A bit about me
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I have a decade of experience guiding high-impact companies to grow and achieve operational excellence. I also hold a SHRM-SCP certification, which gives me a well-rounded HR knowledge base, and a Financial Management Essentials certificate.
​When it comes to people operations and HR, perspective matters. Here are some of the identities I hold that influence me: white, managerial/upper class, queer, femme, nonbinary, abolitionist, Ashkenazi jew, anti-z!onist, Gemini, ecological feminist, and US-born.
I am and have been a settler on Wabanaki land (colonially southern Maine), unceded Ohlone land (colonially Oakland, CA), and the lands of the Nipmuc, Massachusett, and Wampanoag peoples (colonially Massachusetts). I am an activist for economic and racial justice, which for me includes moving between 12-25% of my income to BIPOC-driven organizations fighting for liberation, paying land tax, and volunteering my time. ​​
I also love dancing, gardening, and sci-fi, especially solar punk and speculative fiction!
My approach
​My career has been a happy coalescence of project management, experience design, and caring for people. Lucky for me, people operations requires a blend of these skills! I have always been eager to understand the inequities around me, and my socialist Jewish upbringing taught me to fight against oppression in all forms. In Oakland, CA, where I lived for a decade, I was blessed to learn from primarily black and Indigenous POC, queer community leaders, and wise activist peers. They helped me develop an equity and accessibility perspective that I now bring to everything I do. I consider anti-racism and dismantling supremacy and oppression, both in myself and in the world, to be a life-long praxis. I hope to work with other leaders who feel similarly and are open to learning together.
Strengths
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Connectedness: I believe we’re all connected, so I try to do no harm and prevent harm. I move with my values in the front and center empathy and openness. I’m driven to inspire and motivate others and make a positive impact in the world. I’m empathetic and anticipate needs.
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Communication: I’m a strong writer and facilitator. I am an honest, clear, and persuasive communicator. I’m relationship and process-oriented. I love connecting with others! I say the hard things with integrity and kindness.
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Data-driven: I use metrics and qualitative data to make strategic decisions. I care about reducing bias and increasing transparency. I’m curious about new ways of working and leading. I love feedback: every piece of feedback is a gift!
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Competency: I have strong follow-through and am freakishly organized. I build trust through transparency and radical accountability. I break complex projects down into digestible parts effectively. I bring organization to the chaos.
Work Experience
here's more details about my journey from direct service to people operations!
For even more detail, check out my LinkedIn.
2013 - 2014
2015
2016 - 2018
2017 - 2019
2020
2021 - 2024
I started out as a domestic violence counselor, simultaneously supporting high-risk clients and building out the organization's first online case management tool.
I followed my intuition to California, funded by a bookkeeping job in my hometown (I taught myself on YouTube).
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In Oakland, I was a server at a local restaurant when they asked me to help open a market next door. I project-managed the opening, including construction timelines, vendor relationships, and developed front-of-house procedures for the now hybrid restaurant-market.
My friend at the market was an artist, and we had this silly idea to create a dating and relationships coffee table book that combined humor with real dating advice… and we did it! I started our “publishing company” from scratch, crowdsourcing $3500 for start-up costs, and self-published our book, Dating Between the Lines, in nine months.
After a short detour in copywriting and boutique retail (best sales of the team!), I started as the Resource Coordinator at One Degree, a tech nonprofit connecting communities to local resources.
In my role, I provided one-on-one virtual support and ensured the database was updated regularly. Over the following four years, I grew the department to include community outreach, virtual education, and tracking impact data that drove the organization’s strategy.
I reconnected with my passion for ending gender-based violence as the board chair and treasurer of Men Creating Peace, a violence prevention nonprofit. I led the board and the executive director in their first strategic planning and budget development process and executed recruiting and onboarding of 4 new board members.
As a people manager, I was inspired to create better systems for recruiting, onboarding, and supporting my team. I facilitated an overhaul of our talent processes, co-drafted the first remote work policy, and developed an in-house payroll system from scratch when the budget was tight. ​
When One Degree merged with Alluma, a 200-person benefits enrollment nonprofit, I was selected as the Culture Co-chair, conducting a culture analysis that identified culture highs and lows and a recommendation for uplifting the best of each culture within the organization.
It was a natural transition to a new role within the organization, the Organizational Development & Culture Manager (later changed to Senior People & Culture Manager).
I was tasked with developing a culture strategy after a significant round of layoffs. I not only helped the organization increase its Employee Net Promotor Score by 50 points, but I also developed renewed talent, compensation, and employee engagement strategies and project managed their implementation collaboratively with an incredible team.
I was the owner of all benefits administration, compliance, and people activities for the organization.
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And here we are! In my last role, I had the pleasure of working with a fractional people operations team, and I loved it. I found the fresh perspective and deep knowledge helpful to our small overwhelmed team and loved how quickly they came on board and could produce high-quality work in a fraction of the time. And now I’d love to do the same for you!