United States
At Clever, I develop and expand strong partnerships between our team, school systems, and application and nonprofit partners working to increase secure digital education access. Every day, we work to ensure that students everywhere have instant access to secure digital learning experiences, with an increased focus on cybersecurity to protect against bad actors. As a K-12 Education Advisor for T-Mobile's education team, I contributed to T-Mobile's education, communication, XR, and rural engagement strategies nationwide. I supported schools and libraries make connected learning possible, which included helping them transition from the FCC's $7B Emergency Connectivity Fund to sustainable funding sources for student, staff, and family connectivity programs. I earned a Doctorate of Education Leadership (Ed.L.D.) at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In that program, I explored how policymakers, K-12 educators, and higher education professionals can improve federal and state education policy to increase student success. During and following the completion of my doctorate, I served as Chief of Staff for the Global Policy and External Relations team at College Board. I also spent three years on the team of then-Franklin & Marshall President Daniel Porterfield during the beginning of his tenure in Lancaster, PA. Before my work at F&M, I served in the office of Congressman Walt Minnick (ID-1), taught elementary special education at P.S. 42X in the South Bronx through Teach For America, and worked in the Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs at the U.S. Department of Education. My additional degrees include a Government B.A. from Georgetown University and a Masters of Teaching (M.S.T.) with concentrations in Childhood Education and Students with Disabilities from Pace University. Raised by educators in the west central mountains of Idaho, I hold rural communities close each day and work to bring that perspective to public policy and educational innovation.
I help school systems provide access to educational technology and applications through a secure, productive, easy to use platform.
I create opportunities for educators and students to be connected to T-Mobile's family of wireless devices and service plans, advise districts on how to utilize federal and state funding to provide greater connectivity, and support the ongoing development of T-Mobile's education strategy--particularly on increasing access for rural students and their communities.
Chief of Staff for the Global Policy & External Relations division of ~160 staff comprising Communications, Marketing, Government Relations, Policy, Counselor Engagement, Brand Experience, and Communications & Marketing Operations. Managed teams that created partnerships focused on computer science, civics, rural education, and military-connected students with groups including the National Math & Science Initiative (NMSI), Code.org, T-Mobile, Girls Who Code, Amazon, National Rural Education Association (NREA), Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC), and Rural School & Community Trust (RSCT). Directed efforts to increase access to and performance on College Board assessment in small towns and rural areas, including statewide pilots focused on computer science and civics education as well as access to free, Official SAT Practice from Khan Academy. Directed cross-divisional policy efforts on the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, the test optional movement, and dual enrollment policy nationally, and the College Board’s external response to the coronavirus outbreak. Led annual divisional goal setting and employee engagement efforts and developed systems to track progress at the individual, team, and divisional level. Oversaw a team of up to eight in multiple office locations; oversaw Washington Office operations and budget.
Created partnerships in Nevada and Kentucky to expand AP Computer Science Principles in each state. Partnered with the National Rural Education Association to create the College Board Teacher of the Year award. Led the College Board sponsorship of the Rural School & Community Trust's Why Rural Matters 2018-2019: The Time is Now report, published in November 2019.
Published "General Knowledge Among the People: Rural Strategy Development at the College Board," a Capstone document focused on advanced coursework access in rural school districts in the United States. Led the development of a pilot designed to engage rural school districts in Colorado and Idaho following the adoption of statewide SAT partnerships in each state.
Created advocacy and legislator informational packets for members, advisers, and supporters. With the Executive Director, began an update of the organization’s long-term strategic plan, including conversations with the National Executive Council and Board of Directors. Oversaw the execution of student workshops, leadership trainings, and elections at the 2014 National Leadership Conference in San Antonio, TX.
Developed proposals for Tennessee Department of Education initiatives in areas including: special education funding formula, proposal for a second No Child Left Behind (ESEA) waiver from the US Department of Education, early grade literacy, educator pay-for-performance/merit pay scales, charter school legislation.