I have been working at the intersection of civic health, journalism and higher education for more than twenty years.
I am the managing director of the Center for Community News at the University of Vermont, a national organization dedicated to strengthening student reporting and local news across the country.
Previously, I served under President Barack Obama in the U.S. White House as Deputy Associate Director for Communications and Strategy in the Office of Management and Budget and as Spokesperson at the Department of the Treasury. I have been a speechwriter to several university presidents and led communications at Convergence Center for Policy Resolution, a national think tank devoted to reducing toxic polarization in public life. I have a B.A. from the University of Vermont and an M.A. from the George Washington University.
I am the author of the novels THE MISFORTUNES OF FAMILY, EVERYTHING THAT FOLLOWS, and WE ARE UNPREPARED, which has been translated into several languages. My fourth book HOW TO BE ALIVE was a finalist for the Black Lawrence Press 2022 Big Moose Prize and I was a short story finalist for the Bellingham Review 2022 Tobias Wolff Award. My work has appeared in the New York Times, McSweeney's, Literary Hub, Boston Globe, Chronicle of Philanthropy, San Pedro River Review, Sojourners, Politico, Times Higher Education, and public radio stations around the country.
These days I live outside Burlington, Vermont with my two children, my partner Heather and our dogs.
