Background

I spent most of my career before the PhD working in nonprofit organizations, but I’ve also worked in a big law firm and an agency of the federal government. Overall, my career has had some twists and turns—which helps to inform my research today.

After graduating into the Great Recession, I moved to Washington, DC to work in the legal field for several years, first at Covington and Burling LLP and then at the Export-Import Bank. I then took a risk and became the first and only paid employee of a new nonprofit focusing on gender-based violence prevention. Some coverage of the work I did there can be found here and here, though the less glamorous part of my job was to raise money for my own position!

After that, I became the first employee of a nonprofit working on corporate data transparency. Along with a board of directors composed of representatives of more established nonprofits, including Transparency International, Global Witness, and the ONE Campaign, I helped to rapidly expand the organization. Here is some coverage of the work I did.

While working in these organizations, I noticed that I was very interested in the intellectual questions raised by the work, but my more pressing obligations left me with no space in which to pursue these interests. It was time to start a new career that would give me that space.

Outside of work, I love visiting art museums with friends and family, open water swimming, reading novels, and singing in choirs.