Portflio: Partnerships & Consultations

Over the past nine years, I’ve partnered with nonprofits and community-based organizations to design and lead research-driven projects that help teams make clearer decisions and understand the communities they serve. My work sits at the intersection of social research, evaluation, and project management: I help groups clarify their goals, gather the right evidence, and translate complex findings into practical recommendations they can act on. Across these collaborations, I’m often brought in when there are many voices in the room, competing priorities, or high stakes—situations where trust, structure, and strong synthesis matter.

Alongside my academic research, I’ve consulted with groups like La Paz in Chattanooga on community research focused on immigrant incorporation and representation. In this partnership, I volunteered to help design and lead a needs assessment that included survey development, focus groups, and stakeholder input from community members, volunteers, and local leaders. I presented to community and board members on evolving needs and population trends, analyzed mixed-method findings, and delivered a written report with actionable recommendations to strengthen programming and engagement. This work reinforced my commitment to equity-centered research and to processes that elevate community expertise—not just institutional perspectives.

I’ve also led communications and engagement work through the American Sociological Association, where I supported regional and national initiatives by producing member-facing content and improving feedback systems. That experience strengthened how I communicate insights—helping organizations not only learn from their audiences, but build better ways to stay connected to them over time.

Increasingly, I’m applying this same foundation—structured discovery, facilitation, synthesis, and strong writing—through my consulting and community engagement work. As a sociologist, I bring a nuanced understanding of people and group dynamics to diagnose the landscape, make sense of conflicting inputs, and articulate a clear direction teams can execute.