Experience - Download

2011                 Consultant, Chickasaw Nation WIC Program, Ada, Oklahoma. Created influence tools and training programs. 

                        Consultant,  Southwest Regional WIC Program, Dallas, Texas. Developed influence training for three regional trainings. 

                        Consultant,  Save the Children, Katmandu, Nepal. Conducted formative research and developed influence program to encourage education instead of marriage for girls and end domestic violence. 

                        Consultant,  Chickasaw Nation Medical Center, Ada, Oklahoma. Conducting focus groups with clients to determine influence opportunities for greater client change. 

                        Consultant,  Massachusetts WIC program. Developed videos and website (gettingtotheheartofthematter.com) to share innovative assessment tools for use in WIC. 

2010                 Consultant, Chickasaw Nation WIC program, Ada, Oklahoma. Conducted focus groups with WIC clients. Developed innovative program that incorporates influence principles to increase WIC educator influence. 

                        Consultant,  Massachusetts WIC Program, Conducted ethnographic research in three WIC clinics as part of a Special Projects VENA assessment grant. 

                        Consultant,  Academy of Educational Development (AED), Washington DC. Developing emotion-based focus group discussion guides for Ethiopian Commercial Sex Workers (CSW) and University students. 

                        Consultant,  Iowa Nutrition Network, Des Moines, Iowa. Collaborated with staff on the development and testing of nutrition messages. Reviewed WIC agency applications for funding. 

2009                 Consultant, Save the Children.  Trained field staff in Nepal to identify emotion-based pulse points using projective techniques, conducted field study, and created gender behavior change curriculum. 

                        Consultant,  Massachusetts New Parent Initiative, Boston, MA.  Conducted focus groups with vulnerable mothers on domestic abuse, depression and infant bonding.

                        Consultant, Chickasaw Nation, Ada, OK  Developing programs for MomCircle, an online and phone behavior change intervention. 

                        Consultant, Nestlé Nutrition, Minneapolis, MN.   Conducted interviews with parents of children using enteral feeding.

                        Consultant, Washington State Extension Service, Olympia, WA.  Developing concepts and grant for USDA funding.

2008               Consultant, Massachusetts Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program.  Conducted ethnographic research and focus groups with low-income program participants. Developed assessment tools for use in supplemental food program. Trained six pilot sites in how to use projective techniques to assess dietary behaviors.

Consultant, Chickasaw Nation, Developing “Core Conversations” for use in MomCircle, a Word of Mouth program.  Assisting with the development of intervention website. Collaborating with Penn State on program evaluation.

Consultant, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK.  Conducted focus groups with low-income mothers to determine program needs. 

Consultant, Washington State University.  Trained Extension staff to do emotion-based focus groups with a focus on projective techniques. 

2007                Curriculum developer/focus group consultant, Academy for Educational Development (AED) for the Pakistan Safe Drinking Water and Hygiene Promotion (US-AID) Project, Islamabad, Pakistan.  Developed hygiene and safe water curriculum for fourth grade students in Pakistan. 

Consultant, Academy for Educational Development (AED) for the Essential Health Services for Ethiopia (US-AID) Project, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.  Conducted preliminary interviews, provided behavior change training workshops, developed a student curriculum and teacher training.

Consultant, Chickasaw Nation, Conducted Word of Mouth qualitative research for behavior change program targeted at lower-income women. 

Consultant, Wyoming WIC Program, Assisted in the transformation of WIC nutrition education services from fact and logic to emotion-based approaches and materials. 

Focus group moderator/Creative consultant, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Blacksburg, VA,  Conducted focus group research with Food Stamp Program participants to determine their emotion and logic-based needs for program participant.  Developed action-oriented recommendations and strategies for changing the program to better meet their needs.

Focus group moderator/Creative consultant, West Virginia Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program, Charleston, WV,  Conducted focus group research with WIC participants and staff to determine how WIC could be more influential in changing the behaviors of WIC clients.  Assisting in the transformation of WIC nutrition education services from fact and logic to emotion-based approaches and materials. 

                        Creative Consultant, AED, Washington, DC.  Created a template for international field staff to use when conducting emotion-based focus groups and developing Creative Briefs.

                        Creative Consultant, Massachusetts Women, Infants and Nutrition (WIC) program

                        Developed website featuring emotion-based materials, training tools, implementation tips and client-centered activities for WIC programs nationwide.  (www.touchingheartstouchingminds.com)

                        Consultant, Massachusetts Women, Infants and Nutrition (WIC) program

                        Developed emotion-based materials and assisted with grant writing to secure funding for emotion-based nutrition assessment strategies. 

Consultant, Mental Health Collective, Minneapolis, MN.

Developed qualitative plan for assessing the perceptions of Imams on mental health issues and suicide among new American Muslims living in Minneapolis. 

2006               Focus group moderator/Creative consultant, Chickasaw Nation, Ada, Oklahoma

                        Conducted focus groups and developed strategies for a Word of Mouth campaign targeting healthy eating and activity patterns of Chickasaw Nation citizens.

                        Focus group moderator/Creative consultant, Midwest Dairy Council and Iowa Nutrition Network.

                         Conducted focus groups to determine emotional “pulse points” of lower-income women related to food decisions and developed action-oriented recommendations for impacting milk purchasing decisions.

Focus group moderation/Creative consultant, Academy for Educational Development (AED) and the Ghana Sustainable Change Program, Accra, Ghana

                        Provided ten-day training on focus group moderation, projective techniques and campaign development to Ghana Sustainable Change Program staff.  Training participants conducted and analyzed formative research in the field with men and women about birth control during the training and developed Creative Briefs.

                        Creative consultant, Indian Health Service, Washington DC

                        Developed six culturally appropriate, emotion-based messages targeted at American Indians related to the Dietary Guidelines.  Also conducted a field evaluation of the materials and developed presentations and staff training. 

                        Focus group moderator, Novartis Nutrition, Minneapolis, MN

                        Conducted individual interviews with elderly women related to product packaging. 

                        Consultant, Manoff Group Inc. and Save the Children CHANGE program

                        Providing technical assistance in formative research, message development and strategy development for obesity prevention program in selected US areas.

Focus group moderator/Creative consultant, Massachusetts Department of Health Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program

Developed training manual and website on how to use emotion-based messages and approaches with group and individual WIC counseling.

Creative Consultant, Learning Zone, Owatonna, MN

Created emotion-based posters for national distribution to schools and health organizations. 

2005               Creative consultant, Target Corporation.  Minneapolis, MN

                        Developed 25 innovative strategies for impacting health and increasing sales at Target stores.

                        Consultant, AED and the Ghana Sustainable Change Project.  Washington DC

                        Developing training manual for Ghana health promotion project. 

                        Creative consultant, Massachusetts Department of Health.

Developed photojournalism promotional piece for peer breastfeeding program. 

                        Consultant, HealthPartners  Minneapolis, MN

                         Developed creative strategies for promoting Worksite Health Risk Assessment tool.

Consultant, Massachusetts Department of Health Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program

Developed training manual on how to use emotion-based messages and approaches with group and individual WIC counseling.

Consultant, Massachusetts Department of Health Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Program

                        Developed materials and training manual targeted at obesity-related behaviors of Hispanic mothers.

2004               Consultant, Manoff Group and John Snow, Inc.  (US-AID)

                        Interviewed key intervention leaders in Egyptian anemia prevention program in Cairo and developed summary report of program milestones

Focus group moderator/Creative consultant, Massachusetts Department of Health Women, Infant and Children (WIC) Program

Conducted focus groups and laddering exercises with WIC staff and clients.  Identified emotional and direct benefits of mothers related to nutrition and physical activity behaviors.  Developed 33 emotion-based messages for WIC clients and trained staff in how to provide emotion-based counseling. 

Focus group moderator/Consultant, Minnesota Department of Health

Conducted interviews and focus groups with mothers of young children and seniors to evaluate food safety brochures food safety brochures

Focus group moderator/Creative consultant, Virginia Department of Health

Conducted focus groups with lower-income women over 40 to determine the emotion and logic-based benefits of low-income women related to cancer screening.  Developed promotional brochure based on focus group findings. 

Creative consultant, Inter Tribal Council of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ

Developed eight emotion-based messages for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program

        Creative consultant, Manoff Group, Washington DC

Developed radio script for Save the Children program in Malawi targeted at adolescents on hygiene practices.

Focus group moderator/Creative consultant, Massachusetts Department of Health Women, Infant and Children (WIC) Program

Conducted focus groups with WIC clients and educators.  Developed and conducted ten interactive trainings based on focus group findings on how educators can be more effective behavior change agents

Consultant, Arizona Department of Health (Women, Infant and Children (WIC) Department)

Conducted focus groups with WIC clients, staff and directors; developed training program for WIC nutrition educators

Consultant, Academy for Educational Development (AED), Washington, DC

Provided training to health education leaders in Cape Town, South Africa using the CD-Cynergy Program developed by CDC.

                        Consultant, Manoff Group, Washington DC. 

                        Developed messages, communication strategies and taped scripts for adolescents in Malawi to prevent the spread of bilharzias, malaria and HIV/AIDS as part of a Save the Children project.

                        Consultant, Manoff Group, Washington DC.  Developed smoking cessation materials and curriculum for Egyptian adolescents and science teacher training program for USAID project

                        Focus group moderator/Creative consultant, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Foundation, Atlanta, GA.  Conducted focus groups and developed brochures for parents and principals and teachers on how to increase activity levels of children in schools.

                        Consultant, Virginia Women, Infant and Children (WIC) program.

                        Wrote USDA grant for WIC development and evaluation project in collaboration with Virginia, Arizona and Illinois WIC programs.

                        Consultant, Novartis Nutrition, Assisted in market research project.

                        Consultant, Bloomington Health Department, MinnesotaConducted focus groups with parents to determine effective strategies for communicating information on teenage sex.

                        Consultant, Novartis Nutrition, Minneapolis, MN

                        Conducted market research with health professionals to determine product preferences.

                        Focus group moderator/Consultant, North Dakota Women, Infant and Children (WIC) program

                        Conducted focus groups with WIC clients, educators and women eligible for program participation to determine how program barriers and enablers to WIC program participation. 

                       Consultant, Virginia WIC program

                        Writing project proposal to receive USDA funding for Internet based and telephone hotline nutrition education interventions and evaluation.

                        Creative consultant, US-AID and John Snow, Incorporated, Boston, MA  (Work done in Egypt)

                         Developed anemia and smoking prevention program, training manual for health educators and health education videos for Egyptian students and teachers. 

                       Focus group moderator/Creative Consultant, Minnesota Department of Health, St. Paul, MN

                       Conducted focus groups and interviews with new parents.  Developed and tested hearing brochures in four languages for the Universal Newborn Hearing project.  Interviewed thought leaders at major hospitals regarding how MDH could influence standards of care policies.

                        Focus group moderator/Creative Consultant, Virginia Women, Infant, and Children (WIC) Program

                        Conducted six focus groups with WIC participants to determine message preferences.  Developed emotion-based and logic based messages for testing.  Created innovative implementation ideas for WIC programs nationwide.  Tested concepts with clients using intercept interviews. 

                       Consultant, Manoff and John Snow, Inc.

                        Developed educators’ guide for Egyptian health educators for use in an adolescent anemia prevention program.

                        Consultant, American Heart Association, Dallas, TX

                        Developed media kit for heart-check program of the American Heart Association Food Certification program.

                        Consultant, Pillsbury, Minneapolis, MN

                        Developed manual for software program. 

                        Consultant, Novartis, Minneapolis, MN

                       Conducting ideation sessions to generate new products.

                        Focus group moderator/Creative consultant, Second Harvest of Greater Minneapolis

                        Conducted focus groups with donors and agency representatives. 

                        Consultant, Minnesota Food and Nutrition Network and University of Minnesota

                        Developed brochure targeted at low-income mothers using advertising approach.

                        Consultant, US-AID and John Snow, Incorporated, Boston, MA

                        Developed program activities and health educator guide for the Healthy Mother Healthy Child anemia prevention program targeted at adolescents in Upper Egypt.

                        Consultant, American Heart Association, Dallas, TX

                        Developed daily Health Hints for the AHA website.

                        Consultant, American Heart Association, Astra-Merck, and Wall Street Journal

                         Developed health lifestyle tips that appeared daily in the Wall Street Journal for two years.

                        Focus group moderator/Creative Consultant, Fleishman-Hillard, Minneapolis MN

                        Conducted focus groups and developed “Tony’s Time,” an award-winning parent/child conflict resolution program for Tony’s Pizza and Stand for Children.

                        Focus group moderator/Consultant, Novartis, Minneapolis, MN

                        Conducted paired interviews with health professionals related to food supplement needs.

                        Consultant, Eli Lilly and Company (Control Diabetes Services), Indianapolis, IN

                        Developed programs and training ideas to assist managed care organizations in meeting NCQA requirements.

                        Consultant, Blue Moon Productions, Minneapolis, MN

                        Provided content and communication expertise to development of an American Cancer Association video targeted at children.

                        Focus group moderator/Creative Consultant, Control Diabetes Services, Inc.  Dallas, TX

                        Conducted focus groups with people with diabetes and health professionals providing diabetes services.   Developed innovative diabetes program to meet the needs and interests of clients with diabetes.  Trained educators in communication techniques that increase effectiveness.  Evaluated satisfaction of program with educators and clients. 

                        Consultant, Minnesota Food and Nutrition Network and University of Minnesota

                        Collected secondary data related to low-income Minnesotans from local and national sources.  Co-author of report titled “Nutrition Needs of Low-Income People in Minnesota.”

                        Consultant, Pillsbury (Grand Metropolitan)

                        Developed unique nutrition publication targeted at registered dietitians.

                       Focus group moderator/Creative Consultant, Minnesota Department of Children, Families & Learning

                        Moderated focus groups with school aged children and parents about school lunches.   Developed posters and newsletters for children, teachers and parents about school lunch.  Trained state trainers in innovative ways to deliver nutrition education in Minnesota. 

                        Consultant, Indian Health Service/Native American Management Services, Washington DC

                        Developed training sessions on cultural awareness, community building, and health/fitness-related topics for IHS professionals and para professionals. 

                        Consultant, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, GA

                        Developed and delivered nationally distributed videoconference on work site health promotion.

                        Consultant, Just Help Yourself!, Detroit, MI/ HealthPartners, Bloomington, MN

                        Developed 14-page consumer brochure on nationally distributed diet plan.

                        Consultant, National Dairy Council, Rosemont, IL

                        Developed nutrition newsletters for parents of pre-school children as part of a nationally-distributed nutrition curriculum.

                        Consultant, Pineapple Appeal, Owatonna, MN

                        Developed video training script and supporting materials for professionals who teach people with limited-literacy skills.  Also developed posters for teachers.

                        Focus group moderator/Program developer/Research coordinator, University of  Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, MN

                         Developed needs assessment plan, objectives, characters, and story line for third-grade American Indian children participating in multi-site obesity-prevention research study.

                       Focus group moderator/Program developer/Research Coordinator, University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Minneapolis, MN       

                        Developed innovative cholesterol-reduction program targeted at women with  limited-literacy skills.  Moderated focus groups with women who read at less than an 8th grade reading level.  Trained paraprofessionals to deliver the program in an effective yet entertaining way.  Modified the program into one-minute messages for delivery in the Family Nutrition program.

                        Focus group moderator/Creative consultant, United States Department of Agriculture, Indian Health Services, and American Indian Health Care Association, Washington DC and St. Paul.  Conducted focus group project to determine the opinions of American Indian and Alaska Native women on alcohol use during pregnancy.  Results were used to develop nationally-distributed video on fetal alcohol syndrome prevention.

                        Consultant, American Heart Association (AHA-National), Dallas, TX

                        Developed two consumer brochures explaining how to use the new nutrition   label.  Brochures are distributed nationally by the Federal Drug Administration and the AHA at national consumer information centers, AHA affiliates, grocery stores, and magazines.