Introduction
My path as a creative and collaborative problem solver
As the subsequent pages illustrate, I have a diverse background, and I have worn many professional hats. The underlying constant in my life, aside from my values, has been my work as a professional musician. Music has taught me (almost) everything: From disciplined and methodical hard work and an entrepreneurial spirit, to collaborative, presentation, problem-solving, and leadership skills, being a classical flutist has provided me with many tools demanded in today's workplace.
Acquiring solid musical skills requires dedication and perseverance. Musicians are natural conceptual thinkers: We recognize patterns, distill complex ideas, and make decisions, be it in the practice room, while teaching, or on stage.
Music is our tool for communication, and our effectiveness depends on how well we listen, react to, and collaborate with others, and how well we present ourselves on stage.
Musicians work well alone as well as in teams: Ideally, we practice on our own, and come together in rehearsals and performances. In the latter two settings, we collaborate, lead, and follow one another, depending on what the musical moment demands.
Music keeps me humble: As a musician, I am but a conduit in a long tradition, passing on the art form to the next generation to the best of my abilities. Music has been the constant companion in my life, even if it is sometimes not as visible as my other activities. What remains visible are the skills honed in music that I use every day in my other professional endeavors:
As a leader, manager, and designer, I work with individuals and teams to co-create effective strategies and programs, optimize communication, enable continuous improvement, and streamline operations. I am guided by Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), human-centered design (HCD) and Agile approaches.
As a supervisor, trainer, facilitator and coach, I recruit, develop, and lead professionals, deploying adult learning theories, As an educator, I accompany students on their intellectual and personal journeys, empowering them along the way, ensuring they are served equitably and with a social justice orientation.
Strategy, leadership, coaching, inclusion and human-centered design
Skills used: Collaborative, management, conceptual, leadership, organizational, research
Workforce Development Staff DEI training
Engaging youth and students equitably and authentically
Structural transformation of community colleges: Strategic support for eight community colleges to improve student outcomes. Outcomes have included the creation and implementation of a Sustainable, Equitable Student Engagement model at scale that gathers robust student input to inform strategic decisions.
Strategy development for nonprofit performing arts organization to forge closer ties with k12 institutions
America's Job Center lobby redesign HCD sprint
Community-engaged learning: program vision and strategic plan development, budget forecasting, program expansion, faculty training
Professional development for varied stakeholders
YouTube Channel in collaboration with Bernard Gibson, Ed.D.
California community college civic stewardship initiative
College curriculum management: oversight of all transferable courses at a college, data system redesign, campus-wide curriculum-related professional development design and deployment, redesign of public communication channels; co-development of programs such as music entrepreneurship; development and deployment of course curricula
Research, publications, instruction
Skills used: Research, collaborative, conceptual
Internationally published article (music education)
Poster presentation (music education)
Doctoral dissertation (music education)
Program notes (chamber music concerts 2018-19)
College course readers (music)
Calbright College
Director, Economic and Business Development
Lead a team that directs, plans, and coordinates the college’s economic development strategies to increase economic mobility and close equity gaps for working adults who lack easy access to traditional forms of higher education.
Human-Centered Designer, Strategic Thought Partner, Facilitator, Coach
Deliver customized professional services to nonprofits, government agencies, research, and educational institutions. Provide exceptional strategic thought partnership, team development and facilitation, end-to-end project and capacity management, documentation, monitoring and evaluation, and reporting. Maintain highest levels of confidentiality and professionalism.
Irvine Foundation/JFF
Fellow, Workforce Transformation Corps
Workforce Development Board of Ventura County
Assess organizational capacity and strategic opportunities to embed inclusive and equitable practices in programs, services, and processes. Design and deliver training, collaborate on sprints and other projects. Monitor and report project milestones to stakeholders. Infuse human-centered design in all aspects of the work.
McKinsey & Company
Management consultant
Develop strategy using business analytics in nonprofit arts, healthcare, tech sectors.
Terzo Technologies
Manager, Professional Services: Consulting and Onboarding
Oversee the design and deployment of customized, AI-driven document data extraction that unlocks financial insights, enabling clients to make data-driven strategic decisions.
Foundation for California Community Colleges
Lead Regional Coordinator
Lead a team of five, manage budget, work as part of the management team. Collaborate with a teammate to serve eight colleges in their transformational efforts to serve students equitable and to realize the goals of the Vision for Success.
Chancellor's Office, California Community Colleges
Regional Coordinator
Guide colleges to achieve fundamental transformation of mindset and operations to reach the Vision for Success using the Guided Pathways framework.
Stanford University
Fellow: Projects with Stanford Live, the Haas Center for Public Service, Civic Stewardship Initiative for Community Colleges, Stanford CARTA
Faciliate development of strategic plan, forecast and manage budget and grant awards. Deploy human-centered design elements in projects, redesign curriculum, complete research projects using qualitative and mixed methods,
Ventura College
Academic Dean
Oversee the Division of English, ESL, Communication, Math, Computer Science, Learning Resources. Develop values-based vision and strategy; manage $4.5 million budget, revitalize operations for optimal efficiency and in the service of students, using human-centered design and cutting-edge business practices.
Pasadena City College
Full Professor
Oversee all transferable courses, review and developm curriculum. Design and deploy professional development programs for faculty, participate in college governance as senator, teach classes and studio flute, mentor students and junior faculty
Boston University
Master of Business Administration
General Business
Stanford University
Master of Arts, Education--Policy, Organization, Leadership
Higher education policy, administration, and leadership, community colleges, k-12 linkages, nonprofit leadership and management
University of California, Irvine
Master of Fine Arts, Music Performance
Flute performance--studies with James Newton
Whittier College
Bachelor of Arts, Economics
Labor and international economics, industrial organization, strategic management
Lean Six Sigma (IASSC, CSSC)
Certified Green Belt Professional
Data-driven performance improvement, problem solving
Wharton Executive Education
Business Analytics
Descriptive, predictive, prescriptive analytics:
Data collection methods, A/B testing, correlation and causation, forecasting, regression analysis, simulations, data visualization and interpretation, optimization, decision trees
Project Management Institute
Certified Associate in Project Management
Principles, practices, and ethics of project management
Acuity Institute
Change Management
Assess the issue, initiate action, plan the change, execute the plan, make lasting change.
Scrum.org
Scrum Master
Principles of and deployment of Scrum approaches
Memberships
Professional organizations
Association of California Community College Administrators
American Federation of Musicians, local 47
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
College Music Society
National Association for Music Education
International Society for Music Education
Omicron Delta Kappa--honor society in leadership and service
Omicron Delta Epsilon--honor society in economics
Mu Phi Epsilon--honor society in music
Board member, Channel Islands Rowing Club
