Founder, 2008-2020

I established the Day @ Intel Field Trip in 2008 to bring young women, grades 8-12, on-site to the Intel Chandler Facility for a day of mentorship, learning, and hands-on STEM activities. Each year, this required securing funding, recruiting over 80 volunteers, and assembling a project team to facilitate the day. We hosted a community fair, comprised of local STEM programs, educational institutions, and community organizations, and offered morning mentoring sessions and lab tours. The students also completed programming, industrial engineering, and manufacturing activities. We partnered with major universities and colleges to provide a platform to introduce the majors offered and connect students to the resources they need to navigate the application process. We collaborated with The Society of Women Engineers for registration, marketing, and outreach. Partners included:

• Arizona State University
• Norther Arizona University
• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• The University of Arizona
• University of Advancing Technology
• Chandler Gilbert Community College
• Chandler Unified School District

All at no cost to the students. We sunset the field trip following COVID due to on-site restrictions and challenges associated with a post-pandemic work environment.

Coach, 2021-2023

FIRST^® LEGO^® League sparks curiosity and confidence in young minds through hands-on STEM experiences. I coached students on building and coding the LEGO robots to complete a series of challenges. Along with the other coaches, I facilitated weekly sessions to teach programming concepts, improve students’ presentation skills, and plan the projects. The season culminated in a local tournament.

A LEGO Robotics Coach guides student teams (typically ages 5–16) in building and programming robots, often for FIRST® LEGO® League (FLL) competitions. Coaches facilitate learning, foster teamwork, and encourage problem-solving rather than providing direct technical solutions. They organize meetings, manage team dynamics, and often, but not always, have a background in STEM or education.

Key Responsibilities & Skills

Facilitation: Encourage independent thinking and “rebuild from scratch” mindsets to foster innovation.
Technical Guidance: Assist with block-based coding (e.g., Scratch, Python) and robot construction using kits like SPIKE Prime.

Mentorship: Focus on engagement, curiosity, and teamwork, helping kids navigate challenges.

Logistics: Manage meeting schedules, team roles, and competition logistics

Board Member, 2022-Present

The Friends of Public Radio Arizona assures the future vitality and excellence of our community’s public radio and broadens its support. I have served on the board since 2022, and presently chair the Outreach Committee. In my role as a board member, I fundraise for the organization, support events, and advocate for public radio.

Committee on Diversity and Equity in STEM

The AZ SciTech Institute connects and engages Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) networks to foster opportunities and collaboration in education and workforce. The DEI in STEM committee provides a platform where STEMists from a myriad of backgrounds and stakeholder groups can come together to discuss, provide resources, and take action for equity in STEM education and STEM institutions. As a member of the committee, I provided resources and connections to enable partnerships for organizations and connect students to resources.

2008-2022

The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology develops tools and programs designed to help industry, academia and government recruit, retain and develop women technology leaders. As an Ambassador, I advocated for Anita Borg’s mission within my spheres of influence. I was recruited to become an Ambassador by the Institute after attending the Grace Hopper Conference for Women in Computing in 2010, where I volunteered as a community note taker (attending sessions and posting the notes to the conference wiki), provided official tweet coverage assisted with the packaging of “swag bags” for conference attendees. I was an Ambassador from 2011-22, and in that capacity, I reengaged existing ABI Ambassadors within my company, held strategy meetings to identify areas of support for the organization and technical women, and led workshops to source and submit abstracts for the Grace Hopper Celebration. I served as a reviewer on the Career and Software tracks for the Grace Hopper Conference from 2010-2022. As a session chair, I supported speakers at the conference.

Precinct Committeeman, 2010-Present; State Committee 2010-2022

As a Precinct Committeeperson (PC) in the Arizona Democratic Party (ADP), I help elect candidates to positions in local, state, and national government. I support elected officials that share the Democratic Party’s goals and vision for a better Arizona, keep the voters of my Legislative District (LD) informed about topics that affect our community. I encourage participation in government by promoting voter registration and permanent vote by mail enrollment. I became a PC in 2008 when I began working on the campaign to elect Barack Obama. I served as a 2008 election official, where I was responsible for maintaining the integrity of Provisional Ballots, assisting Spanish speaking voters, and providing overall election assistance. As former PC in LD 20, 18, 17, and now 13, I register voters, attend monthly meetings, do voter education and outreach, and support candidates. I have served on the executive committee and technology chair. In these capacities, I established the LD’s online presence in various social media spaces, managed the website and leveraged technology tools to streamline social media outreach. I served on the Executive Board in the office of Recording Secretary from 2010-2014. In my role as Secretary, I recorded meeting minutes and distributed them on a monthly basis. I managed the monthly eNewsletter, and was elected to the State Committee in 2010, the governing body of Arizona’s Democratic Party. I completed my service in the State Committee in 2022, and continue in my role as an Elected Precinct Committeeman, in Legislative District 13. In 2020, I co-founded the precinct’s technology committee, where we undertook the project to modernize the district’s website, and incorporate new technology tools for voter outreach.

Member, 2015-2022; Chair, 2017-2019

I was a member of the Neighborhood Advisory Committee from 2015-2022. I served as Chair for two years from 2017-2019. The seven-member committee is responsible for implementing the recommendations formulated by the Neighborhood Task Force and to address new neighborhood issues as may be identified. In my time as a member of the committee, I engaged citizens to collect feedback during community listening sessions, recruited and volunteered at For Our City Day — an annual neighborhood clean up project, completed updates of the committee bylaws and the revision of the neighborhood grants program.

During this time, I was also the Neighborhood Leader for the Pepperwood Traditional Neighborhood.

• Hosted community meetings in my home
• Formed the Neighborhood Block Watch
• Wrote grants for trap, neuter and release funds to reduce the feral cat population
• Organized community dinneres
• Launched the community on NextDoor
• Led our participation in the annual city-wide Block Party
• Created our first Community Yard Sale
• Distributed a quarterly community newsletter

We won the City’s Best Revitalization Award!

Speech Judge, 2011-2022

Academic Decathlon (AcaDec) promotes, motivates, and acknowledges excellence in academic efforts and educational achievement through a program of academic competitions for high school students of all scholastic achievement levels. I volunteered as a speech judge from 2011-2022 at the Regional and State Competitions, providing objective and fair judging for impromptu and prepared speeches for high school students. I was the Region IV speech Chair in 2017, which included volunteer recruitment, training, putting together judging materials and completing additional Chair training.

Board Member, 2015-2022

I served as an apprentice with Arizona Humanities through The Manifesto Project . The Manifesto Project is a statewide organization committed to engaging, developing, and retaining Arizona’s young professionals by providing high-quality leadership development opportunities. As a Board Apprentice in class #1, I served a one-year term on the Board of Arizona Humanities, in a non-voting, but highly engaged shadow role. My duties, responsibilities, and accomplishments during my term of service consisted of raising awareness of the Humanities in Arizona through advocacy, fundraising, and event support. At the close of my apprenticeship, I applied for full membership and subsequently served as a Board Member with the organization. I served on the Finance, Advocacy, and Volunteer Committees and was elected to the Executive Board position of Secretary in 2019, where I continued to serve until the completion of my tenure in 2022. I supported the organization through its transition to Microsoft Office 365 and provided training and best practices for collaboration on the new platform. I received the Outstanding Supporter award in 2023.

As an invited member of the 2020 Citizen Bond Exploratory IT Subcommittee, I reviewed and made recommendations related to current and future technology projects to the Citizen Bond Exploratory Committee for the City of Chandler. The Bond passed successfully, funding key projects to expand the City’s technological capabilities.