Hello world, I’m Xena! I’m a design leader, artist, and founder.
I help public servants, nonprofit leaders, and community organizers build inclusive tech teams, steward complex systems, and create digital tools to better serve the public good.
Presently, I’m a Partner at Trestle Collaborative, a nonprofit strengthening technology capacity within the progressive movement.
About me
My longstanding professional goals are: make the American social safety net an accessible, humane, and equitable driver of social mobility; shape transformative tech initiatives and teams that don’t burn people out; and retain enough time and energy for making weird art with friends.
While my work is far from done, I’ve made a good sized dent in my first decade as a technologist committed to movement building and safety net strengthening. Here are some highlights:
Leading a team at New America’s New Practice Lab that piloted a rapid response, multilingual COVID-19 vaccine communications program with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
Improving the user experience for millions of Americans logging into and managing their accounts on HealthCare.gov
Retiring a 100 year old form and designing radically improved case management tools with the Department of Veteran Affairs, reducing wait times for over a half a million Veterans waiting on appeals for benefits.
Raising seed funding for Propel on Kickstarter and launching its first digital products for New Yorkers and Pennsylvanians applying for and using food assistance benefits.
From Designer to Author, PDX Design Festival 2022
Tracking the Platforms and Navigating the Digital Media Ecosystem, Funders Committee for Civic Participation 2022 Speaker Series
Making Big Art, Color of Surveillance Conference 2019 at Georgetown Law School
Everything is a Proxy, Data Through Design 2019
How to Exit, 2018 International Design in Government Conference
Planning for the Cutline, 2018 Code for America Summit
How Design Influences Policy: Case Studies from the Department of Veteran Affairs, 2018 Service Design in Government Conference
Code for America Fellows Talk Procurement, Why Tech in Government Matters, WHYY (Pittsburgh public radio)
Designing Public Services, School of Visual Arts
Talks
Communicating with Immigrant and Non-English Speakers about the COVID-19 Vaccine, New Practice Lab at New America
Shaping Policy with Design Practices, Nava PBC
Towards Developing a “Cueing Kitchen” for People with Traumatic Brain Injury, Rehabilitation Engineering Society of America
Writing
How Nava’s Veteran Affairs Team Gets It Done, Technical.ly
The Kind of Hacker Your City Wants, USA Today
City Using Digital Tools Produced to Modernize Purchasing, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Superhero Feminist Underwear Can Help You Save the Day! Refinery29
Press