I am a design strategist with several years of consulting experience across a diverse range of industries. Most recently, I've worked as an HCD Specialist for Technical Assent, where I lead service design projects primarily for clients within the Department of Veterans Affairs. From 2018-2020, I earned two master's degrees as part of the MBA/MA in Design Leadership program between Johns Hopkins University and Maryland Institute College of Art. Previously I worked for four years in various supply chain roles for Newell Brands, a Fortune 500 consumer products company.
I have honed my personal leadership style through a combination of human-centered design and more traditional management consulting projects for clients and senior-level stakeholders. I can provide my abilities to lead teams, evangelize ideas, and energize groups to creative teams at any company in order to facilitate collaboration, co-creation and decision making.
When I'm not working, I spend most of my time baking sourdough bread, cooking and experimenting in the kitchen, playing video games, or hanging out with friends.
"It feels weird saying this, but you're really good at talking...Explaining things comes naturally to you."
"You're able to communicate really authentically with a wide variety of people."
"You have a way in putting things forward -- ideas that might not be popular -- but in a way that doesn't feel antagonistic."
"You have a knack for making people comfortable and gettting people to talk."
"I describe you to other people as a joy to work with, upbeat, the great unifier. You are 'the person for all' because you can make anyone feel comfortable in a group setting."
"Your ability to persuade people is legendary! We [the other MA/MBA students] actually have a term for this. When someone is suddenly convinced to argue for your position or someone else's position, we say 'Oh! You got Jerry'd'."
"You're down to play around with ideas. Even if we're stuck, you're willing to be vulnerable and share bad ideas just to get the ball rolling, which makes other people feel comfortable to share."
"You understand the details, but you can always keep the big picture in mind. I come to you when I want clarity with how we're approaching or thinking about something."