Summary

I am a writer, editor, storyteller and strategist. Expertise include copywriting, web development and design, editorial writing, ghostwriting, scriptwriting, marketing, social media, content curation, content and copyediting, mentoring, and project management across all digital and print platforms. Gallup Strengths Finder 2.0 Strategic, Adaptability, Input, Intellection and Ideation. Myers Briggs INFP.

Experience

Freelance Writing and Editing · 2004-Present
Clients include: Southern California Newspaper Group, Masthead Media, Granite Media, The Dobbins Group, Coast magazine, I AM & CO, Livingly Media and more. 

Radical Candor · Los Angeles, CA · 5/18-Present 
Director of Content Creation & Marketing: Empowering leaders and teams around the world to build better relationships in order to do the best work of their lives.

FUSE Corps · Los Angeles, CA · 1/18-1/19
Project Description Writer: FUSE Corps is a national nonprofit that partners with local government to help urban communities thrive.

• Research and write project descriptions to attract executive-level fellows who will embark on year-long projects with government partners to address issues such as economic and workforce development, healthcare, public safety, climate change, and education in urban areas.

Bustle · Los Angeles, CA· 1/17-11/19
Lifestyle Writer: Bustle Digital Group is the premier digital destination for millennial women with collective properties reaching over 80 million global readers monthly, and a social footprint that is among the largest in digital media. 

• Research and write daily lifestyle articles focusing on progressive women’s issues.
• Cover trending and seasonal lifestyle news and features, and conduct interviews for in-depth profiles. 

Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) · Los Angeles, CA· 2/12-7/16
Senior Marketing and Communications Manager: International nonprofit connecting 23,000 CEOs leading companies generating US$6 trillion and employing more than 15 million people in 125+ countries.

• Project managed, wrote, edited and curated content for more than 20 internal and external web and print publications (400 editorial stories per year) in a remote working environment for a global audience.
• Oversaw strategic planning and development of marketing campaigns for more than 400 events annually, including the creation and execution of email campaigns, and metrics tracking and reporting.
• Managed marketing budget, and supervised large team of global contractors and vendors to execute writing, design, development, marketing, and video projects.
• Planned, tracked and executed editorial and events marketing calendars using collaboration software, and created and presented strategic marketing plans for overall fiscal-year goals, flagship events, video productions, and print booklets.

L.L.Bean, Inc. · Freeport, ME · 6/10-2/12
Web Copywriter/Video Script Supervisor: International mail order, online, and retail company specializing in outdoor recreation gear and apparel.

• Concepted and scripted original copy for branded videos and instructional videos on llbean.com.
• Managed and supervised video shoots and voiceovers for the Creative Department.
• Brainstormed with the Corporate Marketing to draft compelling copy for promotions.
• Composed copy and socialization plans for web development projects.
• Created compelling SEO copy to raise L.L.Bean’s search profile.

ngn, inc. / XNiP.com · Portland, ME · 9/08-6/10
Web Content Manager: Dynamic trade-show industry partner with magazines and associations in the U.S., Europe and Asia creating directory listings and integrated media packages.

• Communicated daily via phone and email with international clients in Europe, Asia and Africa to assist them with the development of original content for B2B web portals for the trade show industry.
• Managed listings for more than 2,000 clients in a global web database, and curated and packaged client B2B web pages and print guide materials for trade shows.
• Collaborated with the San Francisco Chronicle to attach unique digital codes to newspaper articles, allowing readers to save the articles in a database via text message.

Mainely Media · Biddeford, ME · 4/06-4/08
Managing Editor: A community news organization with an emphasis on local lifestyle features, sports, and hard news.

• Oversaw editorial staff of writers and photographers.
• Planned and executed content for group of weekly newspapers, totaling more than 100 pages weekly.
• Edited copy, reported news, wrote headlines, photographed stories, and paginated and designed multiple newspapers each week.
• Produced advertorial copy for special sections and seasonal guides.

The Blue Room · Portland, ME · 5/05-6/07
Co-Founder/Executive Editor: A documentary arts magazine featuring stories about Maine’s unique people and places.

• Launched new magazine from concept to print and distribution.
• Recruited and supervised writers as well as wrote and edited content.
• Handled distribution and media relations.
• Promoted and organized the most successful First Friday opening in SPACE Gallery history.

Journal Tribune · Biddeford, ME · 4/05-4/06
Reporter/Photographer: Award winning daily newspaper based in southern Maine.

• Conducted interviews for daily assignments, briefs, and special features.
• Photographed hard news and features.
• Edited weekly arts newspaper the Saco Bay Voice.

Common Dreams · Portland, ME · 10/04-4/05
News Editor: A progressive online, international news organization.

• Copyedited incoming daily news from regular world-renowned contributors such as Bill Moyers (who quoted me in his book).
• Maintained web database, managed website, and posted and archived articles and images daily using HTML, and assisted in RSS feed development and implementation.

MovieMaker Magazine · Portland, ME · 12/03-6/04
Publishing Assistant: A quarterly, independent film magazine featuring stories about the art of filmmaking.

• Interviewed internationally acclaimed film personalities for magazine stories, including award-winning documentarians Werner Herzog, Albert Maysles and Errol Morris.
• Devised a web database for international distribution opportunities, and initiated and organized a print magazine archive.

Education

 University of Southern Maine Stonecoast MFA Program · Portland, ME · 1/11
MFA Creative Nonfiction: Top-rated creative writing MFA program offering concentrations in creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry, and popular fiction.

• Penned Night Swimming, a first draft of a memoir detailing my experiences growing up with a father who suffered from alcoholism and PTSD as a result of service in Vietnam.
• Instructed by writers of national and international prestige.
• Researched and crafted critical paper, “Walk the Line: A Journalist Writing Memoir.”
• Developed and presented original education seminar “The Burden of Truth: The Exploration of Ethics in Nonfiction.”
• Delivered public reading of portion of thesis.

 The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies · Portland, ME · 12/03
Documentary Writing Certificate: A Maine-based field-immersion residency with a focus on long-form documentary writing.

• Coordinated and wrote a multimedia ethnography about the hidden life of Portland’s Congress Street.
• Conceived and completed “Finding Carolyn Chute: The Search for Heart’s Content Road,” a written in-depth documentary on Maine novelist and political activist Carolyn Chute.
• Put on dynamic public performance of final project.

 The University of Toledo · Toledo, OH · 12/03
BA Communication/Journalism: A world-class Ohio university established in 1872.

• Awarded scholarships for superior writing.

Affiliations/Notable Mentions/Awards & Interviews

• PEN Center USA
• Tide Mill Writers Workshop
• The Association of Writers and Writing Programs
• The Society of Professional Journalists
• Shanna McNair: Editor of The New Guard.” Scribd: Winning Writers. 2011. Web. (http://tinyurl.com/6j2r6t5).
• “For info junkies, Portland offers a veritable smorgasbord.” Portland Press Herald. July 3, 2006. Print.
• “Moyers on America: a journalist and his times.” Bill D. Moyers – Julie Leininger. Pycior – New Press – 2004 p. viii.
• “This Just In: Blue Room Sweats the Small Stuff.” Portland Phoenix. May 31, 2006. Print. Web. (http://portland.thephoenix.com/news/13753-recordings/).
• Fellowship finalist for 2012 Summer Literary Series workshop in Lithuania. Short story, “The Regulars,” ranked in top 30 from more than 1,600 fiction submissions.
• Idyllwild Arts Creative Nonfiction Fellow, Summer 2016.

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