Homecoming King and Queen. It seemed so important at the time, but we discover as adults that what leads to winning a popularity contest as a teenager is pretty superficial and doesn’t tell us what is truly important and meaningful…
In the fall of 2009, while attending SocialDevCamp Chicago, I was struck with the idea that nonprofit organizations should have events to learn more about technology too. One year later, the first ChicagoCOUNTs was born. Since then, the idea has…
You know all those spam tweets about winning an ipad? Well, I really did win one. Seriously. I created my Twitter profile in 2009 because I kept hearing how great it was. It took me a few months to understand…
It was 10:30 p.m. I had decided to challenge myself with a 12 mile bike ride home from the northernmost Chicago el stop. I was riding in the street because it was far better lit than the sidewalks. Which is…
As of midnight on July 1, 2012, we are officially a carless family. Crazy, I know! It has been an evolution of sorts, to get to this point, and part of an overall transformation since my position at a nonprofit…
I love Open Books. Did you know that Chicago has a low literacy rate of over 50%. I can't imagine trying to navigate life as an adult, unable to read what I need to, in order to get through my day…
I am fed up with all of the e-newsletters coming to my inbox. This frustration stems from the fact that I didn't sign up for these newsletters. I posted on Facebook that I was on an unsubscribe mission. Based on…
I am not a fundraiser. In reality though, working in the nonprofit sector means everyone is involved in fundraising. So it’s not that I have never worn the fundraising hat. It just isn’t the primary description I inscribe on my…
When you send an email, do you have a permanent signature on the bottom? If you do, YEA! If you don't, why not? Even if it is your private email, you are missing opportunities to promote yourself. My email has…
(Special thanks to my friend Dwana De La Cerna, for her permission to include her Facebook comments. To read more of her thoughts on the Trayvon Martin killing, see her post here.) My online network was definitely discussing the murder…