Consultant at Leadership for Action September 2009 – October 2009
• Collaborated with 25 facilitators and National Governors Association to uncover insights from 25 governors about Health IT. • Analyzed Health IT for Economic & Clinical Health Act and CIO Council’s Guide to Federal Enterprise Architecture for facilitators.
Consultant at Center for Voter Deliberation of Northern Virginia September 2008 – September 2009 • Organized through traditional and web 2.0 tools 4 National Issues Forums about federal health care policy.
• Trained 12 volunteer facilitators and led discussions to help 300 citizens become conversant with policy complexities. • Collected and analyzed quantitative and qualitative data on federal health care policy and international best practices.
Director, Civic Engagement at The Public Forum Institute August 2007 – March 2009
• Learned quickly how to managed 3 congressional policy summits of over 200 people each under supervision of CEO. • Supervised and mentored 3 interns; devised management framework for staff that increased productivity workflows by 25%. • Developed and spearheaded the Institute’s research agenda: secured $8,000 grant to conduct congressional interviews to evaluate the impact of public deliberation on public policy and improved online/offline forum output to satisfy client needs. • Produced over 38 documents for CEO (e.g. 3 research reports, 2 lit. reviews, 2 user manuals, 1 guidebook, 4 recommendation papers, 4 op-eds, 2 business proposals, 12 memos, 4 work plans, 2 congressional white papers & 2 fact sheets) independently. • Expanded citizen engagement program with organizational design, web 2.0 tools, high-functioning public participation process for citizen-to-congressional task force collaboration and an individual donor strategy to save 50% of budget ($20,000). • Executed strategic communications and managed process of enrolling 1,000 U.S. partners for Global Entrepreneurship Week.
Architectural Designer at EEK Architects and Torti Gallas and Partners, Inc. March 2005 – August 2007
• Designed 10 architecture and 3 Hope VI community redevelopment solutions; presented at team meetings with PowerPoint. • Developed 4 collaborative problem-solving schedules and service-oriented models for manager using Deltek Vision and Excel. • Operated comfortably in a fast-paced, team environment that supported high-energy, entrepreneurial and creative solutions. • Trained in project management from coursework in leadership, management, marketing, negotiation and client leadership.
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Architecture, Urban Planning, and Political Science 1998 – 2004
Alex is a Kettering Foundation scholar, a facilitator of National Issues Forums, and an architect. After dedicating a brief career in architecture to learn how the power of creativity, collaboration and public spaces can enhance or limit our civic life, he then moved on to serve as an associate for a number of citizen participation nonprofit organizations. Currently, he explores how best to address the deficits of American democracy through technology, deliberation, collaboration and enterprise architecture. Activities and Societies: Creativity and design studies; studies in collaborative work environments and the social (and civic) life of public spaces.
PRESENTATIONS AND MEDIA APPEARANCES • Guest expert, ‘Offline and Online Public Participation’, DOT and GSA, Washington, D.C., January-February 2010. • Panelist, Kettering Foundation panel on Public Participation in Government , Dayton, OH, November 2008. • Presenter, National Coalition for Dialogue and Deliberation Workshop, Austin, TX, October 2008. • Appeared in print media including Yes! Magazine (“Upgrading the Way We Do Politicsâ€, August 2009) and National Journal (“Meetup Blossoms In Shadow Of Organizer-In-Chiefâ€, August 2009).
VOLUNTEER WORK Neighborhood Democracy Network, Inc. is the 501(c)(3) charitable organization he co-founded and financed at age 25. Currently, the organization is developing programs and internet tools to facilitate a renewed and expanded tradition of structured and interconnected deliberative democracy forums across U.S. neighborhoods.
My Interest Areas:
Deliberative Democracy, Facilitation, Conflict Resolution, Decision Making, Philosophy, Appreciative Inquiry, Social Media, Semantic Web, Organizational and Social Change, Public Policy and Admin.
There’s a lot going on for me, trying to find work, but in the meantime I am still reading, writing, volunteering and staying physically fit, eating healthy and continuing my quest to study and execute solutions in Democracy 2.0 and Gov 2.0 that modernize the role of citizenship and government.
