You have likely heard my name mentioned and are looking for more information about who I am. You can find me in a few other places on the Internet, but this is my personal webpage.
You might wonder why I even have a personal webpage. This is a very good question. I have used this space to help people understand who I am and what I do. Oh, I do have a LinkedIn page and there are old and dead accounts all over the Internet which talk about one side of me or another facet of my life. Thing is, I have done a wide variety of jobs and many of them have been on the Internet which I have been using since 1990.
First off, you might like to know that I was originally born in California and lived there most of my life in different cities varying in size from having a population of around 48,000 to a metropolitan area with more than a million people. I spent much of my early years around the northern California hill country, fishing, camping, mountain biking and sometimes going deadfall logging with my family.
At age 18 I went off to the California State University, Chico where I studied Computer Science for two years, where I learned to program on supercomputers. However, I soon learned that programming wasn’t right for me. I switched majors to study Instructional Technology. I went that route because I like to help people learn useful skills. I feel that education is extremely important for personal growth and it is often required in many careers as well. I graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science degree and eventually ran my own business where I had a few national and international clients. When technologies changed, I decided to go back to working for other people for a while.
I eventually moved to Wisconsin and went back to school to study Political Science and complete a Master of Arts degree in Communication at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. I have been interested in the way government works since I was in high school and have been an advocate for various causes for most of my life, but especially since I moved to Wisconsin. I am currently on the Board of Directors of the Aging and Disability Resource Center of Central Wisconsin and Clean Green Action. Formerly I was on the McMillan Memorial Library Board of Directors. I like being involved in the community and working with people.
If you know me already, you may be wondering why I have not talked directly about my visual impairment. If you don’t know me, it’s true. I am visually impaired as the result of a congenital birth defect. I have had the same vision all my life. This makes it my normal. I am legally blind with a visual acuity of 20/200. It is something that I have to put up with but it does not define who I am.
| Year | Degree | Program | School | Location | Topic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Masters of Arts | Communication | UW Stevens Point | Stevens Point, WI | Organizational Communication |
| 2013 | Bachelors of Science | Political Science | UW Stevens Point | Stevens Point, WI | Public Administration |
| 1996 | Bachelors of Science | Instructional Technology | CSU Chico | Chico, CA | Computer Based Training (CBT) |
| 1988 | Enterprise High School | Redding, CA | |||
| 1985 | Nova Junior High | Redding, CA |
| Title | Organization | Year | Course |
|---|---|---|---|
| EC-001 | American Radio Relay League | 2002 | Basic Emergency Communications |
| ICS-100 | Federal Emergency Management Agency | 2006 | Incident Command System |
| ICS-700 | Federal Emergency Management Agency | 2006 | Advanced Incident Command System |
| English Forward | Literacy Forward | 2016 | English Forward English Tutor Volunteer regional trainer |
| From | To | Position | Employer | Duties |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 2018 | Executive Director | Central Wisconsin Literacy Council | The Executive Director is the sole person charged with running the organization. The job requires office management, record keeping, technical support, graphic design, public relations, volunteer recruitment and training, fund raising and community outreach for clients recruitment and coalition building with other community partners. |
| 2014 | 2017 | Student Assistant Instructor Fundamentals of Oral Communication | UW Stevens Point | Student Assistants teach other students according to the direction of the Communication 101 Director. Fundamentals of Oral Communication is an intense General Degree Requirement course in public speaking and teaches critical thinking, presentation and speaking styles and research methods. |
| 2011 | 2013 | Student Assistant University Surplus Department | UW Stevens Point | Student Assistants at University Suplus evaluate for sale surplus property. They deal with surplus furniture, electronics, computers, tools and office supplies. Unsaleable items are recycled. Computer technicians rebuilt computer systems, installed operating systems, parted and recycled computers as well as performed data destruction so sensitive information does not leave university property. |