Experience

Wake County Economic Development

• United States
• Non-profit Organizations
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Economic Development Director

  • Apr 2022 - Present

• Economic Development Manager

  • Apr 2019 - Apr 2022



Virginia Tech

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Economic Development Specialist

  • Jul 2017 - Jan 2019

  • Formerly Research Associate • Served as principal or co-principal investigator on projects addressing economic, community, and workforce development issues including strategic plans, market analyses, feasibility studies and economic impact analyses. • Co-led and designed a university wide initiative (Vibrant Virginia) to support faculty community engagement by administering funding, designing events fostering faculty and community member partnerships, and promoting applied research and projects on economic development.• Designed facilitation sessions and data collections for projects, engaging all stakeholders in executing regional economic development strategies. • Drafted sponsored project proposals and contracts with public, private, and non-profit funding organizations and engaged in business and project development through external networking and presenting research at conferences.• Co-authored published evaluation and rural economic development research.• Supervised graduate research assistants by assigning research and project related tasks.• Managed assistants’ work schedules to ensure timely task completion and provided feedback on draft project deliverables. • Developed and led professional development workshops teaching graduate assistants quantitative and qualitative skills.



Purdue University

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Research & Teaching Assistant

  • Aug 2015 - Jul 2017

  • Authored award-winning thesis titled “What are the challenges and benefits of rural-to-rural internal migration in sub-Saharan Africa? Evidence from a panel study in Malawi.” • Analyzed a comprehensive national representative household panel survey that tracks 4,000 households and more than 15,000 individuals, providing information on demographics, education, consumption, employment, income, and agriculture production • Constructed a dataset to test hypotheses on the causation and consequences of migration • Designed the conceptual framework, and built an empirical model outlining the dynamics of migration• Developed econometric techniques to account for data and selectivity issues inherent in migration• Lectured to a class of 150 undergraduates for the course International Economic Development in professor’s absence• Graded and edited coursework and led discussions on contemporary development issues, including inequality, trade, climate change, and macro-economic policies• Tutored individual students and provided feedback on homework assignments



Center for Global Development

• United States
• Think Tanks
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Research Assistant

  • Aug 2013 - May 2015

  • Oversaw research on the evaluation policies at various multi- and bilateral aid agencies and on the role of agriculture in development• Supported two Senior Fellows’ research in the areas of agriculture, food security, aid effectiveness, biofuels, trade, health, development policy, and corruption• Coordinated research, conducted literature reviews, maintained current events on relevant subjects, summarized meetings/conferences attended in fellow’s absence, and provided feedback on potential research opportunities• Simplified policy and research to effectively communicate to a larger audience, in an effort to improve developed countries’ policies towards developing nations • Researched and maintained a newsletter on cash-on-delivery aid and other innovative performance based aid programs• Discovered data to support fellows’ research and designed visual graphics for final publications



Virginia Tech

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Research Assistant

  • Aug 2012 - Aug 2013

  • Gained extensive knowledge of STATA (statistics programming software), cleaning datasets, programming and generating new datasets, interpreting statistical output, and statistical testing.• Cleaned and programmed data from a farm survey on legume production in sub-Saharan Africa.• Created graphics using country-level data on agricultural research expenditures. • Gained extensive knowledge of STATA (statistics programming software), cleaning datasets, programming and generating new datasets, interpreting statistical output, and statistical testing.• Cleaned and programmed data from a farm survey on legume production in sub-Saharan Africa.• Created graphics using country-level data on agricultural research expenditures.



CIAT

• Colombia
• Research
• 700 & Above Employee

• Visiting Investigator

  • Aug 2011 - Aug 2012

  • Participated in development of new protocol for gathering data on crop variety adoption and its impacts and organized data and workshop output for the Socio-Economic and Impact Analysis team.• Provided budget, logistical, and planning support for workshops to collect data on national agriculture production. • Supervised schedules, worksheets, materials, and participant lists for workshops held throughout Central America, while based in Managua, Nicaragua.• Led and facilitated workshops on agriculture production throughout Central America.• Tracked, cleaned, and analyzed data for us in a national economic surplus analysis.



Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resource Management Collaborate Research Support Program

• Research Intern

  • May 2011 - Jun 2011

  • Collaborated with team of interns that designed surveys to gather costs on conservation agricultural practices to mitigate soil erosion in the Andes• Conducted surveys in Spanish on farms in rural Ecuador (Chimborazo Watershed)• Prepared partial budgets for various crops and cultivation practices prevalent in the region• Co-authored report, “Determining Costs of Conventional Conservation Agricultural Practices” • Collaborated with team of interns that designed surveys to gather costs on conservation agricultural practices to mitigate soil erosion in the Andes• Conducted surveys in Spanish on farms in rural Ecuador (Chimborazo Watershed)• Prepared partial budgets for various crops and cultivation practices prevalent in the region• Co-authored report, “Determining Costs of Conventional Conservation Agricultural Practices”