Golden, Colorado, United States
I am a nonprofit executive and strategy & operations leader with 18+ years of experience helping mission-driven and public-impact organizations translate vision into clear systems, decisions, and execution. I’ve spent much of my career partnering closely with executive leaders, boards, and cross-functional teams during periods of growth, transition, and complexity—serving as a steady, trusted thought partner who brings clarity, structure, and momentum without unnecessary bureaucracy. In addition to my organizational leadership work, I served in local government as a city council member, operating at the intersection of policy, community needs, and implementation. This experience deepened my ability to navigate public accountability, complex stakeholder dynamics, and values-based decision-making within real-world constraints. My work sits at the intersection of strategy, organizational effectiveness, and equity-centered change. I specialize in building right-sized operating rhythms, decision-making frameworks, planning processes, and internal systems that support both performance and psychological safety. I’m particularly well-suited for executive-level roles across strategy & operations, organizational effectiveness, and impact network leadership in nonprofit, education, philanthropy, and public-sector–adjacent organizations—where judgment, relationship-building, and systems thinking are critical. Alongside this work, I am the founder of Golden Trout Rising, where I coach emerging and conscious leaders to create deep, lasting change within themselves so they can lead from what they know is right—and create a ripple effect across their teams, organizations, and communities. I value clarity, integrity, and shared ownership—and do my best work in environments that are ambitious, humane, and rooted in purpose.
I’m a strategist, facilitator, and leadership coach working with mission-driven organizations and public-impact leaders. Through Golden Trout Rising, I help teams: Clarify direction Align values with systems and strategy Navigate complexity, conflict, and change Lead with integrity, presence, and effectiveness My work spans strategic planning, policy and systems alignment, leadership coaching, public speaking, and writing — always with an eye toward equity, transformation, and sustainable impact. I typically work with nonprofit leaders, city staff, board members, founders, and coalitions navigating growth, transition, or inflection points.
At PeopleForBikes, we build better places for bike riding, we unify people to support and ride those great places, and we make the case for how the bike can be used as a tool to build better communities. As Chief of Staff, I help PeopleForBikes be an even more effective organization. Everyone here cares deeply about getting more people riding bikes more often. I care deeply about optimizing our organization and about making sure each staffer and team has their own path forward to improve, collaborate and do what they love that makes a difference every day. I also help facilitate PeopleForBikes' Sustainability Working Group and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Subcommittee.
The government relations program for PeopleForBikes advocates for the bike industry at the federal, state and local levels, positioning bicycling and the bike industry as an important economic driver in America.
I’ve dedicated my professional and volunteer careers to helping others, and I continued this legacy by serving my neighbors as Golden City Council District 1 Representative. Through Council, I am a board member of Colorado Communities for Climate Action, a liaison for RTD, a member of Councils' Legislative Subcommittee, Board + Commission Subcommittee, and Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee.
The Citizens Budget Advisory Committee (CBAC) was created by the City Manager to advise City staff on the development, implementation, and evaluation of the annual City budget. Participation in CBAC is an opportunity not only to advise on the prioritization of how City tax dollars are spent, but also to advise our policymakers in their decision-making process. Members review and discuss the quarterly financial reports and the current year’s revenue and expenditure projections. Many discussions involve philosophical and strategic issues which impact the budget. It is the role of CBAC members to take information learned in the meetings back into the community and to bring questions/concerns back for discussion.
The board provides a forum for citizen input and makes suggestions about policies and procedures, capital improvement projects, fees and charges, acceptance of park land, design of parks, and other projects. As chair of the board, we oversaw creation of the first Golden Parks Rules and an updated Parks and Recreation Master Plan, the first of its kind to incorporate community health.
Project CLIMB brings integrated mental health care into the primary care setting through several programs, including Healthy Steps for Young Children. Healthy Steps utilizes developmental specialists to provide integrated care at clinic and through home visits. For Healthy Steps, I created the training manual for providers, assisted in the Colorado conference and worked with the state grant intermediary.
Instructed children and adults in climbing and fitness programs.