I began my career on the funder side — staffing Ryan White Part A Planning Councils in Austin and New Orleans, the federally mandated bodies that assess epidemic data, set service priorities, and direct how federal dollars flow across entire metropolitan areas. In New Orleans, I then moved to the city's administrative offices, where I wrote federal grant applications, developed RFPs, trained review panels, made formal funding recommendations, and monitored subrecipient nonprofits for compliance.

In 2000, I founded CoSo Grants and spent the next 25 years on the other side of the table — helping nonprofits build the funding infrastructure they need to survive, grow, and focus on mission. That dual perspective is what I bring to every engagement. I know what funders want to see, because I was one.

My approach was shaped early — in the Peace Corps in Liberia, where I watched well-intentioned outsiders decide what communities needed without asking them. I've spent my career doing the opposite: listening first, planning collaboratively, and building from what communities say they need.

I hold an MSPH from Tulane University, with a capstone focused on HIV treatment access and justice-related barriers to care along the Texas–Mexico border.