COVID-19 Pandemic
- Co-Founded a 501(c)3 researching and promoting ways to use design to nudge people to be better to each other online.
- Left Brooklyn intending to house-sit for a fiend outside Portland, Maine for one month. House-sat for one year.
- Called and texted voters to support Joe Biden and other Democratic campaigns.
- Moved back home to Seattle.
- Volunteered to help Seattle homeless population, primarily helping people living in RVs safely get rid of wastewater.
- Took a job with an Impact-First Investor (like a regular investor, only investing for maximum poverty alleviation while preserving capital, instead of maximizing profit).
After 2016 Election
- Served as Interim Director of a New York criminal justice nonprofit.
- Helped a Brooklyn-Based Resistance group share information and make use of new digital tools.
- Took over a summer camp for a weekend to get married.
- Researched and advocated for a way to bridge political divides and improve local policies through Crowdsourced Ballot Initiatives.
Post Grad School
- Independently researched overlaps between technology and civil society, some of which is now published on TechCrunch.
- Built out website content for things like Neil deGrasse Tyson’s podcast, StarTalk.
- Helped organizations like this nonprofit that studies how media can change hearts and minds tell their story.
- Trained New York Times reporters and editors to create livestream videos on Facebook.
- Helped charitable foundation judge media innovation prototypes for grant competition.
- Built a (janky) Android app to help enter the ticket lottery for Hamilton, used the ad revenue to buy a regular ticket.
Grad School
- Earned Master in Public Administration degree from Columbia. Kind of like an MBA, only for people who care more about making the world a better place than maximizing profits.
- Managed capstone team of eight consulting with Accenture, studying digital government programs in Brazil, India, Mexico, and USA.
- Ran IT for a South African impact investor.
- Gave TEDx talk on Crowdsourced Legislation.
- Used human-centered design principles to co-found social enterprise bringing hand sanitation to Indian food carts, winning grant money for pilot testing.
- Won several thousand dollars in grant money for student-led open data initiative.
- Advised Haitian community center on setup of new computer lab using donated laptops.
- Taught did IT/admin work for new nonprofit high school in Ethiopia to serve gifted students who couldn’t otherwise access full education.
Not-So-Starving Artist Period
- Was a Resident Artist with a NYC-based Shakespeare theater.
- Acted in several Off-Off-Broadway stage productions (yes, that is a thing).
- Toured with a dramatic improv ensemble.
- Wrote for Backstage’s “Unscripted” blog.
- Picked up two IMDB credits, one where you can’t see me, one where you can’t hear me, both a blast.
- Tutored a few subjects* to pay the bills.
- Designed a couple websites.
*Calculus, Trigonometry, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English, Spanish, US and World history, SSAT, ISEE, SAT, ACT, and GRE prep, among others, students from middle school to graduate level
Traveling the World
- Used childhood savings to backpack across all seven continents.
- Started small volunteer emergency flood relief effort in Latin America.
- Helped coastal nature sanctuary cleanup in Australia.
- Edited and revised grant applications in East Africa.
- Roasted marshmallows over hot lava in Guatemala, ziplined off the Great Wall of China, snuck Malawian dignitaries into Zambian tribal ceremony, and other assorted hijinks.
- Blogged about said hijinks as I went, posts republished on wide variety of sites.
College
- Double-majored in Political Science and International Studies at the University of Chicago.
- Helped organize the world’s largest scavenger hunt, later profiled by The New Yorker.
- Studied abroad in India, starred in NBC web series about experience (along with 9 other students studying in other countries).
- Acted in a dozen-plus student theater productions.
- Worked summers fundraising for an environmental nonprofit, at a theater, and at a zoo.
Starting out
- Grew up 90% in Seattle, 10% on a cattle ranch in eastern Washington state.
- Played as varsity benchwarmer on high school basketball team.
- Saved up at young age to travel the world, starting with a coin collection, continuing through lawn mowing and first summer jobs as ranch hand, sandwich maker, and at an ice cream/coffee/candy store called Bubbles.
- Spent a lot of time hiking and biking.
- Played a lot of video games.
- Read a lot of mystery and fantasy novels.
- Ate a lot of ice cream.