Experience

I staged my first protest at age nine when land developers threatened to cut down the woods behind my elementary school. After circulating a petition and speaking at my local city hall, I became passionate about working within nonprofit communities. 

I graduated with my BA in Communications in 2006 and was subsequently hired as Director of Development for a Saint Louis-based nonprofit that provides residential and therapeutic services for individuals with profound developmental and physical disabilities. 

I earned my M.A. in Psychology in 2012, focusing on early intervention services for families of young children with Down syndrome. After graduation, I accepted a position organizing continuing education and leadership conferences in Denver, CO.

In 2013, I created and led the Rocky Moutain Down Syndrome Young Professional Board, whose responsibilities throughout the years have included: organizing an annual comedy night fundraiser, supporting large-scale fundraising events, securing auction items, and working directly with self-advocates. 

Most recently, I worked with the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence as a speaker and sponsor liaison: building the conference agenda, creating sponsorship and agenda copy, soliciting potential sponsors, and serving as the point-of-contact for over 80 speakers from the time their submissions were accepted through the end of the event. I also served as our continuing education point of contact: applying for and receiving continuing education from the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), assuring onsite compliance of NASW standards, working with attendees to secure their NASW certificates, and generating the post-event CEU report.

Throughout the years, I have pursued my creative interests in a freelance capacity as well, writing for websites such as Book Riot and Scary Mommy on topics ranging from the importance of reading diverse authors to the intersection of parenting and mental health. These projects provided me the opportunity to interact with authors such as Roxane Gay, Janet Mock, Lois Lowry, Ann Patchett, Tana French, Dopesick’s Beth Macy, and Equal Justice Initiative’s Bryan Stevenson.

In 2016, I was selection to participate in Mortified, a comedy show in which people read their delightfully embarrassing adolescent journal entries, allowing me to subject several hundred people to my 90’s obsessions with teen actor Devon Sawa and pop sensation Hanson, as well as my other pre-teenage fixations. Feel free to ask me about the 90’s classing coming of age movie Now and Then or literally anything about orcas.

I really enjoyed all of the speakers and topics. They all provided humor and wonderful stories and were engaging. This isn’t one of those workshops that makes you wonder why you even bothered missing work. I’m glad I came!

-Project Accountant, Alston Construction