Instructional Designer &
Learning & Development Specialist
Creating engaging learning experiences that empower employees, improve organizational performance, and build cultures of continuous learning, statewide, from Austin to every branch.
A statewide role deserves a learning path built for the road, designed around Greater Texas's branch network instead of a generic template.
From the classroom to the boardroom: same mission, bigger reach
I started my career teaching K-12 students, where I learned that people don't fail to learn because they lack ability. They fail because the experience wasn't designed for how they think, work, and remember. That idea carried me from the classroom into a Learning & Development Specialist role at Harmony Public Schools, and it's still the whole job: the moment someone stops memorizing and starts doing.
- Adult Learning Theory
- Instructional Design
- Curriculum Development
- Learning Technologies
- Needs Analysis
- Stakeholder Collaboration
- Accessibility (WCAG)
- Performance Improvement
- Data-Informed Design
- Project Management
Classroom & Foundations
Teaching, records, and customer service. One lesson: clarity and empathy beat authority.
Leadership
Became the go-to person for simplifying confusing tools and processes.
Learning Design
Learning & Development Specialist, Harmony Public Schools: needs analysis through evaluation.
Future Goals
Bringing that toolkit to Greater Texas Credit Union's onboarding and leadership development.
A little more about how I work
Always mid-course myself, too.
Design for the edges of the room first.
UX case studies keep that muscle active too.
K-12 classrooms taught me to read a room fast.
Give me a messy process to untangle.
I like finding the format that fits the problem.
Everything I ship gets a version two.
Where the ideas met the classroom, and the deadline
Every role below fed directly into the skills an Organization Development & Training Specialist needs: designing for real constraints, working with people who aren't instructional designers, and proving the work actually landed.
Learning & Development Specialist
Harmony Public Schools · Austin, TX · August 2021 – Present
- Applied ADDIE and backward design to build differentiated curriculum and assessments aligned to state standards
- Turned performance data into targeted interventions, lifting STAAR proficiency to 62% among Title I Emergent Bilingual learners
- Partnered across instructional leaders and administrators to align learning with organizational goals
- Used AI-powered tools like Articulate 360 and Magic School AI to prototype instructional assets faster
Records Specialist
Integrated Screening Partners · Feb 2017 – Aug 2020
Case investigations under strict regulatory compliance (FCRA), building the discipline behind my needs-analysis work.
Customer Service Representative
Conn's HomePlus · May 2015 – Jan 2017
Client escalations under real pressure, sharpening stakeholder communication.
Substitute Teacher
KIPP Texas Public Schools · Jan 2021 – Jun 2021
Virtual learning modules, adapting on the fly across unfamiliar classrooms.
The instructional design toolkit, applied
Sixteen strengths I bring to every project, from a single job aid to a full learning strategy.
What I build with
Thirty-two tools, platforms, and methods across six categories, from ID methodology to the engagement tech that keeps learners in the room.
ID Methodology
eLearning Tools
LMS & Platforms
Assessment & Data
Engagement Tech
Professional
Four projects, four different learning problems
Each one walks through the same lifecycle: challenge, research, design, development, implementation, evaluation, lessons learned, and business impact. Expand any card for the full breakdown.
Help Managers Support Deaf Employees
A branching story and quick-reference guide that help managers run genuinely inclusive meetings with Deaf employees.
View Case Study
Managers often default to spoken-first habits, like talking over one another or dropping visual cues, that unintentionally exclude Deaf team members from meetings and casual communication.
Needs analysis focused on real meeting and communication scenarios managers face, to keep the training grounded in situations rather than abstract etiquette rules.
Chose a branching interactive story so managers make real decisions inside realistic scenarios, backed by a short companion guide for reference after training.
Built the interactive story in Storyline 360, the companion guide in Rise, and a standalone PDF quick-reference checklist, linked out via a button rather than embedded, so it drops cleanly into any LMS.
Packaged as three linked pieces (story, guide, checklist) so managers can revisit just the piece they need in the moment.
Decision points inside the branching story double as embedded knowledge checks, rather than a bolted-on quiz at the end.
A single checklist people can pin near their desk often changes behavior faster than the training module that taught it.
Gives managers a concrete, repeatable communication practice that supports a more inclusive, better-informed workplace for Deaf employees.
Medical Records Parent App: UX Case Study
↑ Click to try the interactive prototype (opens in a new tab).
A children's health-records app for parents managing multiple kids' immunizations, appointments, and school or camp paperwork.
View Case Study
Parents juggling multiple children's health records needed to find and print the right form fast, often at pickup time for school, sports, or camp.
Mapped the job down to three core tasks: view records across multiple children, print a record or form in minimal steps, and track upcoming or overdue healthcare needs.
Designed a flow of log in → select child → dashboard → record details → print → confirmation, prioritizing minimal clicks and a clean, high-contrast healthcare aesthetic.
Prototyped in Figma across desktop, tablet, and mobile, including add/manage multiple children, allergy updates, reminders, and notification preferences.
Structured every screen with icon-plus-text labeling so the app stays legible for parents scanning quickly, not reading carefully.
Reviewed the full prototype for dead ends, inconsistent navigation, incorrect button destinations, and missing edge-case screens.
Parents don't want a records viewer. They want a "print this in under 30 seconds" tool, which reframed several screens around speed over completeness.
Demonstrates end-to-end UX thinking, including needs analysis, flow design, accessibility, and critique, applied to a genuinely high-stakes, time-pressured task.
Professional Development Training
An eLearning storyboard supporting a district-wide Schoology rollout for teachers with widely varying comfort with new technology.
View Case Study
Rolling out a new learning management system to a district of teachers with very different comfort levels with new technology risks losing the least tech-confident teachers entirely.
Identified the small set of tasks teachers needed on day one, rather than trying to teach the entire platform up front.
Storyboarded a sequence that builds confidence task-by-task, pairing each new screen with the classroom scenario it solves.
Turned the storyboard into a structured eLearning module, matching format to Riverside's existing training tools.
Sequenced for self-paced completion, so teachers could return to just the section they needed before a specific class.
Built around task-completion checkpoints rather than a single end-of-module quiz.
Teachers didn't need to understand Schoology. They needed to trust it wouldn't embarrass them in front of a class on day one.
A smoother technology rollout with less reliance on real-time IT support during the first weeks of use.
Interactive eLearning Modules
A needs analysis and course outline replacing an inconsistent, ad-hoc new-hire experience with a structured one.
View Case Study
New hires were getting inconsistent onboarding depending on which manager or team they landed on, with no shared foundation across the company.
A structured needs analysis identified which onboarding content had to be universal versus role-specific.
Built a course outline that separates "everyone needs this on day one" from "your team will teach you this," reducing overload in week one.
Outlined as a modular course structure, ready to build out in an authoring tool without redesigning the sequence later.
Designed to be owned by HR/L&D centrally while still leaving room for team-specific modules to plug in.
Built-in check-ins at 30/60/90 days to catch onboarding gaps before they become performance issues.
Consistency mattered more to new hires than content depth. A shared baseline experience builds trust before day-one details.
A repeatable onboarding foundation that scales as the company hires, instead of one built fresh for every new manager.
Learning should change behavior, not just transfer information
A course that's "completed" but never used hasn't done its job. Every design decision I make gets weighed against one question: will this actually change what someone does?
"I don't measure success by what a learner can repeat back to me. I measure it by what they do differently on Monday morning."
Built on ADDIE, every time, no shortcuts
A dependable process, not a rigid one. ADDIE gives structure; good design still requires judgment at every stage.
Analyze
Start with the real gap: what should employees be able to do that they can't yet, and why?
Design
Map objectives, structure, and assessment before building anything. The destination stays in view.
Develop
Build the actual materials (courses, job aids, guides) in the tools that fit the audience and the LMS.
Implement
Roll out with real support: manager buy-in, scheduling, and a clear point of contact for questions.
Evaluate
Measure whether behavior actually changed, then feed what's learned back into the next revision.
How I'd spend the first 90 days
Listening before building, then building in public with the team, not disappearing to design in a vacuum.
Where a Learning & Development function often adds value
A consulting-style look at opportunities common across financial institutions and similar member-facing organizations.
Onboarding Consistency
View Details
New-hire experience often varies by branch or manager, creating inconsistent ramp-up time.
A structured, centrally-owned onboarding curriculum with role-specific branches.
Faster time-to-productivity and a more consistent member-service experience from day one.
Time-to-proficiency, 90-day retention, new-hire satisfaction scores.
Compliance Engagement
View Details
Required compliance training is often treated as a box to check rather than something retained.
Scenario-based compliance modules tied to real member interactions, with spaced refreshers.
Lower compliance risk and stronger audit readiness.
Completion timeliness, knowledge-check scores, audit findings over time.
Leadership Development
View Details
Frontline high performers are often promoted into leadership without formal coaching or facilitation training.
A leadership pathway covering coaching, feedback, and difficult conversations, grounded in real scenarios.
More confident first-time managers and a stronger succession pipeline.
Manager confidence surveys, internal promotion readiness, team engagement scores.
Performance Support
View Details
Employees can't always recall process details learned in training when they need them live, with a member waiting.
Quick-reference job aids and searchable resources available in the moment of need.
Faster, more accurate member service without pulling employees out of the flow of work.
Job-aid usage rates, reduced escalations, faster resolution time.
Digital Learning
View Details
A statewide branch network makes in-person-only training expensive and inconsistent to deliver.
A blended model: virtual and self-paced modules for foundational content, with in-person time reserved for practice.
Consistent training quality across every branch, regardless of location.
Completion parity across branches, training cost per employee.
Learning Analytics
View Details
Without clear data, it's hard to know which training is actually working.
Consistent evaluation metrics built into every course from the design stage, not added afterward.
Learning investments prioritized based on evidence, not instinct.
A dashboard of completion, assessment, and behavior-change data by program.
Employee Engagement
View Details
Training can feel like something that happens "to" employees rather than "for" them.
Involve employees and SMEs directly in shaping training content, not just receiving it.
Higher buy-in and stronger word-of-mouth adoption of new programs.
Course satisfaction scores, SME participation rate, voluntary engagement in optional learning.
Help Managers Support Deaf Employees
The full instructional design process behind one project, start to finish. A fitting spotlight, since it's ultimately a case study about designing for the learners the default approach leaves out.
01 · The ProblemBusiness Problem
Managers often default to spoken-first habits, like talking over one another in meetings or relying on audio-only updates, that unintentionally exclude Deaf employees from full participation, even when no one intends it.
02 · DiscoveryNeeds Analysis
Rather than starting from generic disability-etiquette content, the analysis focused on the specific meeting and communication moments where managers were most likely to unintentionally exclude someone: the real starting point for the training.
03 · Who It's ForLearner Personas
The Well-Meaning but Unaware Manager: wants to be inclusive but has never had to think about meeting structure through this lens. The First-Timer: about to work directly with a Deaf employee for the first time and isn't sure where to start.
04 · The TargetLearning Objectives
By the end, a manager can recognize communication habits that exclude Deaf team members, apply at least two inclusive meeting practices immediately, and know exactly where to find the reference guide when a real situation comes up.
05 · The ApproachInstructional Strategy
A branching scenario gives managers a safe space to make the wrong call and see the consequence, backed by a lightweight reference guide for after training and a printable one-page checklist for the actual moment.
06 · The BlueprintStoryboarding
Mapped every decision point where a manager's choice about running a meeting either supports or excludes a Deaf colleague, sequencing frames before a single screen was built in Storyline.
07 · The BuildDevelopment
Built the branching story in Storyline 360, the companion guide in Rise, and a standalone PDF quick-reference checklist, packaged to link out via a button rather than embed, so it drops cleanly into any LMS or intranet.
08 · Walking the TalkAccessibility
A training about inclusion has to model it: visual-first design, plain language paired with icons, and no decision point that depends on audio alone. The materials had to hold up to the same standard they were teaching.
09 · Did It Work?Evaluation
Decision points inside the branching story double as embedded knowledge checks. The standalone checklist supports a second, informal evaluation months later: are managers still reaching for it on the job?
10 · Looking BackReflection
Abstract etiquette rules don't change behavior. Putting a manager inside one specific, recognizable meeting moment does, especially when the "right" choice isn't obvious until you've thought it through.
11 · TakeawayLessons Learned
The one-page checklist may end up mattering more than the interactive story itself. Sometimes the highest-leverage deliverable in a project is the smallest one.
A mission I'd genuinely want to build training around
Greater Texas has served Texans for more than 70 years on those five values, backed by real investment in people: formal training, coaching, tuition reimbursement, and multiple Top Workplace recognitions.
This role's own posting puts it plainly: a road warrior, a culture builder, a performance driver. That's almost word for word the job I've been preparing for since I first stood in a classroom and realized the lesson plan wasn't the point. The learning was.
Figures reflect publicly reported information about Greater Texas Credit Union at the time this site was built.
What I'd bring to the role from day one
Questions a recruiter might have
Why instructional design?
Teaching showed me that a great lesson plan and a great learning experience aren't the same thing. Instructional design is the discipline of closing that gap on purpose, with a repeatable process instead of instinct alone.
Why leave education?
I didn't leave the mission. I widened it. The instincts that help a classroom of students learn something new apply just as directly to a workforce of any size. The audience changed; the underlying problem didn't.
What makes you different?
I've sat on both sides of training: the person building it, and the person surviving a bad version of it, across three different frontline roles before this one. That makes me allergic to training that exists to check a box instead of change behavior.
How do you measure success?
Not by completion rate alone. I look for whether behavior actually changed after training ended: fewer repeat errors, faster ramp-up, a manager handling a hard conversation differently. Completion is a precondition, not the outcome.
What industries interest you?
Any organization where the front line is doing something that genuinely matters to real people. Healthcare, education, and financial services are chief among them. The common thread is the pressure of getting it right the first time, live.
How do you approach learning?
Analysis before design, design before development, and evaluation built in from the start rather than bolted on at the end: ADDIE as a working discipline, not a formality.
"Let's build learning experiences that empower people and strengthen organizations."
Austin, TX: already local to Greater Texas's headquarters, no relocation required.