Experience

Illinois Legal Aid Online

• United States
• Legal Services
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Community Engagement Director

  • Aug 2022 - Present

  Chicago, Illinois, United States

• Director Of Strategic Partnerships

  • Sep 2019 - Aug 2022

• Community Engagement Manager

  • Jul 2015 - Sep 2019

  Greater Chicago Area ILAO uses tech solutions to empower people who cannot afford an attorney by providing them with legal self-help resources they can use to resolve their own legal issues. As Community Engagement Manager, I lead ILAO’s marketing, outreach, training, and support for public and attorney users of IllinoisLegalAid.org, ILAO’s award-winning website. I also cultivate and nurture relationships with ILAO’s partners and stakeholders throughout Illinois and help them manage their organizational information… Show more ILAO uses tech solutions to empower people who cannot afford an attorney by providing them with legal self-help resources they can use to resolve their own legal issues. As Community Engagement Manager, I lead ILAO’s marketing, outreach, training, and support for public and attorney users of IllinoisLegalAid.org, ILAO’s award-winning website. I also cultivate and nurture relationships with ILAO’s partners and stakeholders throughout Illinois and help them manage their organizational information on our website for legal aid referrals and a help center directory. I love working here because ILAO values continues improvement and trying new strategies to serve as many people as possible. My position also neatly blends my background as an attorney and a social worker!



Illinois Department of Human Services (DHS)

• Management Operations Analyst; Communications and Change Management Team Leader

  • Aug 2012 - Jun 2015

  Greater Chicago Area As part of a team under the Work Support Strategies Project, I designed and supported the implementation of standardized business procedures that ensured more effective and efficient delivery of public benefits, including health coverage and food stamps, to people with low income in local DHS offices across the state. I guided management staff in 10 offices in and around Chicago to improve their business processes and streamline their workflow. I was also the Communications and… Show more As part of a team under the Work Support Strategies Project, I designed and supported the implementation of standardized business procedures that ensured more effective and efficient delivery of public benefits, including health coverage and food stamps, to people with low income in local DHS offices across the state. I guided management staff in 10 offices in and around Chicago to improve their business processes and streamline their workflow. I was also the Communications and Change Management Team Leader of the Integrated Eligibility System (IES) Project, a multi-year project to design and implement a new benefits processing system statewide. As the leader of this team, I ensured that information related to the IES Project was conveyed to 80 local offices across the state in a clear, concise, and timely manner. This included a weekly conference call, bi-weekly intranet tips and onsite office visits that provided operational and policy instructions. Show less



Feeding America

• United States
• Non-profit Organizations
• 400 - 500 Employee

• Policy Intern

  • Sep 2011 - Jun 2012

  Chicago This was my administrative practicum for my master’s degree. I researched federal policies and regulations pertaining to SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) in order to draft issue briefs and talking points for a national network of 200 member food banks to assist them in anti-hunger policy and advocacy efforts that improved and increased food assistance to low-income families. I also monitored state legislation related to SNAP and TANF (also sometimes referred to as “welfare”) and issued… Show more This was my administrative practicum for my master’s degree. I researched federal policies and regulations pertaining to SNAP (formerly known as food stamps) in order to draft issue briefs and talking points for a national network of 200 member food banks to assist them in anti-hunger policy and advocacy efforts that improved and increased food assistance to low-income families. I also monitored state legislation related to SNAP and TANF (also sometimes referred to as “welfare”) and issued legislative updates to the nationwide network of food banks. During this internship, I discovered a love of listening to legislative meetings and hearings online. I was fascinated by the discourse surrounding the pending legislation that was relevant to our food banks, and also sometimes frightened by the rhetoric used in relation to people in need of public assistance. Show less



Advocate Lutheran General Hospital Older Adult Services

• Clinical Intern

  • Oct 2010 - Jun 2011

  Greater Chicago Area This was my clinical practicum for my master’s degree. I conducted group therapy and counseled individual clients in the Adult Day Program for older adults who require a moderate level of care and supervision during the day in order to remain in their own homes or with their families. I loved working with clients in this program. Every day was exhausting, fun, and rewarding.



City of Chicago

• Government Administration
• 700 & Above Employee

• Assistant Corporation Counsel

  • Aug 2005 - Aug 2010

  Chicago I started out at the City of Chicago’s Law Department as a law clerk, although I was already a licensed attorney. There were very few entry-level Law Department attorney job openings and a large pool of applicants, so my goal was to work hard, get noticed, and get hired. My plan worked - I was hired as an attorney after eight months, and I was selected to develop a new program to increase the efficiency and accuracy of Municipal Building Code filings five months after that. After… Show more I started out at the City of Chicago’s Law Department as a law clerk, although I was already a licensed attorney. There were very few entry-level Law Department attorney job openings and a large pool of applicants, so my goal was to work hard, get noticed, and get hired. My plan worked - I was hired as an attorney after eight months, and I was selected to develop a new program to increase the efficiency and accuracy of Municipal Building Code filings five months after that. After implementing this new program, I monitored its day-to-day operations, which included training and supervising a team of fifteen law clerks, who produced tens of thousands of title searches every year. Our program reduced the error rate from errors in thirty percent of cases filed to less than one percent of cases in just one year. I really loved developing this program because we were solving a systemic problem with the way cases were being filed. In addition, when I spotted errors in our own process, I had the power and the freedom to correct them immediately through procedural changes. As the program became institutionalized, I craved a new challenge. I decided that I wanted to do similar work in the non-profit community, so I returned to school to get my master’s degree from the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. Show less



St. Petersburg College

• United States
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Senior Staff Assistant

  • Aug 2000 - Jul 2001

  Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida Area I drafted grant proposals and created a database to track funders. I liked grantwriting because it requires precision. Grant proposals must follow guidelines, which usually limit page length or word count, and must be strictly tailored to provide a clear and concise answer to a very specific question. I enjoyed writing and rewriting grant proposals until the finished product was perfect. Although I really liked this position, by this time I had determined that I wanted to attend law… Show more I drafted grant proposals and created a database to track funders. I liked grantwriting because it requires precision. Grant proposals must follow guidelines, which usually limit page length or word count, and must be strictly tailored to provide a clear and concise answer to a very specific question. I enjoyed writing and rewriting grant proposals until the finished product was perfect. Although I really liked this position, by this time I had determined that I wanted to attend law school, with the intent of practicing public interest law in a non-profit or government setting. I left this job after a year to attend Emory University School of Law. Show less