Before joining the doctoral program at the University of Iowa, I served as the Residential Empowerment and Advocacy for Children’s Health (REACH) Program Coordinator at Youth Emergency Services & Shelter in Des Moines, Iowa. In this role, I was a member of the clinical team conducting outpatient therapy services for community clients while also supervising a team of social services professionals who provided innovative programming based upon healing centered engagement for child victims of crime. My work at YESS also afforded me the opportunity to briefly study design thinking at the Stanford University Hasso Plattner School of Design.

At the Stanford School of Design, I was introduced to the practice of applying design principles to complex macro-level social challenges and infusing the ensuing practice of social change with an additive mindset and a sense of delight for the creative aspects of problem solving. Upon using those principles to inform my work in the children’s mental health system as well as my work as an Adjunct Instructor teaching public policy at the University of Iowa School of Social Work Des Moines Program, I found that I would like to further explore the intersection of design, moral leadership, and social work education in the hopes of preparing future professional social workers for the unique policy, political, and environmental issues that comprise the context of our collective lived experience. 

Research Interests

Public Policy, Political Ethics, Environmental Justice, Sustainability, Management and Organizations, Design and Education, Designing for Social Systems.