Lead advisor on policy analysis and strategic advocacy for a startup nonprofit focused on child welfare transformation.Developed and co-authored "Kin-Specific Foster Home Approval: Recommended Standards of National Organizations," national model standards to streamline licensing processes so an estimated 20,000 more children can be placed with kin yearly, with improved safety, outcomes, and well-being.Serve as strategic advisor to enable Think of Us to influence federal policy, including:• Comprehensive bipartisan title IV-B reauthorization legislation that expands funding for upstreamfamily support and requires states to develop child welfare plans with lived experts;• Senate Finance Committee investigation revealing systemic abuse in residential treatment facilities,driving increased oversight and investment in community-based alternatives; and• Regulation ensuring LGBTQI+ youth are safe from abuse with caregivers prepared to meet their needs.Head author for all written policy documents, including Congressional testimony, regulatory comments, memos, and reports. Collaborated with the White House and the Administration for Children and Families on multiple opportunities to give impacted communities a voice in the policymaking process, including multiple roundtables with senior White House staff and a two-day convening with 20 lived experts and senior leadership at the Children's Bureau and ACF. Worked with senior TOU leadership to secure an unprecedented $47 million philanthropic investment in child welfare system change.

Technical expert on federal child welfare and kinship policy, supporting states, territories, and Tribal government agencies, kinship navigator programs, and nonprofit direct service providers. Focused on supporting title IV-E agencies with implementation of new flexibilities related to kin-specific licensing and approval standards.Developing resources to help child welfare agencies and organizations navigate and access federal funding to improve their services and support for kinship families (Publication expected in Q4, 2024)

Trusted subject matter expert and policy analyst supporting the capacity of the child welfare field to align around strategic advocacy prioritiesLed the Child Welfare and Mental Health Coalition, an informal working group of more then 200 organizations focused on child wellbeing, to understand the policy landscape and advance: • The Supporting Foster Youth and Families Through the Pandemic Act, which provided more than $600 million in COVID relief and flexibilities for the child welfare system; and• The Family First Transition Act, which delivered $500 million to implement the Family First Prevention Services Act and gave funding certainty for states as they transitioned away from title IV-E waivers.Advised senior administration officials at the White House and ACF, resulting in:• Proposals in President Biden’s FY23-25 budgets to reshape to title IV-E reimbursement rates; and• Issuance of "Separate Licensing or Approval Standards for Relative or Kinship Foster Family Homes" a landmark regulation estimated to unlock $3 billion in federal funds for kinship care over 10 years.Developed and co-authored "Implementing the Family First Prevention Services Act: A Technical Guide for Agencies, Policymakers, and Other Stakeholders," which was accessed more than 30,000 times.

Strategic advisor to Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome on her signature education effort, Cradle to K Baton Rouge to help the city reach child development and school readiness goals. Analyzed citywide whole-family early childhood pilot and proposed reforms to align the program with social-emotional and cognitive development research, leading to a restructuring of the program’s training curriculum and growth strategy. Following these reforms, Cradle to K was honored with the 2019 City Livability Award for Outstanding Achievement by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

Distilled complex child welfare concepts for written and oral communication to a broad range of audiences. Redesigned internal infrastructure to allow for efficient, self-directed, case support, in order to improve the quality of volunteer casework and streamline supervisors’ workload, in collaboration with staff and volunteers.

Devised and implemented strategic relationship-building effort, including a restructuring of corporate fundraising, in-kind donation, and group volunteer programs, to strengthen the domestic violence shelter’s capacity to meet the self-identified needs of nearly 900 survivors each year.

Conducted, analyzed, and wrote the 2012 Early Care and Education Survey, a biannual report assessing the state of early childhood education across Austin, used by funders and education programs to establish future focus areas.Coordinated city-wide training initiative as part of the Middle School Matters program, an initiative providing wraparound services at the campuses in Austin that faced the highest level of need.