Hi, I'm Marie. I'm currently located in central Kentucky, my home state, after spending time in China, Pittsburgh, and Brooklyn, and Los Angeles. My professional life sits at the intersection of philanthropy, systems thinking, and public good. 

 

I consider myself a consummate generalist. I find myself enamored with so many things in this world and am constantly searching for new ideas, places, and inspiring people. In grad school, they told us to specialize our research and interest areas. Ever the accidental rebel, I did exactly the opposite studying everything from remittances, game theory, collaborative consumption, and education in Senegal, to U.S. Cuban policy, diplomacy, sex trafficking, gender issues, and environmental sustainability. I think that more important than specializing in one area, is the ability to see how everything is intertwined. None of the issues facing society will be solved in a vacuum. Rather, it is necessary to understand the system as a whole.

 

Anyhow, this is my site. Feel free to contact me to learn more about professionalizing your operations, grants/data management, public-private partnerships, professional networking, or just because.

 

Oh and I love telling stories. The following are my top three, most interesting, most impressive stories. Ask me to tell you any of these sometime.

 

(in no particular order)

1. I once saw Fidel Castro give a four-hour lecture in Havana.

2. I went shark diving off the coast of South Africa and had the open jaws of a live great white shark, approximately one foot from my face.

3. I may or may not have once, technically, and very, very briefly, committed an illegal border crossing into North Korea and grabbed a handful of North Korean soil.