My Resume

Professional Experience

March 2025 - Present

Author
Throughlines

I write a weekly Substack newsletter, Throughlines, where I trace the threads of story and self. For as long as I can remember, writing has been my way of making sense of the world—whether it's through the lens of journalism, personal essays, fiction, or poetry. But in the last few years, I’ve realized that the stories I tell aren’t just about what I write—they’re about who I am, how we move through the world, and the threads that connect all of us.

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March 2024 - March 2025

Communications Specialist

NIH Office of AIDS Research

Developed communications plans and coordinated across teams to implement activities across NIH HIV research portfolio
Led social media content planning and platform management (LinkedIn, X) and maintained office editorial calendar
Wrote the plain-language summary for federal Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Opportunistic Infections in Adults and Adolescents with HIV and shaped the language around the screening protocol for transgender people to increase clarity and avoid stigma; the summary has stayed in the top 4 most-visited OAR webpages since its publication
Proposed idea for, planned, and designed a new e-newsletter for NIH HIV research community, launching Spring 2025
Led promotion planning and content development for World AIDS Day 2024 Event, resulting in a 50% increase in attendees from 2023 event and the White House Office of National AIDS Policy Director saying it was “the best event I’ve ever participated in”
Performed all audience interviews and shaped follow-up recommendations for the development of the new OAR website
Supported communications for community engagement and listening sessions with HIV community members & advocates

June 2023 - March 2024

Communications Lead
NIH Office of Data Science Strategy (ODSS)

Managed team of eight strategic communication contractors to complete regular comms tasks
Wrote and edited weekly “Data Science Updates” e-newsletter detailing ODSS activities and data science-related funding opportunities, webinars, RFIs, blogs, etc. for both the NIH and public audiences
Wrote and edited all monthly reports to NIH Director Dr. Monica Bertagnolli by working with ODSS team leads to capture monthly accomplishments and upcoming noteworthy projects on behalf of the ODSS director
Created talking points and/or presentation materials for ODSS director for all interviews and speaking engagements
Served as Congressional Liaison for ODSS, keeping leadership up to date on congressional activities and laws or policies that could affect our work and data science policy in general

March 2022 - June 2023

Science Writer

NIH Office of Data Science Strategy (ODSS)

Wrote and edited content including reports to Congress, division director’s blog posts, and communications plans
Ran social media (Twitter/X, LinkedIn) for ODSS and planned/executed monthly social campaigns including a DEI Award-winning Women’s History Month campaign that made March of 2023 our account’s most successful month to date
Led strategy and planning, created slides, and advertised for monthly Town Halls and Data Sharing and Reuse Seminars
Drafted and edited briefing materials for NIH Director-Elect on topics like AI, machine learning, and data sharing & reuse

March 2021 - Present

Washington Correspondent

MinnPost

Reported and wrote stories on and around Minnesota’s congressional delegation with a focus on social justice issues
Wrote a weekly newsletter “The D.C. Memo” to sum up the week’s Washington news with a focus on MN lawmakers
Won second place in the Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists’ 2022 award for best statewide weekly newsletter
Moderated Zoom panels with Sen. Amy Klobuchar and journalists Astead Herndon, Emily Ramshaw, and Errin Haines

Sept 2020 - Nov 2020

Electionland Reporter

ProPublica

Monitored tip line and reported on incidents of voter suppression & pandemic pitfalls during the 2020 election season
Determined tip validity, connected tips with appropriate ProPublica local news partners, and collaborated on stories

Nov 2019 - Feb 2021

Technical Writer (Cybersecurity)

IMSolutions / GSA

Gathered, analyzed, translated, and composed technical information about federal cybersecurity policy and practice into clear, readable documents to be used by technical and non-technical personnel in the federal government
Wrote, edited, and designed a 100+ page technical report assessing NOAA acquisition resources
Created and maintained various project artifacts and user documentation including functional requirements, design documents, user guides, style guides, publishing standards, etc.
Wrote blogs and produced videos on emerging technology, cybersecurity services, and risk mitigation strategies

July 2019 - Sept 2019

Intern

CNN Investigative Unit

Published investigation that shows the EPA dropped restrictions on a potentially devastating Alaska mine one day after President Trump met with Alaska’s governor
Balanced long-term investigations with rapid response stories (primarily mass shootings) by collaborating with the national investigative team to research, interview, and write the story in a breaking news setting
Investigated potential illegal insider trading within a company by monitoring the SEC database, speaking with experts in insider trading, and compiling a database of executives’ stock movements and campaign contributions

Jan 2019 - June 2019

Research Reporter

ProPublica Illinois / Chicago Tribune

Investigated nation-wide epidemic of states using out-of-state psychiatric facilities to treat and house juvenile state wards
Interviewed dozens of parents and families of children in psychiatric facilities, former employees, and government officials who oversee the psychiatric facilities and their wards
Spearheaded the arm of the project that focused on deaf children stuck in abusive psychiatric facilities
Found and analyzed reports, state inspections, and child-protection details from each psychiatric facility using a 3-stage FOIA process that starts with police call logs, then digs deeper into more sensitive incident reports and audio
Managed team of Medill students on project and delegated tasks like researching facilities and sending FOIAs to all 50 states

Sept 2018 - March 2019

Freelance Investigator

Better Government Association

Published investigation into Rahm Emanuel’s closing of the Chicago Department of Environment, finding that the city had been neglecting environmental regulation practices in neighborhoods of lower socioeconomic status
Took charge of the data analysis for our reporting team by collecting, cleaning, analyzing, and visualizing over 50,000 rows of environmental enforcement data with OpenRefine, Excel, and Tableau
Conducted thorough background research for the investigation by using FOIAs, budget documents, and the city data portal

April 2018 - July 2018

Editorial Intern

Pacific Standard

Covered surveillance technology at the border, interviewed cybersecurity experts about ongoing senate trials and the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and spoke with a Harvard sociologist about the failures plaguing the criminal justice system
Pitched and wrote daily and feature stories on social justice, environment, economy, and education for a global audience
Copy-edited and fact-checked feature length articles in English and Spanish for website and bimonthly print magazine

June 2017 - Sept 2017

Investigative Intern

Injustice Watch

Investigated Cook County criminal court judges via Nexis, misdemeanor court records, and in-person court observations
Created judicial voting guide that resulted in Chicagoans voting a judge off the bench for the first time in 28 years
Filed FOIAs for information on ICE detainees in sheriff’s offices affiliated with the 287(g) program across the U.S.
Compiled summaries of detainee deaths in ICE detention centers in collaboration with the Houston Chronicle to provide supplemental information for an interactive map of ICE detention centers and their systematic human rights violations

April 2019 - Present

Freelance Writer & Editor
Various Publications

I am a freelance copywriter and editor. I also write freelance features and investigations for outlets like The Washington Post, MarketWatch, Washington City Paper, and more. My work tends to center around issues that affect women and disadvantaged communities.