Experience & Client work

Making Tangible LLC, Founder & Principal (2021 – Present)

Imagining and actualizing diverse and equitable futures through UX, community architecture, participatory program design and facilitation, immersive experience design and storytelling, and bamboo design/build.

The Tech We Want, Community Architect (2022- Present)

Initiative bringing together a new wave of tech leaders, companies, and technologies that are built on inclusivity, mutualism, sustainability, accountability, and responsible innovation. Leads information and knowledge management and visual storytelling.

Armillaria, Partner, Program Manager (2021-22)
Distributed Ecosystem Design Lab for Equitable Economies

Created and facilitated strategic planning processes covering mission, purpose, values, governance, legal, financial, comms, scale, and operations for groups creating cooperative infrastructure. Clients include the Southwest Native Business Coalition and the Baltimore City Intergenerational Initiatives for Trauma and Youth (B-CIITY).

Omidyar Network, Exploration & Future Sensing Fellow (2020-2021)
Philanthropic Investment Firm in Silicon Valley, CA

Designed and facilitated Foresight workshops with across the organization. Managed the distribution of $1.3mil to grantees such as Superflux and Forum for the Future. Scoped, designed and launched the Community Infrastructure Fund for Mutual Aid, a $475k fund supporting organizations led by BIPOC and marginalized groups, to invest in mutual aid infrastructure.

Humanitas, Co-Founder and Designer (2015 - 2018)
AI Startup in Amman, Jordan

Designed video mobile app to empower Arab youth to create social projects to address needs in their communities. User research with NGOs, foundations, governments, and donors. Used NLP and sentiment analysis. Led UX/UI, branding, and launched in high schools and universities around Jordan.

AVA, AI Product Designer (2018)
Communication Accessibility Startup in San Francisco, CA

Designed UX and web UI for an in-house tool that allows humans and AI (ASR – Automatic Speech Recognition) to work together to provide deaf and hard of hearing users real time transcription.

Teak, Design Intern (Summer 2015)
Branding and Production Studio in San Francisco, CA

Focused on branding, campaign design and launch, UI/UX design and product design. Created content for JanSport’s and Eat Club’s social media. Designed content for Yahoo’s international music campaign. Researched packaging design for Nest.

Workday, UX Design Thinking Intern (Summer 2014)
Cloud-based Enterprise Software company in Pleasanton, CA

Developed and implemented Design Thinking curriculum across company. Identified new features, conducted user research, tested, presented hi-fi wireframes and research to Execs.

Fresh AGM, Co-Founder and Designer (Summer 2013)
European Innovation Academy in Tallinn, Estonia

Created platform to optimize Annual General Meetings for businesses. Interviewed CFOs, CEOs and fund managers of major Baltic corporations. User Research, Branding, UX/UI.

Projects & installations

House Oracle Bibliomancy Book, Print Design (2022)
Self-published risograph book in Bellingham, WA

Font and print design for a self-published, 144-page oracle book using a 3-colour Risograph process with screenprinted covers. Consists of 45 images and channeled poetry from collaborative readings to find meaning in the mundane.

Arcosanti Camp Exhibition, Curator, Co-Housing Coordinator (2022)
Archival photo and film exhibition in Arcosanti, Arizona

Exhibition featuring archival photos and video (taken between 1970-’85) of the creation of and life within Camp, an alternative co-housing community at Arcosanti, Arizona.

The Intersection, Strategic Advisor (2020-21)
Participatory foresight research, short film in London, UK

Journeys from a violent present to a cooperative future from those who fought to reimagine extractive technology, serve community, and value nature and planetary relationships.

Casa de Hoja, Bamboo Architect, Build Lead (2019-20)
Bamboo casita in the Colombian Amazon

Designed a bamboo and earth tiny home on a shaman’s farm that hosts retreats for plant medicine ceremonies.

No Sleep Hotel, Designer, Builder (2019, 2022)
Immersive Theatre Experience at Burning Man, USA

Hotel from the dreamworld with an apothecary, dream writing station, slow service bar and various immersive visual, tactile, and auditory experience rooms.

Lightning in a Bottle, Bamboo DNA Crew (2019)
Arts and music festival in California, USA

Built 7 bamboo structures (4 A-Frame) to house structures in the Compass – The Culture Hub, Witch's Hut, Cauldron, Compass Shrine, Bazaar, and Earth Arts.

OceanSOS, Architect and Build Lead (2018)
Ocean Conservation Nonprofit in Pattaya, Thailand

Designed and led the creation of a bamboo pavillion focused on ocean conservation for Wonderfruit, the largest art and music festival focused on sustainability in SE Asia.

Jai Thep Entrance, Co-Architect and Builder (2018)
Arts and music festival in Chiang Dao, Thailand

Designed and built a giant cat gate. Visitors walked through the cat’s tail (a fabric and light tunnel) to enter the festival.

Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation, Planning Committee
UC Berkeley Engineering, Jacobs Hall (Opened Fall 2015)

Worked with faculty to plan the organization and program of Jacobs Institute. Designed the Makerpass, which provides interdisciplinary, project-based & hands-on design experiences to 1,500 undergraduate students/year.

Student Hub for Design Innovation (SHED), Lab Manager
Design Engineering Collaborative, UC Berkeley Engineering

Maintained a student-run makerspace that provides experience and educational resources in human-centered design, hands-on prototyping, digital fabrication and team-based learning.

Berkeley Innovation, Partnership Chair
Berkeley Innovation (Human-Centered Design Organization)

Coordinated 40+ design consulting projects connecting multidisciplinary UC Berkeley student teams to corporate companies, start-ups and nonprofits for semester long HCD projects in UX/UI design, User Research, and Product Design.

Volta, Design/Build
Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation, UC Berkeley Engineering

Created energy generating rocking chair. Designed, iterated and fabricated product. Crafted UX and brand. Published in PopSci, Yahoo Tech, the White House Blog, and Trend Hunter.

Volunteering

Arcosanti, Camp Coordinator, Community Council Member
Experimental city in the Sonoran Desert, AZ

Served as housing coordinator facilitating community activities and responsibilities for alternative housing community.

Designers Guild WOC, Co-Founder, Admin (2015 – Present)
Educational Resource and Facebook Group

Facebook group of 800+ women of color designers mentoring and supporting each other. Subgroup of Designers Guild, the largest online professional group for designers.

Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation, Planning Committee, Student Lead
UC Berkeley Engineering, Jacobs Hall (Opened Fall 2015)

Planned the organization and programing of the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation. Designed the Makerpass, which provides interdisciplinary, project-based, design and fabrication experience to 1,500+ undergraduate students each year.

SF Tech Fashion Week, VR/AR Committee Lead (2016-18)
San Francisco Fashion and Merchants Alliance

Education non-profit supporting fashion, design and technology start-ups, entrepreneurs and communities. Hosted panels and coordinated fashion and tech events.

Saha Global, Solar Field Representative (2015)
Takpili, a rural village near Tamale, Northern Ghana

Collaborated with rural village to design/build sustainable solar charging business to provide light, renewable energy & revenue to 600+ people. Trained local women to run business.

Poetry for the People, Student Teacher Poet (2015-16)
Art/Activism Program at University of California, Berkeley

Taught and workshopped poetry for other University students, high school students and community members. Encouraged students to express and explore their identity and struggles through the lens of poetry.

Berkeley Innovation, Partnership Chair (2014-15)
Human-Centered Design Organization

Education

University of California, Berkeley
MARCH / BA in Engineering + Architecture

Courses in architecture, critical design, visual design and representation, web design, Industrial and Mechanical engineering, urban planning, digital fabrication and entrepreneurship. Certification in Human-Centered Design and Entrepreneurship and Technology.

Tallinn University of Technology (June 2013)
Entrepreneurship and Innovation

SKILLS

Strategy and Facilitation Multi-stakeholder decision making, participatory grant making, program design and development, grantee management
Foresight Identification of signals and trends, forecasting, design futures, scenario mapping, creative storytelling and immersive experience design
UX/Design User Research (quantitative and qualitative research), Design Thinking, Information Architecture, UI Design and Prototyping (low - high fidelity), Digital Storytelling, Brand Development, Animation, Video Editing, Social Media Marketing, Content Creation, Copywriting, Lean Startup
Technical Sketch, Figma, Invision, Principle, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Sony Vegas, Premiere Pro, Keynote, Excel, HTML, CSS, Unity, Agile
Fabrication Clay and Lime Plaster, Rhino, Fusion 360, Maya, 3D printing, CNC, Lasercutter, wood, metal, leather, bamboo design/build