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about me

I bridge technology and community impact, creating innovative solutions that make a difference. From developing educational games used internationally to leading digital inclusion initiatives, I blend technical expertise with creative expression to solve real-world challenges. My passion lies in making technology accessible and meaningful - whether that's teaching seniors computer skills, mentoring young innovators, or building tools that help others learn and grow.
 

Professionally, I've evolved from an award-winning designer and platform architect to a community-focused technology leader. With over two decades of experience spanning enterprise IT, creative development, and social impact, I specialize in building programs and tools that empower others. My work combines site reliability engineering, creative development, and community outreach to create sustainable positive change.
 

When not building community programs or developing educational games, you can find me exploring new technologies, composing music, creating digital art, or finding innovative ways to make complex concepts accessible to everyone.

professional experience

University of Minnesota​

 

Dec 2019 – Present

SRE / IT Engineering for Research and Outreach Enablement

Leading innovative technology initiatives that bridge research computing and community impact through educational programs, digital inclusion efforts, and technical infrastructure development.

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  • Design and implement community outreach programs that have distributed over 1,200 computers, provided technology education to seniors, and created pathways for students in North Minneapolis

  • Develop creative educational tools, including an internationally-used SRE card game distributed in five African countries and interactive learning platforms

  • Lead transformative initiatives like the Northside Summer Internship Program, combining technical education, life skills development, and research exposure

  • Partner with community organizations, academic departments, and technology providers to create sustainable programs that bridge the digital divide

  • Support research computing initiatives while fostering cross-departmental collaboration between IT, community organizations, and academic units

UnitedHealth Group

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Oct 2018 – Dec 2019

Principal IAM Cloud AI Engineer

Leading identity and access management as a service (IAMAAS) for ESSO, Machine Learning (ML)/Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Cloud access management.

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  • IAM engineering and Product Owner for Azure connectivity supporting Office 365, Optum development and 400K users.

  • Leading IAM data science for Natural Language Processing chatbots, database access forecasting and directory service anomaly detection using Machine Learning.

Apex Systems

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Dec 2017 – Sept 2018

Security Analyst/Architect Contractor supporting Optum/UnitedHealth Group

Security Analyst, Cloud Architect for Identity Access Management, Cloud Identity and program management

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  • Program owner of FIPS compliant network enclave for multiple state agencies. MARS-E, IRS and NIST Compliances.

  • Responsible for IAM approach for AWS, Azure and on-premise and hybrid cloud offerings for UnitedHealth Group.

Blue Diesel
Data Science

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Oct 2017 – May 2018

Executive Director & Technologist (Co-Founder)

Office administration, program development, strategic business planning, finance and IT architecture.

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  • Azure AD, Domain Services, Virtual Network, Azure point-to-site VPN, Exchange Online, Skype for Business VOIP, and O365 admin/engineering.

  • Application development and UI design - PHP, C#, CSS and JavaScript.

Suburban Imaging

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Mar 2017 – Oct 2017

IT & IS Director

Director of IT and IS systems for Suburban Imaging, hospital and clinic partnerships with HealthPartners, Fairview and Allina supporting radiology.

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  • Disaster recovery, architecture planning, network review and project direction/management.

  • Network communication and security strategy with multiple RIS and PACS hospital systems.

UnitedHealth Group

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Dec 2010 – Mar 2017

IT Director - Identity & Access Management   (May 2016 – March 2017)

Director of Active Directory & corporate identity services supporting 78 domains, 440K groups, 970K users and 217 trusts.

 

  • Change audit, security authorization and log analytics tools/devices.

  • Develop continuous improvement strategy and lead project for global domain controller replacement in a 4-month period. (P2V)

Cloud Engineer & Architect – Azure & Azure Pack   (Oct 2015 – May 2016)

Architect and Engineer for Optum public, private & hybrid cloud services.

 

  • Developer on internal portal services and hybrid integration supporting .NET, PHP, and Node.js platforms.

  • Infrastructure architect and engineering designing (active/active) GEO HA configurations between multiple data centers.​

IT Director – Cloud Platform, Analytics and Reporting Services   (Aug 2011 – Oct 2015)

Director of division finance, SQL Server Reporting Services, Web Analytics and Clouds (Azure/Azure Pack) supporting more than 13M users.

 

  • Operational investigation for the construction of business applications to ensure infrastructure availability.

  • Developed reviews and partnerships with multiple teams for application development, server infrastructure design and overall system/application response

Project Manager/Project Lead – SharePoint Infrastructure   (Dec 2010 – Aug 2011)

Team Lead for private and public Optum SharePoint infrastructure projects.

 

  • Infrastructure product owner of Dev/Ops collaboration of multiple internal and customer projects.

  • Designed and continuous integration lifecycle of code review, performance testing, and checkout procedure.

Show more UHG Experience

HighJump Software

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Aug 2008 – Dec 2010

Web Systems Manager

Manager and principal architect for internal applications. Responsible for development and technical specifications related to new projects and system documentation.

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  • Managed and developed multiple external facing websites on SharePoint enabling internal users to administer content as needed.

  • Created and led teams to develop internal data management tools for the automation of generated reports. (Crystal Reports /SSRS).

Centari Meta-Group

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Jan 2008 – Oct 2008

Development and Project Management (Founder)

Sales, marketing, support, training and application development on a variety of systems for multiple clients.

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  • Data migration, configuration and training on Clientele CRM, Siebel, Salesforce and SugarCRM for national sales teams.

  • Training and project management for Merrill Corporation. Developer for HighJump Software. Supported multiple HSA/HRA, Brokerage clients.

Merrill Corporation

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Aug 2007 – Dec 2007

Sales Force Automation Project Manager (CRM)

Project Manager for multiple sales automation initiatives and nationwide sales trainer on SugarCRM.

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  • Led projects for data migration from Salesforce, Siebel, GoldMine, ACT! to SugarCRM.

  • Negotiated contracts and software licensing prices to achieve the lowest cost for the highest functionality within budget.

HighJump Software

3M Company

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Spring 2004 – Dec 2007

Web Systems Manager / Developer

Primary developer and designer for highjump.com, extranet.highjumpsoftware.com, logisticstools.com and RFP2007.com.

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  • Developed, designed and deployed VM based training environment utilizing VMware Lab Manager and MS TS-Gateway.

  • Designed and developed tracking applications for weekly email campaigns and lead generation.

Alliant Techsystems (ATK)

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Fall 2000 – Spring 2004

Application Systems Supervisor

Manager of all web related projects and 18 websites for both B2C and B2B. Responsible for UIX for client installed applications and customer websites.

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  • Created integrated client and web tools for sales to automate partner storefront information world wide. Cutting support calls down by 10%.

  • Developer and designer for the RCBS.com e-commerce site generating $80K revenue within the first year. Project length was three months.

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