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Updates
  • #500STRONG

    New Team, New Shenanigans
    Jan 09

    New Team, New Shenanigans

    Written by Tara Graham

    So pleased and proud to be part of this amazing group of hardworking people. Watch out 2014: #500STRONG is going to kill it.

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  • Mediating

    Aug 23

    The #GlobalPOV Project: Is Privilege Poverty?

    Written by Tara Graham

    SCRIPT EXCERPT: Many people today, particularly those living comfortably in the global North, want to do something to solve the problems of the world, such as the problem of global poverty. They want to act upon poverty, alleviate poverty, volunteer to end poverty—but we must ask: What motivates us to travel short or long distances, to spend a day, a week, many months, or even a spare 15 minutes,...

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  • Mediating

    #GlobalPOV=Doing Good Responsibly, Reports NextBillion
    Jul 29

    #GlobalPOV=Doing Good Responsibly, Reports NextBillion

    Written by Tara Graham

    NextBillion, an initiative of the World Resources Institute’s Markets and Enterprise Program in partnership with the William Davidson Institute (WDI) at the University of Michigan, is a web forum for the community of business leaders, social entrepreneurs, NGOs, policy makers and academics who want to explore the connection between development and enterprise. NextBillion recently highlighted The #GlobalPOV Project as part of its “NexThought Monday” coverage: Hardly a day goes...

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  • Mediating

    Jul 02

    The #GlobalPOV Project: Are Slums The Global Urban Future?

    Written by Tara Graham

    SCRIPT EXCERPT: Welcome to the world-class city. It has towers, expressways, shopping malls, airports, private schools, and gated condominiums with golf courses, swimming pools and tennis courts. It has no slums, but the world-class city is built by slums — a paradox isn’t it? To see the city from the slum provides a different view, a view of the global urban future. Based on Prof. Ananya Roy’s popular Global...

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  • Mediating

    May 06

    The #GlobalPOV Project: Who Profits From Poverty?

    Written by Tara Graham

    The third video in The #GlobalPOV Project series is an exploration of the poverty business. SCRIPT EXCERPT: The poor pay more for everything, and such transactions are highly profitable for those selling goods and services to the poor. Profits are made on the labor of the poor, the consumption of the poor, and the debt of the poor; meanwhile the poor remain — poor. So who profits from poverty? Based...

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  • Mediating

    #GlobalPOV on Mediabistro’s “AllTwitter”
    May 03

    #GlobalPOV on Mediabistro’s “AllTwitter”

    Written by Tara Graham

    AllTwitter, a Mediabistro website devoted to breaking Twitter news, highlighted The #GlobalPOV Project as part of its “Pay It Forward Friday” coverage. Regarding the #GlobalPOV video series, AllTwitter writes: And the online videos they’re creating are intended to help “crystallize the nuanced teachings of Berkeley’s biggest minor, Global Poverty and Practice, offered by the Blum Center for Developing Economies.” The videos are posted online so those outside of the school can...

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  • Reporting

    ABC’s 20/20 Features Viral Video Footage of Jonas Brothers Stampede
    Apr 26

    ABC’s 20/20 Features Viral Video Footage of Jonas Brothers Stampede

    Written by Tara Graham

    ABC’s primetime news magazine program, “20/20,” aired an investigative report on social behavior and crowd chaos that featured the viral stampede footage I shot using my smartphone at a Jonas Brothers concert in May, 2010. (ABC Air Date: Apr. 26, 2013, Episode: “In An Instant”). NOTE: This post is an update to a previous post tracking the viral popularity of (and subsequent mainstream media interest in) the stampede footage when I posted...

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  • Mediating

    Borgen Project Highlights #GlobalPOV Project
    Apr 16

    Borgen Project Highlights #GlobalPOV Project

    Written by Tara Graham

    The Borgen Project, a nonprofit organization with mission to fight extreme poverty through policy (not charity!) intervention, recently published an article highlighting The #GlobalPOV Project’s mixed-media approach to curriculum development and pedagogy. Check out the article here. To learn more about The Borgen Project, visit the website or read its mission statement below: The Borgen Project believes that leaders of the most powerful nation on earth should be doing more to...

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  • Mediating

    #GlobalPOV Is “Groundbreaking,” Reports UC Berkeley NewsCenter
    Apr 09

    #GlobalPOV Is “Groundbreaking,” Reports UC Berkeley NewsCenter

    Written by Tara Graham

    The UC Berkeley NewsCenter recently sat down and interviewed the #GlobalPOV team to discuss the theory behind the project, the production process, and the fact that Prof. Roy would have had an easier time writing and publishing a book already. (But then that would be boring, no?) The article describes the project as “a groundbreaking alternative to dominant forms of online education, a hot topic that’s on the minds...

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  • Mediating

    Mar 13

    Behind The Scenes: “Can We Shop To End Poverty?”

    Written by Tara Graham

    Prof. Roy micro-lectured into a micro-phone. I painstakingly cut some denim pockets with an X-ACTO knife. And Abby tried to brew tea in cold water. This vid resulted. The following is a behind-the-scenes look into the making of #GlobalPOV’s “Can We Shop To End Poverty?” video. The #GlobalPOV Project is a program of the Global Poverty and Practice (GPP) Minor. Based at the Blum Center for Developing Economies, University of California, Berkeley, the GPP Minor...

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  • Mediating

    Mar 12

    The #GlobalPOV Project: Can We Shop To End Poverty?

    Written by Tara Graham

    The second video in The #GlobalPOV Project series is an exploration of ethical consumerism and fair trade interventions. SCRIPT EXCERPT: However tempting it may be to believe that we save lives, empower women and do good with our purchases, the impacts of our consumption on poverty cannot be reduced to mere product labels. Consumers need to understand the life histories of global commodities and advocate for changes in how...

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  • Mediating

    Blum Center News: #GlobalPOV Encourages Students To Become Public Scholars
    Dec 04

    Blum Center News: #GlobalPOV Encourages Students To Become Public Scholars

    Written by Tara Graham

    The #GlobalPOV Project’s in-class tweeting component was covered in the Fall 2012 edition of the Blum Center newsletter. In the article, writer Javier Kordi notes: Being a public medium, Twitter allows anyone to join the conversation, but also forces Berkeley students to think of themselves as public scholars— everything they post falls under the scrutiny of the global community. . . . Tara Graham, the architect of this project,...

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  • Mediating

    Nov 29

    Blast off! Launching The #GlobalPOV Project

    Written by Tara Graham

    Prof. Roy yacked on and on about Bono. Abby did some doodling. I shoved a camera in everyone’s face. This vid resulted. The following is a behind-the-scenes look into the making of The #GlobalPOV Project’s “Who Sees Poverty?” pilot video. The #GlobalPOV Project is a program of the Global Poverty and Practice (GPP) Minor. Based at the Blum Center for Developing Economies at the University of California, Berkeley, the...

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  • Mediating

    Nov 27

    The #GlobalPOV Project: Who Sees Poverty?

    Written by Tara Graham

    SCRIPT EXCERPT: Poverty exists. That it exists, that it persists, in the 21st century is an obscenity. We want to end this poverty. We want to make poverty history. But we have to ask ourselves: Who is the “we” who sees poverty? When we see poverty, what is that we see? And finally, how do we act upon these ways of seeing? Based on Prof. Ananya Roy’s popular Global...

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  • Mediating

    Daily Cal Talks Twitter In The Classroom
    Oct 16

    Daily Cal Talks Twitter In The Classroom

    Written by Tara Graham

    The Daily Californian, the student-run UC Berkeley paper of record, visited Prof. Ananya Roy’s “Global Poverty: Challenges and Hopes In The New Millennium” class this week to explore our use of Twitter in a large lecture hall setting. “By projecting tweets pertaining to the class on a screen, professors are able to use teaching methods that allow large groups of students to interact with one another and the professor...

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  • Mediating

    #GlobalPOV: From Public University To Twitterverse
    Sep 27

    #GlobalPOV: From Public University To Twitterverse

    Written by Tara Graham

    The following was originally published via the #GlobalPOV Blog on the Blum Center for Developing Economies website. I co-authored the piece with Prof. Ananya Roy, Education Director of the Global Poverty and Practice Minor at the University of California, Berkeley. In it, we seek to explain the logic behind The #GlobalPOV Project’s Twitter integration and experimentation. By now, it’s common knowledge that Twitter and other forms of social media are...

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  • Reporting

    OPINION: Military, Money & Motives In Egypt
    Feb 18

    OPINION: Military, Money & Motives In Egypt

    Written by Tara Graham

    The following was originally published via the Harvard University Press Blog. I co-authored the piece with Nezar AlSayyad, Professor of Architecture and Urban History, and Chair of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. “Egypt has passed through a critical period in her recent history characterized by bribery, mischief, and the absence of governmental stability . . . Accordingly, we have undertaken to clean ourselves up...

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  • Reporting

    Syrian President Bashar al-Assad To Me: “Ask The People If I Am Their Dictator”
    Dec 21

    Syrian President Bashar al-Assad To Me: “Ask The People If I Am Their Dictator”

    Written by Tara Graham

    In December 2010, days before a street vendor in Tunisia self-immolated and effectively set the Middle East region afire with a wave of popular uprisings, I had the opportunity to accompany an academic delegation to Bashar al-Assad’s presidential palace in Damascus, Syria. I was the only journalist in the delegation, so I was able to ask Assad a series of questions about his leadership style (does he consider himself a dictator?),...

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  • Reporting

    May 15

    Jonas Brothers Concert Stampede Footage Goes Viral, Major News Networks Cover The Story

    Written by Tara Graham

    The Jonas Brothers launched their 2010 world tour by giving a free concert at The Grove in Los Angeles, Calif., on May 15, 2010. Over 25,000 adoring fans showed up and made a mad rush for the stage, trampling over each other and security barriers in the process. Chaos ensued, but no injuries were reported. I was there to capture the madness on my smartphone (see above). Nick and...

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  • Reporting

    News Statesman Mag: Sampling of Published Work
    Jul 23

    News Statesman Mag: Sampling of Published Work

    Written by Tara Graham

    While taking a University of Southern California foreign reporting class in London, England, during the summer of 2009, I had the opportunity to work as a web editor for the New Statesman magazine. The following is a sampling of the work produced during this time. I mostly reported U.S. political news stories for the website, but I also had the opportunity to contribute research assistance and book reviews to the print publication....

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  • Reporting

    Race In America: ’08 HuffPo Election Coverage Generates Online Debate
    Oct 14

    Race In America: ’08 HuffPo Election Coverage Generates Online Debate

    Written by Tara Graham

    I had the opportunity to report for The Huffington Post’s “Off-The-Bus” election coverage team while studying journalism on an Annenberg Graduate Fellowship at the University of Southern California. The following story highlights excerpts from my interview with L.A. radio host Joe Hicks, a conservative who said he intended to vote for then-presidential candidate John McCain. The story was one of the most popular on the HuffPo site at the time...

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  • So Tweet Me Maybe?

    Sep 12

    So Tweet Me Maybe?

    Written by Tara Graham

    Tweets by @LilMissWordy

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Instagram
My Students
  • Fencing Policies: Examining U.S. & Mexican Immigration Laws

    Fencing Policies is a website produced by U.C. Berkeley undergraduate student Maria Esparza during the 2013 spring semester. ACCORDING...

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  • Literacy Lockup: Education in American Prisons

    Literacy Lockup is a website produced by U.C. Berkeley undergraduate student Katherine Fleeman during the 2013 spring semester. ACCORDING...

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  • SPACExRACE: The Physical Frontiers Defining Race In America

    SPACExRACE is a website produced by U.C. Berkeley undergraduate student Nishant Budhraja during the 2013 spring semester. ACCORDING TO...

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  • The Conflict Medium: Reporting/Constructing Conflict Around The World

    The Conflict Medium is a website produced by U.C. Berkeley undergraduate student Rashad Sisemore in my online research and...

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  • Poverty Pitch: Exploring The Intersection Of American Business & Poverty Action

    Poverty Pitch is a website produced by U.C. Berkeley undergraduate student Dominique Martinez in my online research and web...

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  • Musical Bark: Endangerment Of The Pernambuco Tree

    Musical Bark is a website produced by U.C. Berkeley undergraduate student Erica Smolin in my online research and web...

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  • Righteous Eats: Regulating International Food Delicacies

    Righteous Eats is a website produced by U.C. Berkeley undergraduate student Rachel Soeharto in my online research and web...

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  • Bursting The [Filter] Bubble: Tracking Algorithmic Filtration On The Internet

    Bursting the Bubble is a website produced by U.C. Berkeley undergraduate student Nupur Behera during the 2012 spring...

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  • Fist Pump The World: Tracking The Global Spread of Electronic Dance Music

    Fist Pump The World is a website produced by U.C. Berkeley undergraduate student Kyle Meshna in my international reporting...

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  • Media, Politics & Society: The Arab World In The Global Context

    Media, Politics & Society: The Arab World In The Global Context is a website I produced to house all...

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Résumé

TARA GRAHAM


CLICK HERE to view the most up-to-date version of my CV, along with testimonials from former managers, teammates, collaborators and students.


EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, Los Angeles

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, Berkeley


EXPERIENCE

Oct. 2013 — May 2016 | DIRECTOR, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & GLOBAL PROGRAMS
500 Startups, Silicon Valley, CA, USA

I led content, branding, marketing, operations, and partnerships for business development & events at 500 Startups. With aim to educate startup and investor audiences, grow the #500STRONG community worldwide, and produce profitable programming, my responsibilities included:

  • CONTENT & PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT: Produced the themes, agendas, and overall content strategy for 500 Startups conferences and global technology tours. Researched, interviewed, and booked industry influencers for events. Once confirmed, I provided speakers with editorial support and presentation feedback.
  • MARKETING & BRAND BUILDING: Developed event and partnership messaging across digital and print properties (web, email, social, video, pitch decks), as well as merchandising. Oversaw production and design of all collateral, including the writing and editing of copy. Determined advertising spend for event marketing across multiple channels: email, social, AdRoll retargeting, Google AdWords, and Display Network campaigns, etc.
  • SALES & CORPORATE ENGAGEMENT: Managed a multi-million dollar budget and determined quarterly performance goals; pitched and closed $1M+ of corporate partnerships (sponsorships) with leading technology companies and industry players, including Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, PayPal, IBM, Capital One, and others.
  • LIVE EVENT & PROGRAM PRODUCTION: Worked as the front-of-the-house executive producer for our live shows, which accommodated 500+ attendees per event. Managed associated operational, content, and marketing deadlines, as well as event spending and budgets for 500 conferences and global technology tours.
  • TEAM RECRUITMENT & MANAGEMENT: Recruited and managed a team of 5+ BD & Events professionals in the following capacities: operations (x3), marketing/design (x1) & corporate partnership management (x1). I also mentored interns & liaised with temporary contractors to perform short-term work.

Jul. 2010 — Aug. 2013 | LECTURER OF ONLINE MEDIA
International and Area Studies Academic Program, UC Berkeley, CA, USA

  • Developed the curriculum for undergraduate courses exploring the demands and techniques of international reporting in the digital age, online research, web production and new media theory
  • Delivered weekly lectures and led multimedia workshops to help students package their findings (research/commentary/interviews/photography/videos) into multimedia websites
  • Evaluated student performance; held weekly office hours for 1:1 tutoring/mentoring
  • See courses taught; student evaluations available upon request

Mar. 2012 — Aug. 2013 | DIRECTOR AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
Blum Center for Developing Economies, UC Berkeley, CA, USA

  • Co-founded and co-developed  The #GlobalPOV Project, an innovative approach to hybrid pedagogy whereby in-class and online learning methods are blended into a mixed-mode participatory curriculum
  • Co-produced a series of educational videos that combined critical social theory, live-action sketch, improv art and social media to explore innovative ways of thinking about poverty, inequality and undertaking poverty action
  • Managed the video production process and deliverables: hiring and team management, project scheduling and invoicing, script and storyboard development, production oversight and direction, post-production revisions (locking picture, zooms, visual effects, sound design, credits)
  • Strategized and managed in-class social media experimentation in a lecture hall accommodating 700+ students
  • Co-developed project branding and designed website; updated and maintained The #GlobalPOV Blog and web presence (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube)
  • After 10 months, GlobalPOV YouTube channel had nearly 30,000 views, and the pilot video had over 15,000 views. The project hashtag is tweeted on a daily basis by students, educators, social entrepreneurs, poverty alleviation experts, nonprofit organizations, and foundations

Sept. 2010 — Aug. 2013 | DIRECTOR OF MEDIA
Center for Middle Eastern Studies, UC Berkeley, CA, USA

  • Reported on Middle East-related happenings, interviewed relevant parties (including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad) and photographed/filmed events and lectures for the Center’s publication materials
  • Managed the production, organization and re-design of the Center’s website by collaborating with web designers and developers; also managed routine maintenance of the site
  • Produced, edited and digitally prepared content for the website; published all content
  • Cultivated and managed the Center’s social media presence (Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo)

Jan. 2010 – Jul. 2010 | WEB REPORTER/PHOTOGRAPHER
KCET’s “SoCal Connected”, Los Angeles, CA, USA                 

  • Investigated and reported on the Calif. economic crisis, and its impact on Orange County’s housing, education, transportation and government sectors
  • Digitally prepared multimedia content for the website (wrote stories, cropped/uploaded photos, produced audio slideshows, crafted feature summaries)
  • Cross-published work on the Carnegie-Knight News21 USC Annenberg website
  • Investigation awarded the First Place “Best of the Web” Individual Journalism Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC).

Jan. 2009 – Jun. 2010 | CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, SUPERVISING EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
USC Annenberg Digital News, Los Angeles, CA, USA                                   

  • Managed a 50+-person editorial staff, organized website posting schedules and led online training sessions
  • Selected top content for the day, crafted headlines and promoted stories to the front page
  • Digitally prepared, edited and published multimedia news content to the website

May 2009 – Aug. 2009 | WEB EDITOR
New Statesman, London, England                                                                       

  • Researched and reported U.S. news stories for the website and contributed book reviews to the print publication
  • Digitally prepared magazine content for the website; managed and promoted content to the online homepage; and moderated comments

Aug. 2008 – Feb. 2009 | STAFF WRITER
Farai Chideya’s “Pop and Politics” website (now Farai.com), Los Angeles, CA, USA

  • Reported on breaking political and popular culture news, interviewed relevant experts and digitally prepared multimedia content for the website
  • Wrote regular commentary and investigative features
  • Website launched and managed by NPR’s Farai Chideya

Nov. 2006 – Jul. 2008 | ASSOCIATE EDITOR
P✪PSUGAR , San Francisco, CA, USA

  • Launched a popular culture website in 2006 that grew to average 1,000,000+ page views per month
  • Researched and posted content on an hourly basis, adding editorial commentary to engage, inform and entertain readers
  • Marketed website through social media activity and by negotiating traffic exchanges with other sites

WRITING & EDITING

New Urban Mobilities As Intelligent Infrastructure
Edited volume by Prof. Therese Tierney, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Editor (Jul. 2013 – Oct. 2013), manuscript in progress

The Public Space of Social Media: Connected Cultures of the Network Society
Authored by Prof. Therese Tierney, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Editor (Jun. – Dec. 2012), manuscript published by Routledge in Jun. 2013

Cairo: Histories of a City
Authored by Prof. Nezar AlSayyad, University of California at Berkeley
Editor (Oct. – Nov. 2010), manuscript published by Harvard University Press in May 2011

NanoCity: A Project By The Berkeley Group for Architecture & Planning
Writer/Editor (Aug. – Oct. 2007), publication used to promote NanoCity, a 21st century, high-tech, eco-friendly Indian metropolis developed and funded by Hotmail founder Sabeer Bhatia


PROFESSIONAL TRAVEL

April 2016 — CHINA | TAIWAN | JAPAN

Led an 11-day Geeks On A Plane delegation of 50+ entrepreneurs, investors, and executives to East Asia to meet with local startup/tech ecosystem players, gain insight into cross-border challenges and opportunities, and forge new global business connections. We also produced a PreMoney Hong Kong event to bring together the local investor community and explore the latest strategies, models and trends in venture capital.

December 2015 BAHRAIN | UAE | JORDAN | EGYPT

Led a 10-day Geeks On A Plane delegation of 30+ entrepreneurs, investors, and executives to the MENA region to meet with local startup/tech ecosystem players, gain insight into cross-border challenges and opportunities, and forge new global business connections. We also produced a PreMoney MENA conference in Manama, Bahrain, to bring together the region’s investor community and explore the latest strategies, models and trends in venture capital.

May 2012 — TURKEY

Covered an international conference on the Arab uprisings in Istanbul, Turkey, hosted by Istanbul Ayden University and organized by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at UC Berkeley. Speakers included experts from Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Syria and Turkey.

December 2010 — SYRIA | LEBANON 

Accompanied a UC Berkeley delegation to Damascus and interviewed President Bashar al-Assad on matters involving political and economic reform in Syria, along with the Israeli peace process. Also traveled to Beirut, Lebanon, to promote and cover the International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments 2010 conference.

October 2010 — GERMANY

Traveled to Berlin and Munich as one of 10 U.S. journalists selected to attend a one-week press tour organized by the Goethe Institut and the German Foreign Office in Washington, DC. The program provided historical background to inform contemporary reporting on German affairs. Participants also met with political decision makers, scientists involved in the country’s renewable energy projects, and artists behind Berlin’s vibrant art scene.

March 2010 — ISRAEL | PALESTINE                 

Traveled to Israel and Palestine as one of 10 Annenberg graduate students selected to report in the region. Participants met with religious, political and human rights activists, as well as educators, legislators, refugees, settlers, and media commentators to explore the ways in which the ongoing conflict affects on-the-ground attitudes, beliefs and behaviors.

October 2009 — BELGIUM

Traveled to Brussels, Belgium, as one of 14 U.S. graduate students selected to attend a one-week press tour organized by the European Union. The program provided an overview of the EU’s history, policies and struggles, with special focus on EU—US relations.

May-August 2009 — ENGLAND | NORTHERN IRELAND    

Traveled around the United Kingdom for a USC foreign reporting class. Worked as a web editor for the New Statesman magazine during this time.

July 2008 — EGYPT

Traveled to Cairo, Egypt, to conduct preliminary research for Cairo: Histories of a City, a Harvard University Press book authored by Prof. Nezar AlSayyad of the University of California, Berkeley. Later worked as an editor on this book.


VOLUNTEER WORK

Mar. 2016 – Present | BUSINESS & CAREER COACH

Defy VenturesEntrepreneurship, employment, and character training program for the incarcerated and formerly incarcerated.

  • Provide résumé and interview feedback during in-prison business coaching days
  • Judge Shark Tank-style business plan pitch competitions to help determine the allocation of startup seed funding

Nov. 2012 — Dec. 2013 | BOARD OF ADVISORS                                               

Equalize Youth: An online support network for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning (LGBTQ) youth and their families

  • Participated in virtual board meetings to help inform business strategy, website design, audience acquisition and online community building.

AWARDS AND FELLOWSHIPS

Jan. 2016“GET SH*T DONE” PEER RECOGNITION AWARD
500 Startups

Aug. 2012 — May 2012 | LECTURER TEACHING FELLOW
University of California, Berkeley

June 2011 | “BEST OF THE WEB” FIRST PLACE INDIVIDUAL JOURNALISM AWARD
Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication

May 2010 | PENNY LERNOUX AWARD FOR INTERNATIONAL REPORTING
University of Southern California

May 2010 | PHI KAPPA PHI HONOR SOCIETY
University of Southern California
*Membership awarded to the top 10 percent of USC’s graduate students

Jan. 2010 – Jul. 2010| CARNEGIE-KNIGHT NEWS21 FELLOW
University of Southern California

Aug. 2009 – May 2010 | DEAN’S MERIT SCHOLAR
University of Southern California

Aug. 2008 – May 2009 | ANNENBERG GRADUATE FELLOW
University of Southern California

Aug. 2001 – May 2005| THE LEADERSHIP AWARD
University of California, Berkeley

Twitter

So Tweet Me Maybe?


About

The Narrative #Selfie

tg-head-f1

Lose the shirt off my back? Nah.

When life got dicey, I opened my closet doors, bypassed the blouses, and earned a (modest) payday by selling used hangers in 25-pack bundles.

More recently, I put my hustle into play at 500 Startups, the world’s most active venture capital fund and startup accelerator, where I led content, branding, marketing, operations, and corporate partnerships for business development and global programs.

Before transitioning into tech, I worked in higher education, teaching online research and media production classes across a variety of disciplines at the University of California, Berkeley. During that time, I also worked as the Director and Executive Producer of Digital Media Projects at the Blum Center for Developing Economies, where I co-founded and led The #GlobalPOV Project, a mixed-media approach to thinking about poverty, inequality, and undertaking poverty action.

In addition, I was the Director of Media at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, where I had the opportunity to interview Bashar al-Assad in his presidential palace in Damascus, Syria, in late December of 2010. I asked Assad if he considered himself a dictator. He dodged the inquiry, but his actions in the immediate weeks, months, and years to follow answered the question . . . and then some. Sadly.

Before that, I was a practicing journalist and graduate fellow at the University of Southern California. During that time, I worked as a web reporter and photographer for KCET’s “SoCal Connected,”​ as an online editor for the London-based New Statesman magazine, and as the co-editor-in-chief of USC Annenberg’s award-winning digital news website. I got my start in journalism as a full-time associate editor (and employee #20!) at P✪PSUGAR, a Sequoia-backed content and commerce startup turned global media empire.

My freelance reporting has been featured in NBC, CBS, and ABC news broadcasts and in online publications, including The Huffington Post. I have also done manuscript editing for various authors with recognized commercial and university presses.

You can find me tap dancing in the dark corners of my imagination to a sold-out audience of — none. Like most everything else, it’s all for fun.

Let’s connect! Join me on Twitter or Instagram or LinkedIn.

Self-Assessment:

#Hashtagging While Talking
Upholding The Distinction Between To & Too
Tap Dancing Down Store Aisles
Exemplifying
Inverting Pyramids