When I was a child, I would take reams of paper from my dad’s printer, staple them together into a booklet, and fill the pages with stories. My estimates of how many pages I would need for any particular story were always ambitious—a penchant for dreaming big I carry with me into everything I do, even as I’ve learned that many good things can also fit in smaller packages.
As an adult, I’ve roamed the halls of German government buildings, designed the most popular final-year politics class at a UK university, and poured traditional absinthe for customers in downtown Washington, DC. I’ve held teach-ins for local activist organizations and edited books for major academic presses. At my core, I am a member of a community—or, rather, many. I am at my best when working in collaboration with, and in support of, young people to better understand the world.
As a queer, mentally ill cisgender woman, I am passionate about creating and maintaining spaces that encourage visibility and celebration of different ways of being. I believe that assumed neutrality is in fact choosing a side, that quantitative data are as subjective as qualitative data are often accused of being, and that all professional sectors would benefit from more transparent, honest communication. I live my values in my writing and my practice, and you can find multiple examples across this site.
I grew up in the Midwest of the United States and currently live in the Midwest of England. I’ve also lived in small-town Illinois; big-town Wisconsin; Berlin, Germany; and Washington, DC. In my spare time, I like live music, lifting, and making everything you eat vegan. You can find me at my happiest up the side of a mountain in a bracing wind.