex: The Child Care Bank) via the ideation process then presented them to Governor.

Strategic advisor with a focus on sales and marketing strategies to drive revenue growth for Ben & Jerry's partnershop. Developed and implemented a new sales strategy resulting in a 50% increase in revenue by identifying and targeting a new customer base. Collaborated with Ben & Jerry’s to establish a job skills training micro-business for homeless youth, fostering social impact alongside business growth. Conducted thorough market research and analysis to inform MVP concept development within the food industry landscape. Monitored and compared sales data from two live market tests, assessing impact on youth and refining strategies accordingly. Recognized for identifying innovative sales methods and customer bases that consistently surpassed yearly revenue goals by 50%. Proficient in user research, MVP testing, product design, and new business development.

Accomplished professional with a proven track record of executing comprehensive strategic fundraising plans, resulting in significant revenue growth. Spearheaded initiatives that transformed the fundraising department, reversing a two-year trend of decline to achieve a 6% increase in revenue within one year. Successfully revamped and streamlined the monthly membership fundraising program based on survey and focus group feedback, resulting in annual contributions of $55,000 from over 400 donors. Known for fostering a culture of co-ownership and collaboration by motivating, mentoring, and inspiring team members to achieve collective success.

Spearheaded corporate sponsorship efforts and logistics for a 1,000-person annual gala, raising over $40,000 from sponsors like Intel, quadrupling income from the previous year. Managed a $100,000 direct mail fundraising campaign with over 1,000 donors. Coordinated 15 major donor membership events for donors contributing $2,500+, enhancing donor engagement and retention. Skills include Sponsorship Management and Corporate Fundraising.

Served as Consultant and Interim Finance Director for Rex Burkholder for Metro President campaign, deploying fundraising tactics and methods including, call time, events, and major donor activities to raise money to support the election campaign.

Developed and implemented a comprehensive operations plan for the Greater Chicago Area, encompassing annual budget creation, logistics, volunteer recruitment, marketing, and long-range strategic planning. Managed a $1.5 million campaign, designing and executing the annual budget and strategic plan. Spearheaded and built a new department from scratch, doubling fundraising growth to $500,000 in one year by increasing donors by 60% to 110 donors. Designed effective marketing strategies that boosted corporate sponsorship gifts and expanded the donor base by 19%. Recognized as the best “On-Site Manager” out of 26 chapters for outstanding achievements.

• Helped raise over $2.3M though individual donors, major gifts and special events• Managed over 30 donor relationships. Planned and co-directed fundraisers with President Bill Clinton, Senator Tom Daschle, Peter Yarrow and other notable politicians and dignitaries

• Oversaw every aspect of all special events for gubernatorial campaign from concept design through execution• Managed high-profile donors, major gifts, special events and in-kind donations from local businesses, venues and musical talent• Personally identified and cultivated an individual gift of $100,000