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At Indiana University I pursued a career in Teaching with a focus on Secondary Psychology, History, and US Government. I did my student teaching in Zibo, China, then Avon, Indiana, studying the difference between Western and Eastern education approaches. I came back from China with a whole new perspective, and, in the midst of the (first) financial crisis, decided to live in Seoul, South Korea, to continue my masters and apply my teaching skills in a Hagwon (private language school). 

After one-and-a-half years teaching abroad, I came back to the US and took on a role at a boutique Agile consulting house where my responsibilities included delivering Agile Foundational Courses at a Fortune 100 company and developing training materials. As I cut my teeth in the training rooms, I continued to develop my master’s thesis on instructional systems technology with a focus on how to apply Agile principles beyond the software development fields

I’ve always had education as my “signal amongst the noise” so when a consulting gig at an Agile house led to an opportunity with McGraw-Hill Education, I took on a lead role supporting the efforts of an Agile pivot. Ten years of acting as a trainer, Scrum master, program manager, PMO director, and product owner—on an international stage—I’ve got a unique perspective on how the organization developed.

I’ve led teams across the globe in support of print and digital product development from ELL (English language learners) products in Guadalajara, Mexico, to translating Math and Science textbooks into Arabic to standardized government test prep in India and everything in between. My experience working as PMO director also allowed me to understand the importance of supporting the right Behaviors and Skills depending on the competencies of the people on the teams. I currently direct the business platform initiatives for our center of excellence team.