Public interest technology

service design and
and strategy for good

For a long time, I thought my knack for logical problem solving meant that I must have a cold robot heart.

Turns out, my robot heart is actually quite warm and squishy. I’m great at leading program and product design with empathy while also crafting data-informed strategies alongside world-savers in the public sector.

15+

Years of Experience

15+

Government agencies and nonprofits

I care about people.

A LOT.

I work remote, but

I go where the work is.

I’m a Minnesotan who got a job at the White House and moved to DC with two suitcases of stuff.

Since then, I’ve acquired a lot more stuff, lived and worked in a few more states, and now I find myself in Providence, RI and traveling to meet users where they are.

My preferred mode is to be as close as possible to facilitating research in the natural environment of the person whose experience I’m trying to learn about, but my seven years of remote work I’ve picked up a few tricks to facilitating research without being in-person.

I run
discovery sprints

When you’re trying to do the most good for the most people in the greatest need, the way forward isn’t often very clear. You need to get to the heart of the problem quickly, but how do you know you’re trying to solve the right problem?

Enter: the discovery sprint.

I’ve spent years of working on some of the toughest tech and service design problems in government and nonprofits. I’ve evolved methods for working fast–think weeks, not months or years–to root out key problems and deliver a path analysis that shows the way forward. I help align stakeholders, identify risks and blockers (and how to mitigate them), and create exit criteria and transition plans to ensure the work is sustainable.

I’m also a strategy facilitator

a.k.a. a fearless trail guide
on the muddy path of decision-making.

One of the best compliments I receive when I facilitate is that I make the process of having hard conversations fun.

When I facilitate, I create the artifacts and experiences that help teams decide what must be done–and then actually do it. I also center the humanity and context of the people doing the work so we can work together openly and (dare I say it?) find joy and take pride in what we accomplish.

Also, I don’t ascribe to the idea that things just magically change after a a workshop or two, so I help set teams up for being accountable to actually doing the thing.

Did you make it all the way down here?

Maybe we have something in common! I propose we have a conversation.