The first book I remember reading was The Hobbit, and I forever fell in love with the power of fantasy to change reality. As a teen, struggling through homelessness, I saw myself in Bilbo. He, too, was a quiet person pushed into an adventure far bigger than he was. Seeing him overcome incredible odds and, more importantly, learn to be true to himself, proved to me that our stories have power. They give us the courage to grow beyond our own expectations, and the limitations of our societies.
These insights have been the driving force in my life. I've explored them by building communities and the systems that connect people and bend boundaries. I've led tech and community moderation for pioneering online events, including the first-ever virtual Nebula Awards Conference, the first fully online World Fantasy Con, and the Surrey International Writers’ Conference. I've also had the honor of serving on the advisory board for Dr. Christopher Phillips' incredible Socrates Cafe non-profit, alongside luminaries like Dr. Cornel West and Lawrence Lessig, striving to foment deeper dialogue in our society. That's the same spirit with which I helped the EveryLibrary foundation launch their Fight for the First initiative, a powerful stand against book banning in America.
My professional life has been about bridging gaps. Gaps between technology and creativity, between ideas and action. With a Master's in Library and Information Science, I've focused on how we organize knowledge, while my MFA in Creative Writing taught me how we turn knowledge into meaning. My academic work on artificial intelligence, geographies of the fantastic, and found families has been presented at international conferences and cited in various scholarly publications. And, in a past role as the A/V Department Director for the Pacific Zen Institute, I led the curation of the largest online archive of zen teachings in English.
As a California transplant living in Richmond, VA, I balance my work marketing for colleges and universities around the world and time with my family. And, when I’m not working or changing diapers, my passion for world-building sees me designing tabletop roleplaying game systems.
Ultimately, I believe in a future where the acquisition of wealth is no longer our driving force—where we exist to better ourselves and the rest of humanity. All my work, from my writing to my coaching, is aimed at that goal.