VisualCV

For the Strategic Prototyping Team at Microsoft, give tours of "Microsoft Home" in the Executive Briefing Center. In a simulated home environment, C-level executives, high-level staff, and visiting dignitaries who are pursuing contracts and partnerships with Microsoft can experience possible consumer technology innovations that are likely to emerge over the next five to ten years. Facilitate discussions that allow for innovative thinking about future possibilities for including technology in the home and in their lives. Work with the team to research future technology trends and develop scenarios for future versions of the Home. Have served over 20,000 guests and received all positive reviews containing many accolades.

Owner/President of company providing professional development workshops to executives, staff, students, and the general public in speed reading, advanced study skills, and writing. Prepared business, financial, and marketing plans, conceived and managed media campaign. Marketed professional development programs
to CEO and Chief Learning Officer level managers in Fortune 500 companies.

Developed marketing approaches to overcome the competition for corporate professional development training programs. Marketing efforts resulted in major clients including Alaska Airlines and Archer, Daniel, Midlands.

Report weekly on sustainable business practices in Seattle, Washington.

Report on astronomy, space science, and space exploration issues for this national information website.

Report on sustainable and "green" jobs in and around Seattle.

Adjunct professor at a number of educational institutions. Created and taught over 30 courses in education, ecology, humanities, advanced learning techniques, the sciences, astronomy, learning theory, and more. Designed, taught, and evaluated distance learning and online courses. Created interesting and innovative classes to help adults returning to school to finish degrees or change careers. Followed diverse guidelines from many different educational institutions.

Created discovery-based learning experiences that helped students discover their full potential. Worked as
adjunct professor at the following institutions:

• INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY, Seattle, 2007 – December 2008.
• UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX, WA and Southern CA, 1993 – 1999, Los Angeles; 2000-2007, Seattle
• ARGOSY UNIVERSITY, Seattle, WA, 2004 - 2006
• ANTIOCH UNIVERSITY, Seattle, WA, 2003-2004; Los Angeles, CA, 1989 - 1998
• NORTH SEATTLE COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Seattle, WA, 2001
• CASCADIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Seattle, WA, 2001
• PROFESSOR FOR EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE EDUCATION, U.S. Space Foundation, 2000-2001
• WEST LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Los Angeles, CA, 1996-1997
• UNION INSTITUTE COLLEGE OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES, Los Angeles, 1992-1997

Wrote monthly column on education issues, processes, and techniques for this nonprofit organization based in
Washington, D.C whose primary mission is to help raise the level of awareness and understanding among professionals and the public of important issues in American education. (www.edweek.org)

Managed all aspects of Discovery Park, Seattle’s largest city park, with oversight for 534-acre grounds, education programs, visitor’s center and exhibits, and multi-million dollar annual budget.

• Bridged gaps between the myriad of interest groups affiliated with the park that had adversarial relationships.
• Optimized visibility of the park, increasing utilization of park facilities by citizens citywide. Created cooperative public programs with the Daybreak Star Native American Cultural Center, located in Discovery Park. Turned what was an adversarial relationship with the City of Seattle into a successful cooperative venture. In a program I created, Discovery Park rangers would co-lead a nature walk with a member of the Native American community, interweaving the native stories with the natural history of the area.
• Coordinated effective and diverse community advisory board representing all interest groups. Rejuvenated interagency community task force spanning many different municipal agencies, the Native American community, the U.S. Army, and residents.
• Designed and implemented a groundskeeping plan for the park that embraced environmentally sound practices including limited machine use in the park, phase-out of all 2-cycle engines, and prohibiting the use of pesticides. Developed innovative techniques for managing invasive plants in the park.

Conceived, designed, and managed a $3.5 million Earth and space science educational outreach program that served thousands of K-12 and college teachers through innovative workshops, in-service programs, and audio-visual materials that wove together concepts in critical thinking, multiple intelligence theory, discovery-based learning and creative arts. Successfully marketed the programs to public and private schools in Southern California.

• Began the transformation of the nationwide perception of NASA educational outreach efforts to one of a proactive professional development program provider. Program was used as a model for other programs throughout NASA.
• Used marketing, promotion, and fundraising techniques from business and industry to promote programs to school boards, gaining access to K-12 teachers throughout California. Developed innovative fundraising opportunities and secured coverage of programs in the print, broadcast, and online media.

Conceived, designed, and managed an innovative design for a $6 million computer software and hardware system to provide the daily operations planning environment for the Ocean Topography Experiment satellite, a joint mission between the United States (NASA) and France (Centre Nationale Etudies Spaciale - CNES). Led a team of programmers in the development of hundreds of thousands of lines of custom code.

• With tight budgets using hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, launch window and planetary encounter schedules that do not move, technological challenges, 24-hour schedules, creating systems to control spacecraft around other planets where you can’t send a repair crew, coordinating tracking stations around the world, and with national public opinion at stake, each spacecraft development project is a collaboration among many. I learned a myriad of techniques that have made me a top performer in all my roles.
• Kept operations within budgets and ahead of schedule. Led a team of programmers and engineers to create innovative software and hardware designs that dramatically increased efficiency and accuracy of spacecraft operations. Created new ways of controlling spacecraft, resulting in increased science return. Instituted oversight and review program that reduced errors and increased employee satisfaction.
• Restructuring of software requirements for an Earth-orbiting satellite mission resulted in creation of 2 programmer positions instead of 4, saving at least $500,000 in staffing costs over 2-years. Developed a plan for modifying existing software created by the University of Colorado for scheduling the Tracking and Data Relay System satellites, saving over $250,000 in programming costs over 2-years and at least $100,000 in testing costs. Redesign of operations team requirements resulted in $600,000 savings over the 8-year life of the mission.
• For the Voyager and Galileo deep space missions, created processes and developed software that tested spacecraft mission planning sequences prior to delivery, saving over $1 million of staff and computer resources over the 10-year life of the mission.

Wrote cutting edge weekly commentary column on environmental, social, and child advocacy issues of global concern. Respond to a global online readership, aiding their quest to become activists and advocates for change in their communities. Over 350 articles were written, many of which have been published on hundreds of
websites and many magazines internationally.

Taught avanced speed reading and learning techniques as a contract teacher in this nationwide organization. Over the course of a 2-day program, students with reading speeds from 100 to 400 words per minute would increase to 2,000 to 2,500 words per minute.

Recruited, trained, coordinated, and motivated a network of 50 volunteers who visited and reported on
conditions on lands given by The Nature Conservancy to federal, state, and local agencies to insure compliance with lease agreements. Received The Nature Conservancy Service Award in 1983 for work.

Identified and vetted promising opportunities for giving grants to individuals and non-profits working on children’s rights, animal welfare, and environmental issues. Managed a pipeline, collaborated and consulted with grantees.

• Reviewed letters of inquiry and grant proposals and decided who would get funding. 
• Managed internal processes and portfolio progress, documentation, grant budgeting and reporting. 
• Served as a point of contact on portfolio-related issues for grantees.

Managed staff of museum guides, gift shop personnel, telescope demonstrators, and information desk personnel at the internationally renowned Griffith Observatory and Planetarium in Los Angeles, California. The museum and planetarium had over 4 million visitors per year. 

Hire, manage, train, retain, schedule a staff comprised entirely of part-time employees, all who were college students with a passion for astronomy, public education, and the sciences.

Developed systems, policies, and procedures to create a quality family museum experience. Created innovative crowd control and safety strategies to accommodate the thousands who came up just for the laser light show in the planetarium. Coordinated an Exhibit Renovation and Development Plan. Created an environment of enthusiasm and commitment among the staff, creating the delicate balance between education, entertainment, and public safety.