Are you looking for a professional who is curious and kind to write textured, place-based stories that seek out goodness?
As a freelance journalist and content writer, I have a knack for connecting with a wide range of people and a head for research that I use to craft profiles with sensitivity and tales of transformative impact which celebrate small places, underappreciated people, and unheralded solutions.
My work has spanned a feature article about how the Museum of the Cherokee People is serving their own people first, case studies on members of a rural housing nonprofit network, and a webpage sharing successes from a 15-year-old land conservation fund. I leverage my decade of work in the nonprofit sector and years of experience writing for colleges, universities, and nonprofits to suss out the narrative arc of the story that best articulates the impact of your work.
My interests lie in the realm of philanthropy, higher education, arts + culture, and the outdoors, often from a rural or Appalachian perspective. I have experience writing features, profiles, news stories, case studies, and web content.
Some of my favorite interviews? An Affrilachian poet, Santa Claus, a shark paleontologist, author Barbara Kingsolver, a paralympian, and a “parent” at the library’s teddy bear sleepover.
Subjects
Philanthropy, Higher Education, Nonprofits, Outdoors, Rural, Appalachia, Social Justice
Skills
Writing Credits
The Daily Yonder, Berea College Magazine, National Parks Traveler, Kentucky Natural Lands Trust, Bitter Southerner, Fahe, Partners for Rural Impact, Christian Appalachia Project, Taproot Magazine
Awards, Honors, Appointments
Kentucky Press Asscociation News Award, Kentucky Foundation for Women Artist Enrichment Grant
As author, unless indicated otherwise.
The iconic Iditarod race began as a way to preserve the dog sledding lifestyle and celebrate rural Alaska. Through interviews with two mushers, a long-time volunteer, the mayor of Unalakleet, and the executive director of the event, I wrote about the specialness of the mushing community and the unique bush communities the race connects.
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For a Berea College Magazine issue telling stories of how people found there way to the school, I interviewed two siblings who have a family legacy. Combined with their parents and a brother, they have worked more than 175 years for the school in the student craft and facilities management departments. The two have warm memories of growing up in the broom-making studio.
While Arches National Park is the undisputed champion of natural arches, a little-known unit of the National Park Service that spans Kentucky and Tennessee has one of the highest concentrations of them in the east. The centerpiece of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area is a 600-foot gorge along a wild tributary of the Cumberland River. This canyon country contains hundreds of natural arches and rock shelters carved by the slow, epic force of water.
Kentucky poet Frank X Walker first identified an Affrilachian poet in one of his works, and the name was quickly adopted by his multi-cultural writing group. Celebrating thirty years, the group has become family, celebrating birthdays and weddings together, and continues to welcome new folks into the fold.
Detroit's Heidelberg Project is a collection of assemblages from everyday objects. Houses, fences, and trees are canvases for art made from discarded objects, redeemed through intention.
This couple, who met as students at Berea, have rallied American support for a secondary school in his homeland of Kenya.
At A Taste of Granor, in the southwest corner of Michigan, a soaring windowed greenhouse immerses guests in the sights and tastes of the nearby fields of Granor Farm. Each eight-course menu, defined as modern midwestern cuisine by chef Abra Berens, changes nightly. Berens is making an impact on American food culture beyond Granor Farm through her acclaimed cookbooks focusing on vegetables and pulses, meant to be a launching point for the creativity of home cooks.
At the Palisades, cliffs tower roughly 250 feet over the meandering Kentucky River. Their forested environs harbor endangered bats and rare plants.
The term creative placemaking was coined around 2007 and is about more than economic development or having a vibrant arts scene. It is about creatively envisioning and shaping a shared community future, and recognizing that the arts can aid a community in solving problems, building relationships, and forming culture.These four communities have used it to unpack historic trauma, imagine their shared future, and increase civic engagement.
