I was raised at the dead end of a dirt road outside of Casper, Wyoming. My partner calls my childhood a Norman Rockwell poster, and it’s not far from the truth. My parents — a school teacher and public sector geologist — emphasized a frontier-worthy work ethic, a respect for nature and wildlife, humility for everything you’ve been given, and the importance of showing up for your community. 

When it came time for me to go to college, I chose the University of Tulsa — seeking a “big city experience” (it’s big by Wyoming standards!) and warmer winters. Luckily, TU afforded me opportunities far beyond my expectations: the ability to pursue multiple degrees, meaningful leadership roles, an internship with an international citizen diplomacy organization, and a defining semester abroad in Amman, Jordan, studying Arabic and Middle Eastern politics. 

I had ambitions of pursuing international policy after graduating, but the Great Recession forced a local shift.  I was fortunate to land a job at the Tulsa City Council as a Council Aide. My role quickly grew to include launching the Tulsa Youth Council and serving as the Council’s Legislative Liaison, and taught me how vital — and often invisible — the work of municipal government was to people’s day to day lives. Outside City Hall, I managed my first electoral campaign for a state legislative race and caught the political bug. 

Eager to take on bigger challenges, I enrolled in The George Washington University’s graduate school and earned a master’s in political Management. The Tulsa Regional Chamber recruited me into their government affairs division, where over six years I rose from Manager to Senior Vice President. In this role, I led all of the Chamber’s political activities: local, state, and federal advocacy; ballot initiative campaign management; PAC candidate recruitment, evaluation, endorsement, and support; and regional legislative agenda development with a coalition of more than 70 partner organizations. 

In 2016, the newly elected Mayor of Tulsa asked me to serve as his Chief of Community Development & Policy. As a member of the mayor’s executive cabinet, I served as a key advisor on citywide issues while also building a diverse team of four direct reports and leading multiple public-private partnerships with coalitions of internal staff and community leaders. I managed many of the city’s key initiatives, including implementing transformational capital investment programs, developing racial equity policies, launching the City’s inaugural affordable housing strategy, and neighborhood planning, regional tourism, transit expansion, and downtown growth. 

After leaving the City in 2020, I spearheaded a multi-stakeholder project to design a new organization to catalyze equity-centered growth and civic participation. My team conducted a comprehensive analysis of Tulsa’s adopted community plans, interviewed 16 national peers, and developed an organizational values framework, legal structure, four key pillars of work, detailed five-year work plan, staffing model, and scalable budget.

Driven by the momentum of that project, I started a community development and public policy consulting firm focused on equity-centered policy development and implementation at the local and state levels. I now work alongside community-based organizations anchored in racial justice and liberation.

In my personal life, I return to my Wyoming roots by getting outside as much as possible — being humbled by mountains and mystery. During the pandemic, this connection to a safe space became vital for so many others as well. And so I started Outside Made Easy, a guiding service removing structural, financial, and historical barriers to the outdoors. 

Thanks to flexibility of working remotely with clients all over the country, my partner and I took on a new adventure in 2023: moving temporarily to Guanajuato, Mexico, for language and cultural immersion. As U.S. citizens living abroad, we continue to work full time while enjoying this historic city’s incredible people, sights, and cultural experiences. We miss our chosen and biological family, friends, and our dog Dora, but remain deeply grateful for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.