Work Experience

Interim Executive Director | City of Eugene Library, Recreation & Cultural Services, Eugene OR
April 2022 – Present

Provide executive leadership and coordinates, plans, directs, and reviews the activities and operations of the Library, Recreation, and Cultural Services Department (LRCS), which includes library programs and services in three locations, recreation and community wellness activities in six community centers and three pools, community events and programs, public art, the Hult Center for the Performing Arts and Cuthbert Amphitheatre.

  • Facilitate LRCS leadership to coordinate department activities, financial management, facility management, and staff/team culture. Foster an environment of trust building and strategic risk taking while utilizing a collaborative approach to departmental strategies.
  • Manage the development, implementation and assessment of departmental goals, policies and strategic plans (Parks and Recreation System Plan, Hult Business Plan, Library Roadmap, etc). Coordinate with other City departments and outside agencies to ensure that community and council goals are met and that we are working in tandem as an organization whenever possible. This includes ensuring appropriate service and staffing levels, allocating resources, and monitoring workflow and efficiency of services.
  • Oversee the development and administration of the department budget, including monitoring expenditures to ensure proper use of funds. Lead collaborative efforts to identify additional funding and revenue options to support ongoing community services.
  • Ensure organizational values are used as a framework for our department work, including strategic now and later thinking, community and mission first approach to our programs and service, and applying a triple bottom line analysis as a decision making framework, which highlights the value of not just economic factors, but also social (belonging, equity and access) and environmental impacts.
  • Engage in robust, intentional and continuous community engagement (partners, users, neighborhood and community groups, and industry partners) to generate diverse input that values the great variety of backgrounds and experiences that make up Eugene. Use this ongoing engagement to assess community gaps related to community needs, especially in underserved populations.
  • Lead the department in creating and maintaining an environment that is supportive of hiring and retaining a diverse staff, as well as increasing cultural competencies of existing staff, especially around diversity and respectful working environment. Oversee efforts around department onboarding and training, including the LRCS New Employee Orientation program.
  • Create and foster a departmental culture that supports our staff, building highly motivated and service oriented teams while focusing on staff and community wellbeing, building trust and confidence both with each other and with our community, and a culture that supports staff through a creative and respectful work environment, and puts a high priority on the development of self-awareness and emotional intelligence.  This includes promoting a culture of diversity and implementing the City’s diversity, equity and inclusion goals.
  • Foster a collaborative leadership environment for department leadership to manage services and activities, with regular evaluation, to ensure all services and programs meet the needs of a growing, diverse population.
  • Provide highly complex and analytical support to the City Manager, Assistant City Manager and Executive team to support broader organizational, council and community goals and strategies. Provide staff assistance to City Manager, City Council and budget committee.
  • Support a broader community ecosystem that focuses on wellness, prevention and especially supporting youth-related issues. This includes intergovernmental partner work, as well as work with outside agencies and organizations with parallel missions. Works to support regional community services related to library, recreation and cultural services.
  • Stewards department facilities, including overseeing the department’s capital improvement plan, which includes planning for maintenance and investment in aging facilities, master planning for facilities, and working with other departments on broad system expansion (guided by system plans, business plans and roadmaps).
  • Work with partner organizations, social service agencies and public safety preventive programs as they relate to literary access, recreational and cultural activities, including 4J and Bethel School Districts, Kidsports, the Community Safety Initiative, and others.
  • Apply federal, state and local policies, procedures, laws and regulations and work with the executive team and City Attorney to ensure consistent interpretations.
  • Supporting broader city initiatives including Priority Based Budgeting and the Strategic Planning Process. Also supported work related to budget reduction and stabilization strategies. Serve on a variety of policy teams, including the Employee Resource Policy Team (CARES), Downtown Policy Team, Joint Labor Management Relations Committee, and the City Bargaining Team.

Sr. Marketing Manager | City of Eugene Library, Recreation & Cultural Services, Eugene OR
June 2016 – Present

  • Led the team responsible for the Library, Recreation & Cultural Services (LRCS) Marketing Portfolio which includes marketing and communication strategies to achieve revenue and cost recovery, public information, community engagement, and content messaging for each of the three divisions (Library, Recreation and Cultural Services which includes community events, public art, and the Hult Center for the Performing Arts).

  • Responsibilities include program marketing, as well as major program/event marketing including the Rec Guide (3 issues annually), Visual Arts Week, National Dance Week, Lasers at the Library, Mayor’s Art Show, Coffin Races, Willamette River Festival, Summer Reading, Summer Camps, and the 2022 World Athletics Fan Festival.
  • Portfolio includes programming and services in 15 facilities, including community centers, libraries, performing arts spaces and pools.
  • Responsible for communication strategies that actively target reaching a wide range of diverse audiences, especially those that are underrepresented in traditional programming. This includes a variety of equity and engagement work, partner engagement and long-term affinity-building strategies.
  • Also serve in long term project management around special projects such as ticketing system replacement, facility signage, bond and levy reporting and analysis, public engagement and feedback and branding.
  • Position requirements included analysis of business trends, marketing trends, consumer behavior trends, and “political winds” to employ successful strategies to meet revenue targets, increase engagement, increase awareness, and to build affinity for the programs and services of the LRCS department. This includes staff hiring and supervision, budget management, analytics and forecasting, and working with the individual divisions to achieve their specific goals.
  • Worked with the broader team and division managers to establish and assess objectives and metrics related to our work plan and prepare presentations and reports for department leadership, executive leadership and city council, including levy presentations, departmental analysis, Parks and Recreation System Plan engagement, Library future roadmaps and the Hult Center’s 5 year business plan.
  • Serve on the LRCS department leadership team and provide highly responsible and complex staff assistance to the LRCS Executive Director as well as the Library Director, Recreation Director and the Cultural Services Director. Serve on the Library Leadership Team, Recreation Management Team and the Cultural Services Senior Leadership Team.
  • Serve in leadership for the LRCS Equity Team, chairing the marketing and communications team which worked with underrepresented users and community organizations to established department wide translation standards, a resource list for translation support (including Spanish and ASL), and implemented major changes to communication strategies including the addition of a fully Spanish language Rec Guide, and the creation of content in the style and voice of the subject (rather than filtering everything through the dominant cultural gaze).
  • Led the reorganization of the marketing team (reorganization was specifically to achieve increased efficiency and trust with the various work teams we serve) and its expansion from a shared Cultural Services/Recreation team to a department wide team.
  • Additional duties included serving on broader city policy teams (including Drone Policy Team, Public Information Team, Technology Advisory Board, Competency Team) and broader city initiatives including placemaking and wayfinding.
  • The position is classified as a senior management analyst.
  • While in this position, also served as the Acting in Capacity Cultural Services Director (April – May 2017) and the Interim Library Director (November 2018 – March 2019)

Executive Director | Alexandria Area Arts Association, Inc., Alexandria, MN
October 2011 – June 2016

  • Manage day-to-day operations of a multi-faceted producing and presenting venue in Alexandria, MN.
  • Produce five main stage shows, two summer youth camps with public capstones, present multiple touring shows and musical acts, and oversee value added events, including the annual Art in the Park event which draws over 25,000 visitors.
  • Responsible for all areas of daily operations and productions, including box office, producing, marketing, grant writing (awards ranging from $5,000-$60,000), building and strategic planning.
  • Oversee the Andria Theatre, which includes studio and business outreach space, and a 450-seat auditorium.
  • Consistently expanded programming, audience, ticket sales, including earned and contributed income.
  • Annual operating budget: $270,000.

Executive Director  |  Grand Forks Community Theatre, Grand Forks, ND
June 2007 – September 20011

  • Managed day-to-day operations of the 64 year old community theatre and its 100-seat theatre, The Fire Hall Theatre.
  • Responsibilities included: budget planning, management and evaluation, fundraising, grant writing (awards ranging from $5,000 – $30,000), season planning and research, marketing research and implementation, communications strategy and implementation, strategic planning, graphic design, web design, social media campaigns, facility contracts, and producing five to seven plays annually (three amateur plays, one amateur youth musical, one amateur adult musical, two professional, non equity musicals).
  • Annual operating budget: $160,000.

Marketing & Event Coordinator | UND 125th Anniversary, Grand Forks, ND
September 2007-January 2009

  • Implemented communication strategies,  marketing initiatives,  and coordinated events for the celebration of the University of North Dakota’s 125th Anniversary.
  • Events included Great Conversations with Sir Salman Rushdie, Dr. Phil Jackson, Stephen Bloom and the inauguration of Dr. Robert Kelly as UND’s 11th President.
  • Managed a marketing and advertising budget of $180,000.

Director  |  Grand Forks Marketing Services Partnership, UND, Grand Forks, ND
October 2003 – June 2007

  • Coordinated a community wide, collaborative marketing and communications partnership to increase exposure to arts and cultural organizations and their events/offerings, supported through a $500,000 grant to the University of North Dakota (UND).
  • Major responsibilities included implementation of grant goals, creating initiatives such as discounted advertising, marketing mini-grant program, workshop coordination, market research, community arts advertising, and individual consulting (one-on-one with organizations).
  • Outcomes included an average increase in attendance of 28% per year for all arts organizations as well as proven increased visibility of the arts.
  • Oversaw the 2005 Arts Participation Marketing Research, the most comprehensive audience attitude and marketing research study conducted for the Arts.
  • Principal force behind the development of CulturePulse.org, an online resource of area arts and culture offerings, as well as the statewide expansion of CulturePulse with the ND Council on the Arts and the ND State Legislature (completed in 2009).

City Councilperson | City of Ashley, ND
November 2002-June 2003

  • Served as one of six city council members for Ashley, North Dakota (population of 900 at the time).
  • Served on policy committee and personnel committee.
  • Served as city parliamentarian and vice president of the Council.
  • Served in oversight capacity for a city-wide water main replacement and street reconstruction project.

Managing Director  |  TechLink Web Media, Ashley, ND
August 2000-June 2003

  • Developed TechLink Web Media, the web marketing arm of TechLink, Inc, a for profit community betterment company that sought to increase rural populations through technology employment.
  • Established the standards and guidelines to oversee a team of marketing specialists and designers as well as an offshore information technology alliance based in Channai, India.
  • Set quarterly marketing and financial directives, as well as short and long term business development goals;  initiated and established a state-wide business process co-opetition team to gain greater market placement;  spoke at several conferences and trade conventions on behalf of new-economy marketing in the I.T. Industry.
  • Served in consulting role for TechLink Rural Assistance Program, which aided small, rural communities with economic development.