Chief Innovation Officer

Here are the three pillars of my career in innovation, with highlights from my resumé.

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SERVICE DELIVERY 

I have a reputation for getting sh*t done. ​​​​

• I've coached dozens of healthcare workers to use a design thinking approach for innovation projects, chiefly at Johns Hopkins Sibley Memorial Hospital. These 68 postcards from the field tell some of the stories.

• Inspired by the success of a design project that I piloted in a hospital with a nurse practitioner, I built a nonprofit that connects poets with healthcare workers around the world to help improve communication and fight burnout. It's currently in its seventh year of double-digit growth.

• I'm highly skilled in behavioral science and the art of change implementation, which I spoke about in my keynote talk at Berlin's Service Experience Camp conference. 

• Two of my published games have become bestsellers: BrainSpin (2015), which celebrates neurodiversity, and Dumb Questions to Ask Your Friends (2024), which has a 5-star rating on Target and Amazon.

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EXPERIENCE DESIGN 

Intentional experiences are my bread and butter.

• In my course on Innovative Thinking for grad students at the University of Maryland, I share many world-building examples from my career as an experience designer.

• I've got a deep, longstanding passion for user research that drives change. Here's a video training on discovery interview skills I created that is still used widely for hospital staff and researchers.

• Every detail of operations for The Good Listening Project was an opportunity to build our culture and community. Onboarding has always been a special passion of mine, for example, so I wrote a Listener Poet's Handbook for Working and made sure all our new hires received a copy in the mail during their first week. 

• Meetup groups I've led and/ or co-founded include the massive Design Thinking: DC; Healthcare Experience Design | DC; and DC Graphic Facilitators.​

 

COLLABORATIVE LEADERSHIP 

Facilitating high-performing teams is my strength.​​​

• I co-founded The Good Listening Project, a nonprofit that supports psychological safety in healthcare, and led it for five years. As executive director, I championed a collaborative governance model, earned a "Most Receptive to Feedback" award, and doubled revenues every year.​​​

• While co-directing the Innovation Hub at Johns Hopkins Sibley Memorial Hospital, I built the first design internship program there. It was a massive force multiplier. You can find many of my former interns' testimonials on my LinkedIn.

• I'm trained in agile and predictive project management, and have years of experience with both. My Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is current through January 2028.​​​

 

I'm proud to say I've learned from getting things wrong, too. Here is my failure resumé.