I’m grateful for the Baldwin community’s impact on my undergraduate experience and still cherish relationships with fellow scholars as an alumna. During my time in the program, I collaborated with other scholars to develop the first Baldwin House Courses (spanning topics such as gender, race, vocation, identity, and leadership), launched a successful bid for Crowell Quad Council, and interned at the Feminist Majority Foundation with Duke alumna Eleanor Smeal in Washington, D.C. As a member of the inaugural class, I also debated critical questions such as, “Do we need a constitution?” and “Is it ever okay to burn the Baldwin bench?”
The Baldwin program challenged me to define success for myself. I believe that success is finding ways to combine your personal and professional interests. I’ve always been a creative, strategic thinker drawn to bringing new ideas to life and outlets such as writing and public speaking. As a result, I’ve pursued a career in technology that allows me to work with emerging tools and concepts as well as share ideas and information with others.
I developed an interest in working in the field of user experience through majors in Computer Science and History. I attended the University of Michigan School of Information (UMSI) after Duke and earned a master’s degree in Information with a specialization in Human-Computer Interaction. After UMSI, I worked as a user experience analyst for ForeSee, a customer experience analytics start-up based in Ann Arbor, and then moved to a user experience consulting role with IBM in Chicago.
I’ve been very active in the user experience community over the years and have spoken at local and international conferences in the Midwest and London. In 2014 I was recognized as one of the Top 50 Techies to know in Chicago by Crain’s Chicago Business due to my leadership in launching a conference for user experience professionals in the city. I also serve as an editor and write book reviews for the User Experience Professionals Association magazine.
In 2017 I completed my MBA at the University of Chicago with the goal of transitioning to a career helping companies develop corporate digital and innovation strategies. I’m currently a consultant with IBM’s Global Digital Business Strategy consulting practice.