Executive profile
Strong creative work begins with understanding people: what they need, what holds them back and what will move them to act. That belief has guided more than 25 years of creative leadership, from 15 years leading in-house creative at ASCD, an international education organization, to building The Hatcher Group’s multidisciplinary Creative Studio, which has grown to 18 people. Today I lead creative and marketing strategy, concept development and quality for federal agencies, nonprofits and education organizations, and I still shape the work myself when it calls for it. Eighteen years of teaching at George Mason University have shown me that strong creative leadership looks a lot like good teaching, with clear direction, honest critique and room for every person’s voice.
Core strengths: Creative direction and concept development · Marketing and campaign strategy · Brand strategy and positioning · Audience research and segmentation · Campaign performance and optimization · Team building and creative operations · Research-led UX and learning design · Business development
Experience
The Hatcher Group
Bethesda, MD
Executive Vice President and Senior Creative Director, 2021–present
Senior Vice President and Creative Director, 2017–2021
- Built a multidisciplinary Creative Studio on an existing communications practice, hiring five designers who each earned award recognition within the first year. The studio has since grown to 18 people.
- Lead creative and marketing strategy across integrated campaigns, brand identities, digital experiences, video and motion, connecting audience insight, positioning and messaging with creative execution.
- Directed the FBI Jobs employer brand and recruitment campaigns from 2021 to 2026, using campaign performance data to refine messaging and creative throughout the engagement. The engagement repeatedly exceeded special-agent applicant targets, and the FBI surpassed its 2026 special-agent hiring goal by the third quarter.
- Led creative for Here2Help, a crisis hotline rebrand for Behavioral Health System Baltimore. The three-month launch earned nearly 5.1 million impressions and more than 61,000 website clicks, and calls rose 100% compared with the first quarter of 2020.
- Help win new business through positioning, proposals and partnerships, including the M-NCPPC Prince George’s County Brand Study and the MWCOG Street Smart campaign, which replaced a long-standing incumbent.
ASCD
Alexandria, VA
Senior Art Director, Design Services, 2016–2017
Art Director and Manager, Design Services, 2010–2016
Senior Graphic Designer, 2002–2010
- Led in-house art direction and design supporting marketing, professional learning, publishing, digital products, membership and conferences for an international education organization.
- Connected UX research, information architecture and interface design across ASCD.org, the organization’s website; PD In Focus, a video-based professional learning platform for educators; and myTeachSource, a digital resource offering classroom-focused teaching strategies and tools.
- Wrote a strategic analysis of Creative Services staffing, output and value during layoffs. It helped preserve the in-house unit and became an annual reporting practice.
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA
Adjunct Professor of Design, 2008–present
- Taught more than 100 course sections across undergraduate and graduate programs, in the studio and online, and advised M.F.A. candidates on their graduate design projects.
- Developed three full courses: Graphic Design Methods and Principles, Motion Graphics and User Experience Design.
9th Collective
Silver Spring, MD
Founder, Creative Director and Executive Producer, 1994–present
- Lead an independent creative and film practice. Clients have included the U.S. Botanic Garden and Rochester Institute of Technology, and films with writer-director Kim Machado include COLD (2023), an official selection at seven festivals, and TRUE (2024).
Earlier experience
- Senior Communications Designer, Miravo Communications, 1999–2002
- Senior Graphic Designer, Federal Data Corporation, 1998–1999
- Graphic Designer, HR Communications, Ltd., 1997–1998
- Production Artist, The Gazette Newspapers (A Washington Post Company), 1996–1997
- Production Specialist, Interactive Television Association, 1995
- University of Maryland Architecture Library, 1992–1994
Teaching
Since 2008, I have taught design at George Mason University’s School of Art, developing three courses, teaching undergraduate and graduate students in the studio and online, and advising M.F.A. candidates through their graduate design projects. Teaching keeps me close to the craft and shapes how I lead, through clear critique, shared methods and room for each person’s voice.
18Years teaching at George Mason University
100+Course sections taught
36Graduate sections taught
Totals include sections assigned through Spring 2027. Course numbers follow Mason’s catalog at the time each course was taught.
Courses taught at George Mason University, 2008–present
Undergraduate and graduate teaching| Course | Level | Years | Sections |
|---|
| AVT 409 / 419 User Experience Design | Undergraduate | 2017–present | 20 |
| AVT 519 User Experience Design | Graduate | 2017–2023 | 5 |
| AVT 419 / 519 / 599 Infographic Design | Undergraduate and graduate | 2019 | 5 |
| AVT 794 Graphic Design Project (M.F.A. advising) | Graduate | 2018–2019 | 5 |
| AVT 612 Independent Project Research | Graduate | 2018–2019 | 5 |
| AVT 596 Independent Study | Graduate | 2019 | 3 |
| AVT 646 / 648 Graduate and Advanced Graduate Graphic Design II | Graduate | 2018 | 2 |
| AVT 491 Advanced Motion Graphics | Undergraduate | 2018 | 1 |
| AVT 411 / 419 Motion Design | Undergraduate | 2011–2018 | 11 |
| AVT 519 / 599 Motion Design | Graduate | 2011–2018 | 8 |
| AVT 393 / 419 Teaching Assistantship supervision | Undergraduate | 2016–2017 | 4 |
| AVT 641 / 647 Graduate and Advanced Graduate Graphic Design I | Graduate | 2015–2016 | 2 |
| AVT 599 Graphic Design Methods and Principles | Graduate | 2015 | 3 |
| AVT 311 Graphic Design Methods and Principles | Undergraduate | 2008–2025 | 31 |
| AVT 215 Typography | Undergraduate | 2010 | 1 |
Also delivered: Advanced typography primers for my creative team and client teams, along with master classes and primers on branding, logo design, advertising and AI in creative practice.
Education
- M.B.A., University of Maryland Global Campus, 2019
- M.F.A., Integrated Design, University of Baltimore, 2012
- A.A., Computer Applications, Multimedia and Graphic Design, Montgomery College, 1996
- B.A., Studio Arts, University of Maryland, College Park, 1994
Certificates: Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace, University of South Florida, 2023; Integrated Marketing, Cornell University, 2021; UX Design, General Assembly, 2015
Selected recognition and service
- AIGA DC Fellow Award, 2021
- Graphic Design USA, Person to Watch, 2021
- PRSA Maryland Best in Show and four Awards of Excellence, The Hatcher Group, 2024
- Juror, AIGA Baltimore Flux Student Design Competition, reviewing more than 600 student projects, 2024
- AIGA DC Design Continuum Fund Scholarship Committee, 2010–present, and Endowment Governance Board, 2021–present