My philosophy

enjoy the ride

 

I’ve been fortunate to work with great teams throughout my career. My best professional experiences involved smart, good-natured people getting together and collaborating to not just achieve the organization’s goals, but to make the stakeholder’s journey a positive one.

What i offer

A Diverse Set of Skills

  • Expert communicator through video, audio, and the written word.
  • Experience developing and executing strategic engagement plans that are targeted and measurable.
  • Relationship-builder with a network of contacts in government, civil society, and the private sector.

My Experience At A Glance

Summary: I am an experienced communications, outreach, and engagement professional that works in complex policy spaces. I have an extensive and diverse set of skills encompassing communications (digital and traditional), outreach/engagement, policy, and advocacy. My greatest strengths are taking complex content and packaging it in a way any audience can understand, from policymakers and the media to academics, technical audiences, and the public.

Career Highlights:

  • Act as a lead evangelist for ICANN in the U.S. and Canada, develop comprehensive strategies for all ICANN engagement in the North America region, and serve as a main point of contact in Washington, D.C. for U.S. Government Affairs.
  • Lead/led small teams for global multistakeholder efforts to: transition the stewardship of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority from the U.S. Government to the global multistakeholder community; respond to legislation affecting ICANN in Europe, Canada, and the U.S.; and respond to threats to a secure, stable, and interoperable Internet at the United Nations.
  • Led communications/PR for two top national associations in international development and healthcare, including leading digital media efforts.

RELEVANT WORK EXPERIENCE

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

WASHINGTON, DC

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT DIRECTOR – NORTH AMERICA & GLOBAL ACADEMIA                                                         
SEP. 2013-PRESENT

  • Develop, project-manage, and execute policy/advocacy/communications campaigns to further ICANN’s strategic goals. Major successes include: a two-year global effort to transition the stewardship of critical Internet resources to the global multistakeholder community (IANA Stewardship Transition), and mitigation of privacy legislation impacts on the Internet’s core elements both at the European Union (e.g., GDPR, DSA, NIS2) and on Capitol Hill.
  • Recruit, cultivate, and mobilize companies, trades, and nonprofit organizations to support ICANN’s strategic priorities, as well as participate in ICANN’s policy development processes.
  • Lead ICANN’s global engagement with academia, including strategy development and coordinating efforts across regions.
  • Manage ICANN’s North America engagement portfolio with more than 2,000 stakeholders from all sectors and industries.
  • Represent and speak on behalf of ICANN at major Internet conferences (e.g., national and regional Internet Governance Forums), and universities (spoke at more than 35 events in my time at ICANN). Discussion topics include how the Internet and Domain Name System work; Internet security; and how legislation affects critical Internet resources.
  • Organize and execute events (e.g., keynote addresses, panel discussions, webinars [organized more than 200 events in my time at ICANN]), individually and with partner organizations, to advance ICANN strategic goals in the U.S., Canada, and at the United Nations.
  • Coordinated more than 20 visits from senior ICANN executives and Board members to Washington. Develop briefing materials and talking points for senior ICANN executives for use in bilateral meetings, Congressional testimony, speaking engagements, and other events.
  • Track legislation in the U.S. and Canada that affect ICANN and meet with government representatives from both countries to discuss ICANN priorities and update on ICANN activities.
  • Manage budgets, writing for the ICANN blog/newsletter, and supervise contractors.

    Internet Law & Policy Foundry

    WASHINGTON, DC

    FELLOW AND COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR                                                                                                                      JAN. 2022-Dec. 2023

    • Oversaw all strategy and communications activities related to the fourth class of fellows for the
      Foundry including management of the Foundry’s digital media channels and website (Jan. 2022 – Mar. 2023).
    • Regularly contributed to the TechPolicyGrind podcast, covering the latest issues in tech policy, including content moderation, platform banning, and Internet governance.
    • Guided the Foundry through a challenging and evolving communications environment, including the
      Foundry’s actions as it related to engagement on Twitter upon the platform’s transition in ownership.
    • Supported the Foundry’s activities as it related to operations, fundraising, and event production through service on the Executive Committee.

    United Nations Foundation

    WASHINGTON, DC

    COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER                                                                                                                                           AUG. 2011-SEP. 2013

    • Strategically budgeted for, planned, and oversaw all traditional and online communications for the Foundation’s United Nations Association (UNA) program; supported communications for the public policy department, as well as pan-Foundation public relations campaigns; supplied UNA’s grassroots membership with the outreach tools needed to conduct advocacy on behalf of the United Nations.
    • Drafted all UNA communications collateral including fact sheets; talking points; press releases; presentations; remarks for the UNA Executive Director; and, in accordance with Foundation events, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, as well as UNF’s CEO and Board Chair.
    • Supervised Online Communications Associate and newsmagazine Editor.
    • Oversaw all email and social media activity, including newsletters, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Managed complete web redesigns of main UNA website and newsmagazine website.
    • Proactively pitched media for coverage of major UNA events throughout the year, including activities surrounding the UN General Assembly, UN Day, and Human Rights Day.
    • Managed building of communications apparatus as UNA came under the banner of the Foundation.

    American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists

    ARLINGTON, VA

    SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS AND SOCIAL MEDIA SPECIALIST                                                                                      AUG. 2009-AUG. 2011

    • Coordinated all public relations activities including: drafting and disseminating press releases; ghost-writing op-eds and speechwriting for association leadership; interviewing members; drafting articles for association news magazine; compiling daily clip reports; proactively pitching local, national, and international media outlets; and acting as primary liaison between the media and pharmaceutical subject-matter experts.
    • Strengthened social media sites by creating editorial calendar to deliver more consistent content and developed both an association Twitter feed and YouTube channel. Results included an over 2,000-member increase in the association’s LinkedIn page.
    • Acted as Crisis Communications Coordinator to provide internal and external messaging in the event of a crisis at major AAPS meetings.

    Pfizer, Inc. (GLOBAL R&D)

    NEW LONDON, CT

    COMMUNICATIONS ASSISTANT                                                                                                                                      SEPT. 2006-FEB. 2009

    • Supported global Strategy, Operations and Communications (SOCOM) department by writing articles for company newsletter.
    • Helped maintain team stability as SOCOM went through workforce transition and business intensive changes by keeping publications on time and on target.
    • Edited pictures and graphics for incorporation into newsletter and arranged newsletter layout.

    EDUCATION

    Master of Arts in Political Science, May 2009

    The American University, Washington, DC

    Bachelor of Arts in Communications, January 2005

    Quinnipiac University, Hamden, CT

    AWARDS

    PR News Non-Profit Team of the Year (UN Foundation) – 2011, 2012

    Webby Honoree for Outstanding Association Website (UNA-USA) – 2013

    LANGUAGE/TECHNICAL SKILLS

    Conversational Spanish, AI Tools (e.g. ChatGPT/Notion/Bard), Salesforce CRM, Smartsheet Project Management, SharePoint CMS, Microsoft Office Suite, Cision, Meltwater, WordPress, SurveyMonkey, Constant Contact, MailChimp, Adobe Suite