More than you ever wanted to know-

Like the Baz Luhrmann song, I lived in New York and hopefully left before I got too hard. I also lived in California and left before becoming too soft. And, yes, I do wear sunscreen!

Growing up in a small town in Connecticut, I never dreamed that I’d travel the world, live on both coasts, and for many years already, call Texas my home. However, I did know that design was in my future! From sketching out neighborhoods on brown paper bags as a child to high school drafting classes, there was always something being imagined.

Studying architecture at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn was a major awakening. With a large fashion design program - every day was a dress-up day. A semester in Rome influenced not only my life but also that of others around me; the impact having an amazing ripple effect. Taking classes in the Industrial Design Dept provided me with opportunities to see a whole other design space. Years later, that helped me to get a job in San Antonio, working on the interior of a 747, for Saudi royalty. It was a fun diversion from my architectural career, but that’s all history.

Yes, I practiced architecture on both coasts and continued in the field for many years here in Austin. After taking care of my ailing Mom, I decided not to go back to a career I never thought I’d leave.

Starting in late 2012, I had been a founding member of a group influencing the Social Impact space. We utilized social media campaigns, meetups, ran accelerator programs, & held day-long SXSWi events at City Hall. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals defined our scope. For years, that, & associated projects have fulfilled my civic engagement appetite. Our most recent effort has been developing an app that was kicked off at the 2018 ATX Hack For Change, where we won “The Most Austin” prize. I performed User Research, conducted a number of User Interviews, and plan on being in on the MVP User Testing in the future.

Currently, I work for a local product design firm, Mixer Group. It is a wonderful opportunity, and nicely bridges the tangible, from my former career, with my new digital career! In a few short months, I’ve learned new software, completed one project & am nearing completion of the second. I’m excited to see what’s next-

A long way of saying that my path to UX, Design Thinking, Product Management, & Project Management, has actually been via many iterations of Design.

FOR MORE ABOUT MY PATH,
SEE MY MEDIUM POST!

Relevant Experience

Self-Employed

UX/UI Designer, Austin, TX

2020-Present

Page/

(formerly PageSoutherlandPage)

Vice President, Austin, TX

SocialGood.us

Team member 2018 ATX Hack4Change prize-winning, “Good Emporium”. The scalable web app will be a living resource for those involved, & looking for information regarding Social Impact, specifically, the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Austin+SocialGood.org

Project Manager for SXSW Interactive all-day events at City Hall

Participated in the Dutch Cycling Embassy’s Austin Workshop, resulting in increased protected bike lanes along corridors in Austin..

Contributed to organizing of Work From Home Day & subsequent City-led Mobility Week, which later led to the City of Austin’s Mobility Solutions

Liaised with, Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea’s office, leading to Austin being selected as Rocky Mountain Inst’s ‘lead transportation disruption city’.

Contributed to organizing of SocialGoodSummit Austin's Work From Home Day ATX / SXSW Panel

Team member for SocialGoodSummit Austin's inaugural (Feb 2013) Work From Home Day ATX & August 2013 Work From Home Day. Compiled data, lessons learned & was a co-author for GOOD White Paper submittal

Car Free Day ATX

With Car Free Day ATX co-founder, in one month, co-organized inaugural Austin celebration to spur Austinites to give up their cars

AIAaustin

Participated in Education Committee, Activities Committee; while Education Chair, led launch of Austin’s Architecture in Schools program.

West Austin Neighborhood Group (WANG)

Board member, Newsletter Editor, & all offices except Treasurer

Leadership Austin

After graduating from the flagship Essentials program, I participated in the Strategic Plan Committee, Alumni Committee, Recruiting Committee

EDUCATION, AFFILIATIONS, LICENSES, CERTIFICATES