About Me

I have 10+ years of professional experience working in corporate social responsibility, non-profit management, strategic communications, and philanthropy. I thrive in collaborative environments and working with multi-disciplinary teams. I embrace design as a tool to build community, bring people together, promote collaboration, and create unique spaces and experiences.

I recently completed my Master of Arts in Design and Innovation (MADI) degree at Southern Methodist University. At MADI, I immersed myself in a world of design concepts and strengthened my creative confidence by bringing a human-centered design mindset to my work at the intersection of business and philanthropy. Following MADI, I founded KIMOTA, a design strategy consulting group that leverages design research and strategy to serve clients in business, philanthropy and government.

I currently live in my hometown of Dallas, TX where you will likely find me spending time my dog, Chance, visiting the Texas Theatre or Alamo Drafthouse to see a new film, or volunteering my time with organizations I support such as Social Venture Partners Dallas, Tulane Alumni Club of DFW, and other local non-profits.

My Expertise

I leverage human-centered insights to align design principles with business objectives and goals creating and valuable experiences and outcomes.

Strategy

I conduct custom qualitative research to deeply understand and frame complex problems and inform future design decisions and recommendations.

Research

I articulate complex concepts to key stakeholders by translating learnings and insights into actionable and tangible design recommendations.

Storytelling

I develop mutually beneficial relationships to help direct, manage, and steward the design process for across key stakeholder groups.

Collaboration

My Experience

  • KIMOTA Design and Innovation / Partner and Co-founder / 2023 - Present

    Master of Arts in Design and Innovation / Graduate Assistant / 2022 - 2023

    St. Mark’s School of Texas / Assistant Director of the St. Mark’s Fund / 2017 - 2021

    AdvoCare International / Community Relations Manager / 2014 - 2017

    Heart of Dallas / Assistant General Manager / 2012 - 2014

    Conference USA / Assistant Director of Business Operations / 2012 - 2014

  • Master of Arts in Design & Innovation / Southern Methodist University / 2021 - 2023

    Bachelor of Science in Management / Tulane University / 2007 - 2011

  • Social Venture Partners Dallas / Partner / 2016 - Present

    Communities Foundation of Texas / Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy & Fund Holder / 2020 - Present

    Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden / Education and Research Committee Member / 2024 - Present

    Social Purpose Real Estate Summit / Conference Speaker - "Leveraging Human-Centered Design to Enhance Collaboration / October 2023

    Texas Evaluation Network Institute / Conference Speaker - "Investigating Intersections of Evaluation and Human-Centered Design" / April 2024

  • Design Strategy

    Design Research

    Design Leadership

    Project Management

    Non-Profit Fundraising

    Strategic Communications

  • Adobe Illustrator

    Adobe InDesign

    Adobe Photoshop

    Adobe XD

    Canva

    Constant Contact

    Microsoft Office Suite

    Miro

    Rhino 3D

Strengthsfinder Themes

Throughout my career, I have utilized the Gallup Strengthsfinder framework to provide a distinct language to help me tell my story. Through the Strengthsfinder experience, I am able to more clearly identify my natural talents and work to invest time and energy in developing these talents into strengths.

My Top 5 themes lie directly at the intersection of relationship building and execution and have become an integral part of my approach to my work.

I enjoy figuring out how the puzzle pieces fit together. I am also comfortable with constantly rearranging them to form the best possible solution. As a designer, I use this theme during ideation and prototype development.

Arranger

Connectedness implies that, as humans, we are part of a larger picture and have a responsibility to each other and our world. As a designer, this theme compels me to be purposeful, considerate and mindful of the broad impact my designs may have.

Connectedness

As a designer, I am deliberative in my actions and thrive in the complex by carefully identifying and assessing the unknown. I believe this leads to more informed and impactful design recommendations and solutions.

Deliberative

One of my goals is to challenge and support others to help them experience success. I leverage this theme when working on teams by encouraging teammates to embrace roles they normally might not.

Developer

I enjoy building deep relationships and am comfortable with intimate and challenging conversations. The relator theme arises often during design research when trying to understand the needs of my clients.

Relator