About Me

A born and bred Tar Heel, I studied Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During the summers, I worked for a nonprofit called the Appalachia Service Project, where I coordinated emergency home repair services for families in Central Appalachia. We worked on the household level, solving structural problems for families that were generational victims of systemic neglect. I had a lot of trouble reconciling this experience of direct service provision with my formal education. Political Science had a distinct focus on the “big picture,” which seemed to miss many of the nuances that affected my summer clients.

After graduation, I attempted to explore this intersection of service provision and systems thinking in my rural development job at the Conservation Fund. While working there, I began to realize that residents interact with systems through the creation and implementation of public policy. Also, rural communities are poorly served by modern data collection and use practices, leaving them at the mercy of information problems. I followed these realizations all the way to Chicago, where I am currently getting my Master of Public Policy and the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.

In Chicago, I’ve explored how data analytics can improve equity in policy creation and implementation. I currently work in the Mayor’s Office, focusing on improving Digital Service provision and bringing in Civic Tech experts to inform local policy. I am pursuing a certificate in Data Analytics, which I’m using to reconcile information problems with vacant lots in Chicago. In my spare time, I enjoy solving crossword puzzles, knitting, and cuddling with my roommate’s dog.