LensAi + Photoshop
About
I am a long-time developer of creative, virtual experiences who has earned an M.A. in Digital Storytelling (Communication, Information, and Media) and an M.F.A in Creative Writing, with a focus in Creative Nonfiction, from the Inland Northwest Center for Writers.
I love exploring, learning, creating, and teaching. I’ve taken on many titles, including communications manager, web editor, creative director, technical producer, instructional designer, design consultant, graphic artist, content developer, college-level instructor, even journalist and photographer. Over the last decade, I’ve worked as an end-to-end project manager in multiple settings, from initial concept through final evaluation and publication to ongoing growth and refinement, building publications, professional websites, and courses as well as marketing campaigns, videos, and slide presentations. In this experience, I’ve become multi-skilled in all facets of designing and developing websites, publications, and courses. I’ve self-learned and worked within most major creative software applications and content management systems, designing graphics and pages, even searchable in-depth content libraries, as well as organizing, analyzing, problem-solving, and updating basic and complex operations and functions.
Since 2007, I’ve instructed higher education courses in English composition, inquiry and research, creative writing, and communications, developing my own unique curriculum for diverse populations in both on-site and virtual classrooms. I am educated in learning theories, including andragogy and online learning best practices. I have worked regularly within learning management systems including Blackboard and Canvas. In my experience as an instructor, I bring a passion for human-centered instruction that upholds inclusion and fairness, and I bring a love for teaching critical thinking and creative processes through deeper reflection and trust-building for affective feedback.
As I continue to grow in my career, I bring along my education and theoretical knowledge, my expansive technical know-how, my creative skills and artistic insight, and a sincere desire to make new connections and build strong relationships for better, creative collaboration.
Mom, my big sister, and me: 1982
ME
… And there is, of course, more about me personally. See that old Polaroid? I grew up in a small town in a little house, just me and my big sister and our hardworking, single mom. It wasn’t easy, but we took care of each other and taught ourselves a LOT. I was an artist, explorer, and entrepreneur at an early age, writing and selling my own newspapers, producing plays on my back porch, and building families of giant cardboard robots. I found my own way to college (and just kept going and going once I got there!). I was granted full scholarships and graduate and teaching assistantships to back me. I became the first in my family to earn a graduate degree. And, in the midst of all that schooling, I raised four beautiful children and gained an excellent partner in marriage. Fast forward to now, and I’m an awesome grandma (Just ask any one of my five grandkids!)! I’ve wandered along a challenging path, but, over the years, I’ve grown quite fond of it all and wouldn’t change a thing, even if I could. I love my family immensely, and I love that I’m back in my home state of Indiana, in a small town, in a house surrounded by tall trees, where I can step out my back door every morning, if I so desire, to watch the sun rise over a cow field.
