Featured Projects

Work demonstrating how I build new capabilities in complex environments from concept through scale.

Full CV available on LinkedIn



Leap Fund: Building a National Platform for Benefits Cliff Intervention

Fintech nonprofit addressing the benefits cliff problem (2018-2024)

The Challenge

Benefits cliffs (where earning more income results in losing public benefits worth more than the wage increase) trap millions of Americans in poverty. No technology platform existed to help workers navigate this complexity, and no proven interventions existed to help employers support workers without triggering cliffs. The solution required combining financial technology, deep domain expertise of multiple industries, employer partnerships, policy advocacy, and behavioral design.

My Role

Founder & CEO. Built the organization from concept, raised $2M+ in competitive non-profit funding, led product development, established employer partnerships, managed team, and drove policy impact.

The Approach

Designed a multi-layered intervention system:

  • Built a benefits cliff calculator enabling workers to model earning scenarios and understand their specific cliff risks
  • Created a coach training program to scale human support nationwide, and provide workers real context for tricky decision-making processes they were navigating for career and finances
  • Piloted employer-based financial solutions with multi-year partnerships to test intervention models
  • Established a product-to-policy pipeline, using program data to inform federal and state policy recommendations

Rather than choosing between tech or human support, policy or product, we built an integrated system recognizing that benefits cliffs require solutions across all these domains.

The Outcome

Scaled to become one of the nation's most robust benefits cliff intervention programs. Testified before U.S. House Rules Committee. Presented program outcomes at Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Established partnerships with multiple state agencies and Chambers of Commerce. Supported by Blue Ridge Labs/Robin Hood Foundation, Acumen, Access Ventures, The Workers Lab, Financial Solutions Lab at the Financial Health Network, and Google for Startups. One of only 2 surviving organizations from a 20+ member cohort.




Vote Run Lead: Digital Transformation for Political Training

Chief Product Officer (2015-2016)

The Challenge

Vote Run Lead's training programs for women running for office relied on in-person events, limiting reach and creating equity barriers. The organization worked nationally, but needed greater scale while maintaining training quality, while also needing to stabilize compromised systems and address a lack of product infrastructure.

My Role

Chief Product Officer. Led complete digital transformation including platform strategy, security remediation, and revenue system implementation.

The Approach

  • Re-designed and launched Invitation Nation, a peer-to-peer platform encouraging women to run for office
  • Rebuilt compromised systems and established security infrastructure and QA processes
  • Implemented payments gateway, donations flow, and merchandise sales to diversify revenue
  • Built lean external tech team and established sustainable product development processes

The Outcome

Enabled Vote Run Lead to scale training programs nationally, reaching thousands more women while reducing per-trainee costs. Created infrastructure that supported the organization's growth through subsequent election cycles.




WalkaboutNYC: Building NYC's Tech Community

Product Lead (2010-2013)

The Challenge

In 2010, NYC's tech ecosystem was nascent and fragmented. Companies and workers lacked ways to discover each other, and the community needed connective tissue to appreciate their own local talent and products, and accelerate growth in the sector.

My Role

Built and scaled WalkaboutNYC, a biannual open house event where hundreds of tech companies opened their doors simultaneously for thousands of participants to explore.

The Approach

  • Built a mobile-first platform (novel at the time) with custom RSVP functionality, backend database, and user-facing CMS
  • Managed full product lifecycle from QA through public rollout
  • Created operational infrastructure to coordinate hundreds of companies across NYC simultaneously

The Outcome

Grew to biannual event with hundreds of participating companies and thousands of attendees. Created alternate event for design studios and designers, based on original event success. Became foundational community-building infrastructure for NYC tech ecosystem during critical growth years. Opensourced the idea and created documentation for plug-and-play handbook which was implemented in numerous other cities around the globe.




Additional Work




Fortune 500 & Enterprise Strategy Consulting

Led digital transformation and product strategy projects for Fortune 500 clients (Samsung, Verizon, Target, Cadillac, Bloomin Brands) and high-growth tech companies (Spotify, Grammarly, Meetup). Specialized in product strategy, community and user research, competitive analysis, and strategic roadmaps that accelerated innovation initiatives across automotive, healthcare, retail, and hospitality sectors.


Hire More Women In Tech

Launched initiative in 2014 making the business case for diverse leadership in technology. Campaign expanded beyond original scope to address broader diversity and inclusion. Relaunched in 2025 with expanded focus, and to address federal DEI rollbacks.


realnames.online

Collaborative public interest project with K Samarskaya examining "real name" policies on social platforms—their history, risks to user safety, and impact on freedom of expression.