Fast Self-Learner: From an early age, I've been learning creative skills and tools on my own, and figuring out how to make great things with them. I've learned how to teach myself anything quickly.
Self-Driven Leadership & Accountability: My professional life has been a series of self-initiated yet collaborative projects that reflect a strong capacity for self-management, and an ability to lead complex ventures from concept to completion.
Creative Process Mastery: In building my expertise, I am primarily focused on the fundamental principles that guide the creation of truly innovative and transformative work. This, combined with an ability to quickly acquire new tools and skills, has equipped me to significantly contribute to and enhance the creative capacity of any team or project.
Education:
University of Maryland, College Park: B.A. History, 2013
Spearheaded the development of Assemble, an innovative web application designed to facilitate citizen assembly advocacy, originating from personal experience and a deep understanding of the domain.
Led the project from conception to execution, developing detailed prototypes in Figma, and overseeing the development of a minimum viable product (MVP) that is currently in progress.
Founded Democracy Creative with a vision to innovatively address political challenges such as polarization and legislative gridlock, bringing a design-focused approach unique to politics and democracy.
Leading the introduction of citizens' assemblies to Vermont, significantly raising awareness among elected officials and the community. And published the works of Terry Bouricius, a renowned theorist in related democratic models.
Established a thriving community space and launched 'Thought Club', a discussion group with a bend toward democratic innovation.
The Vermont Progressive Party
Political Organization
Legislative Associate
Jan 2020 — May 2020
Served as a legislative associate, balancing duties ranging from policy research at the Vermont Statehouse, to supporting campaigns across the state through video production and organizing assistance.
During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, amid paused legislative work, pivoted my focus to lead a comprehensive rebranding initiative for the organization, modernizing its image with an updated, more approachable color scheme. This update organically gained national grassroots adoption from aspiring progressive organizations across America.
Launched a successful T-shirt fundraiser capturing the progressive spirit of 1981 with a poignant design, resonating with supporters across Vermont and nationally.
Played a key role in the pre-event planning, managing logistics for high-profile guests, coordinating dinner and transportation arrangements, and engaging a local network of volunteers.
As the event photographer, focused on capturing the dynamic interactions and joyful moments among guests, resulting in a compelling collection of photos that were used in post-event materials and which today hang on the walls of the Sanders Institute office.
Post-event, conceptualized and created a 215-page book capturing the essence of the event. This involved meticulously reviewing panels to extract impactful quotes, categorizing them, and pairing with appropriate photos, all while developing a versatile design system to accommodate various quote lengths and picture combinations.
Zuckerman For Vermont
Lt. Governor Campaign
Campaign Manager + Designer
April 2018 — Dec 2018
Managed the campaign for the VT Lieutenant Governor's re-election, including overseeing volunteer coordination, logistics, design, media, and strategy.
Skillfully balanced a broad range of design tasks alongside other campaign management responsibilities, from photography, to website and literature design, to creating impactful newspaper ads and social media content — demonstrating proficiency in multi-tasking and adaptability.
Orchestrated a successful Vermont TV ad campaign with a budget of $28,000, negotiating with local networks to maximize exposure and impact.
Leveraged design skills for impactful fundraising, notably creating a compelling visual narrative with photos from 1994 and 2018 of David Zuckerman and Bernie Sanders, resulting in one of the highest grossing fundraising calls of the election cycle.
Van Hollen For Senate
U.S. Senate Campaign
Digital Coordinator
April 2016 — March 2017
Collaborated closely with the Digital Director to conceptualize and design compelling content for social media, playing a key role in the candidate's digital presence.
Demonstrated rapid adaptability by swiftly creating and launching viral social media graphics. For example, a graphic celebrating Maryland's contribution to the 2016 US Olympic team capitalized on current events to achieve over 2 million views—a significant leap from the typical reach of approximately 15,000 views.
Managed a dynamic and challenging campaign environment, balancing tasks including photography, event setup, volunteer coordination, driving the candidate, and staffing him as 'body-man'.
Co-founded Skyris to bridge the gap between digital music and tangible, meaningful experiences, initially through physical art pieces, and later pivoting to a digital music storytelling platform.
Led the full scope of product design, encompassing everything from the initial prototypes of physical 'Skyprints', to the comprehensive UI/UX design of the digital platform, ensuring a seamless and engaging user experience.
Spearheaded the brand's development, creating a cohesive and compelling identity that resonated with the platform's concept of high-quality products combined with deep musical connections.
Navigated a pivot from a capital-intensive physical product to a digitally focused platform, adapting to the challenges of the music industry and user needs.
Led a successful 4-year music production endeavor as Spektrem, turning a lifelong passion for songwriting into a music production career that culminated in professional management, and recordings that continue to engage fans and generate interest over a decade later.
Adopted an innovative no-copyright model for music distribution, allowing unrestricted use of songs in videos and other media. This strategy, particularly unique for its time, significantly amplified the reach and popularity of the music, as it removed barriers to widespread sharing and use.
Achieved remarkable success with the track "Shine," which has garnered over one hundred million views to date, and has become a staple in tens of thousands of video productions.
Incite
Design Firm
UI/UX Associate
Oct 2014 — May 2015
Contributed to the success of a major tech product launch (under NDA) by ensuring the optimal display and usability of digital ads across major digital publishers including NY Times, Elle, and Vogue.
My responsibilities included rigorous review and testing of these ads on major brand websites, identifying bugs, and recommending enhancements to improve readability and functionality.
Utilized Jira for logging bugs and tracking improvements, contributing to a structured and effective project management process. (Although I would never choose Jira today, and would much prefer Linear...)
Rep. Steny Hoyer
United States House of Representatives
Whip Office Intern
June 2011 — Aug 2012
Undertook a range of responsibilities including preparing for meetings, managing visits by high-profile guests, filing and responding to constituent concerns, archiving important notes, and conducting research.
Focused on ensuring constituents felt heard and appreciated, while accurately capturing their sentiments in daily reports for the Congressman.
Gained valuable experience in handling high-profile guests and developing meticulous preparation skills, along with a deeper understanding of the inner workings of Congress and U.S. government.
Rep. Kay Granger
United States House of Representatives
State + Washington Office Intern
Sept 2008 — May 2009
Focusing primarily on responding to constituent requests, managing phone communications, and assisting staff assistants with research.
Gained a unique perspective by interning in both the district office in Ft. Worth and the Washington D.C. office, offering a comprehensive understanding of the unique roles across both.
Vertrue Inc.
Marketing Firm
Intern
June 2008 — Aug 2008
Tasked with the creative and analytical role of designing and A/B testing landing pages for affiliate marketing campaigns, focusing on optimizing for higher conversion rates.
Gained a greater understanding of data-driven decision-making and its applications, and limits, in digital marketing.
Collaborated across marketing, creative, and engineering teams to communicate design ideas and provide feedback on drafts, ensuring the final output met campaign objectives.
