My Resume

Policy advocate with experience in nonprofit communications, grassroots organizing, and criminal justice reform. Skilled at connecting complex legal issues to public audiences and supporting campaigns that expand opportunity and second chances.


Work Experience

CURRENT ROLE: The Institute for Justice — Activism Assistant             

  • Support Cities Work campaign to remove barriers for entrepreneurs and promote economic mobility.

  • Conduct outreach and grassroots organizing to expand access and opportunity for system-impacted people.

  • Contribute to communications and advocacy materials advancing reentry and second chance reforms.

Lone Star Justice Alliance                                                           January 2025 – April 2025

Mitigation Intern

Drafted a comprehensive justification letter in support of a clemency application; submitted formal records requests to various agencies, ensuring proper documentation and timely follow-up; managed and organized client intake files to maintain accurate, confidential records and streamline case workflow; conducted an in-person client interview to gather detailed background information for legal advocacy materials; authored a legal memorandum summarizing client visit findings, contributing to case strategy and clemency support; researched and compiled a referral resource handbook to connect clients with essential legal, social, and reentry services.

The Institute for Justice                                                                   May 2024 – August 2024
Activism Contract Worker

Examined options for regulatory reform in the permitting space for entrepreneurs around the country, catalogued information about small business owners in the cosmetology sector, composed memorandums about pre-permitted housing development and investigated various city policies affecting small business owners.

The DonorSee Foundation                                                           July 2024 – August 2024
Digital Marketing Intern

Launched several products of marketing content for the platform’s social medias, produced grant applications to three different foundations on the organization’s behalf, carried out daily social media engagement on all platforms, created a press release and delivered a newsletter promoting the organization’s social impact.​

The Institute for Justice                                                                   August 2023 – December 2023
Litigation Intern

Shadowing in each department of IJ and contributing my efforts to miscellaneous projects; open records research for potential projects, proofreading the website for editing errors, transcribing the Short Circuit podcast for the website, monitoring city government initiatives virtually and at city council meetings, conducting community outreach for the Activism team’s roundtables, composing a memorandum on potentially problematic judicial structures.

Austin Monitor                                                                                                   January 2023 – July 2023
Reporting Intern

Attending city council meetings, pitching stories, conducting interviews and writing news columns covering the important issues and decisions made by Austin’s local government, and delivering them to the local community. Working on a weekly deadline under the chief editor.

Daily Texan                                                                                                     August 2022 – January 2022
Opinion Columnist

Pitching stories, conducting interviews and writing columns (one per week) that reflect and further inform university opinions, focused on holding students, administration and the surrounding community accountable. Working on a weekly deadline under an associate and chief editor.

Daily Texan                                                                                              January 2022 – December 2022
Audio Producer

Pitched stories, conducted interviews, wrote scripts, and edited audio content to produce a podcast series titled “Unhoused” about homelessness in Austin.

Sun Newspapers                                                                                  December 2021 – January 2022
Daily Reporter                                                                                                  

Worked as a daily columnist pitching stories, conducting interviews, and covering local news and feature stories in the town of Seal Beach, California.

Shupe Ventura, PLLC Attorneys and Counselors                             June 2017 – 2024
Book keeper/Special projects                                                                                            `

Bookkeeping, document management, researching public records, drafting legislative summaries and performing other special projects as directed by the attorneys.

Education

University of Texas at Austin – Austin, Texas                                     August 2021 – May 2025             
B.A. in Journalism, Plan II Honors

Bridging Disciplines Program Certificate in Public Policy

  • Plan II Honor’s Thesis: Employment and Reentry for Incarcerated Emerging Adults in Texas

  • GPA: 3.89

  • Dean’s List Magna Cum Laude (Spring & Fall 2024)

University of Capetown – Capetown, South Africa                                          May – June 2022              Urban Economic Development Fellowship                                                                           

  • 3 UT credit course hours in U.S. History


Skills

  • Advocacy & Policy: Grassroots Organizing, Community Outreach, Reentry Reform Research
  • Writing & Communication: Advocacy Writing, Op-eds, Public Speaking, Storytelling, Grant Writing certification
  • Language Fluency: Conversational in Spanish, some background in French
  • Work Eligibility:  Eligible to work in the U.S. with no restrictions. Citizenships in France, the UK, and Switzerland
  • Software proficiencies: Premier Pro, Adobe Audition, Excel
  • Other Skills/Experiences: Child and elderly care, Jiu Jitsu practice, SCUBA diving certification, proficient piano player and painter

    Activities and Volunteer

    Central Texas Big Brother Big Sister (BBBS)
    Volunteering as a “Big Sister”                                                                              May 2023 – present
    Acting as a mentor to a young girl and spending hours with her each week doing different activities (swimming, writing, drawing, crafts, museums, the zoo) and spending time together.

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    Strong Missions (Grecia, Costa Rica)
    Translated for a service-learning organization                                         June 2024 – July 2024
    Managed worksites around the community and facilitated translation between American students and local Costa Rican community leaders in their projects addressing shelter, food and education.

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    Tutoring and counseling for organizations focused on disadvantaged youth                                            August 2021 – present
    Taught virtual English classes to elementary students in Ecuador, tutored at-risk youth at Café Momentum in Dallas, was a counselor at Camp Summit, a summer camp for children with special needs.

     

    Volunteer work at sustainable farms and their wholistic community programs                                        May 2021 – present
    Did physical labor farm work and assisted at the farmers market for Bonton Farms (focused on an at risk, food desert neighborhood and its residents associated with the justice system in Dallas), and doing similar work for New Leaf Farms (focused on refugees in Austin) with their Mueller Farmers Market.

     

    Project Advance – UT Austin                                                                                                                                              October 2021 – August 2022 Student Fellow                                                                        

    Participated in a yearlong leadership program at the University of Texas at Austin that connects students with local non-profit organizations to create positive social impact in their communities and learn project management, collaboration and communication skills.