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A Raleigh, NC Native circa early 90s, I experienced a city coming into its own all around me throughout my childhood. I spent my youth exploring city parks, joining my family at local events and festivals, and always looking for the next creative endeavor. Fast forward 18 years, I began attending NC State University as a free-spirited Textile Design major. Midway though my undergraduate career, I developed a strong desire to make a positive impact on the world and began forming connections in the local nonprofit community through volunteer work. This lead me down a path towards a career in nonprofits; a path which I pursued with an unquenchable fervor.

I eventually found my place as Operations Coordinator with Activate Good, a Triangle area organization working to improve the community through people powered projects for good, across a myriad of issue areas. While it was wonderful to see the impact of the individual projects, what I really enjoyed about this job was being a part of building a more engaged community. Activate Good served as a hub for area nonprofits, individual volunteers, public schools, for profit companies, and more. Bringing all of these sectors together allowed us to empower people to make the biggest impact possible by working as a connected community with a multitude of skills, resources, and perspectives. 

In the Spring of 2019, I left my full time job, with plans of traveling, exploring career options, and ultimately pursuing further education. Since then, I’ve traveled the East Coast of Australia and New Zealand solo, gained experience in various fields, such as environmental education, freelance design, park management, and health policy administration. The time I spent traveling internationally changed the way I think about urban design. While exploring cities, such as Sydney, Melbourne, Queenstown, and Brisbane, I tried my hardest to experience daily life as a local would. As a solo traveler, I avoided tourist attractions and opted for people watching in public spaces, such as parks, town squares and cafes. This was also the first time I had ever spent a significant amount of time living without a car and relying on public transportation to traverse various cities and move throughout the country. I traveled through Australia using planes, buses, trams, boats, subways, scooters, ride shares, and my own feet. The perspective these experiences gave me on the importance of the physical layout of a city was invaluable.

I returned from abroad in early 2020 and found a job working at a City of Raleigh park. This ended up being a serendipitous experience, as I was a part of providing people with a safe space to enjoy nature, exercise, and gather at a distance during the Covid-19 pandemic. This experience fed my existing passion for the importance of equitable access to green space in urban environments. During the height of the pandemic I spent much of my free time exploring the Triangle area’s many public parks and greenways and I was so thankful to have that resource available to me.

This collection of formative experiences has come together to give me a unique perspective on the field of urban planning and my potential to make an impact. I’m ready to hit the ground running; to be a part of conversations and decisions that will affect the way people live their lives today, tomorrow, and into the future.