AbOUT ME
After two years as Donor Relations Manager at a national nonprofit organization, I am currently transitioning to life as a law student. Read on to learn about how my previous education and career path has brought me here.
SEALKIDS 2019-2021
I graduated from the Ohio state university with a master's degree in arts policy and administration in August '19.
I started at SEALKIDS, a national nonprofit organization that provides targeted academic interventions to children in the Naval Special Warfare community, as a Grant Writer shortly after earning my MA. I quickly became a major asset to the team and was promoted to Donor Relations Manager, where I lead the organization's communications with donors and the general public.
In this role, I was recognized for:
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Crafting an organizational voice and visual language that helped communicate our mission to donors and organizational partners
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Growing the organization's donor base and streamlining donor data management
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Launching several successful donor engagement and fundraising strategies, despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic
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Building a cohesive social media presence and increasing audience size and engagement across platforms
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Transforming the organization's annual report from a brief numbers focused document to a comprehensive marketing tool that contextualized impact data
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Taking on any challenge—that's how I earned the nickname Super Miranda!
OSU 2017-2019
My degree was funded by a competitive Distinguished University Fellowship awarded by the Graduate School at Ohio State University. The Master of Arts in Arts Policy & Administration program is a collaboration between the John Glenn College of Public Affairs and the Department of Arts Administration, Education & Policy (AAEP). In the Glenn College, I formed a foundational understanding of nonprofit management, public sector organizations, and administrative law. In the AAEP department, I applied those concepts to complex issues in the arts policy and administration sector.
Cultivating a Creative Community:
A case study on the gahanna area arts council
My thesis research dealt with emerging local arts agencies (LAAs) and how they interact with the communities they serve. The Gahanna Area Arts Council formed decades later than its neighboring suburbs' LAAs, presenting a unique set of challenges and growing pains as they worked to become a fixture of the community. I spent a significant amount of time working with the organization as an intern and helping to organize and launch their signature programming series, Arts in the Alley. My role in the organization put me in a unique position to comment on the organization's first public year, their reception by the community, and the dynamics of a volunteer-run emerging nonprofit organization. I decided to base my thesis on this topic after noticing a dearth of research on emerging LAAs and how they can succeed.
Using Wyzsomirski's triple bottom line and Tschirhart and Bielefeld's triangle of organizational foci for balancing as a theoretical framework, I examined GAAC through qualitative data sourced from interviews with board members, participant observation, and document review. The study examines the history of local arts agencies within the broader arts funding structure of the United States and the organization within its specific community. My findings reaffirm the need for balance within an emerging organization as well as the need for local arts agencies to understand and adapt to their communities in order to be successful.
I was honored to have Dr. Mary Tschirhart, nonprofit scholar and Director of George Washington University’s Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, as a member of my thesis committee.
My thesis was published in August '19. Click here to Read it.
Other learning opportunties at OSU
During my time at OSU, I served as Vice President of Central Ohio Student Advocates for the Arts as well as Arts Priori. As a COSAA officer, I helped organize groups of student advocates and lobbied state and federal legislators for public funding for the arts and specific policy action during the National Arts Action Summit and Ohio Arts Day.
I served as a Student Coordinator for the 2018 Barnett Symposium, a two-day national conference on arts administration and entrepreneurship featuring keynote speakers JaiJai Fei and Joseph Conyers.
I also served as a Board Member of the Ohio Arts League from 2018-2019, helping to improve the organization's policies and governance structure.
North Branch Nursery 2015-2017
in 2015, I created illustrations for Methods and Macroinvertebrates: Innovation in Science Education by Dr. Gwynne S. Rife . Click here to learn more.
I was the Assistant Manager of the Wholesale Department at North Branch Nursery, Northwest Ohio's largest nursery. I learned quickly about the thousands of varieties of trees, shrubs, and perennials grown at NBN and developed a deeper love of plants. In this position, I helped increase sales to landscaping companies and government agencies. In January 2016, I also earned my Garden Center Nursery Technician Certification from the Ohio Nursery & Landscape Association.
In this role I was recognized for:
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Going above and beyond my duties
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Closing high volume sales with new and existing wholesale customers
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Building and maintaining excellent customer relations
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Assisting with inventory control of over 300 acres of field-grown trees and shrubs
I graduated from UF with a BA in Interdisciplinary Multimedia Arts, an individualized major which combined my passion for varied forms of communication (including art, language, and journalism) and examined the effects of digital media on these fields.
The University of Findlay 2011-2015
After taking a full-time course load as a post-secondary student in the Fall of 2011, I became a full-fledged Oiler in January 2012. I spent time in several departments at UF while searching for a career path that matched my skills and passions and benefitted greatly from working closely with faculty members in the Communications Department, Art Department, English Department, and the Department of Language and Culture.
Here are some of my favorite learning opportunities from my time at UF:
WLFC FM 88.3
My very first on-air interview was with Allison Russell and JT Nero. Allison has since been nominated for several Grammys and her album outside child was just named one of NPR's TOP 10 albums of 2021.
After taking an introductory radio course in 2011, I fell in love with college radio. WLFC was the University of Findlay's exceptional college radio station and Northwest Ohio's Indie Rockin' Headquarters. I joined the station as an on-air DJ and Program Director (picking the music!) and was quickly promoted to General Manager. I oversaw daily station operations and our staff (composed of students and community members) while reporting to the station's faculty advisor. As general manager, I grew the station's social media presence exponentially, increased listenership in our local broadcast area, and helped build our national and international audience via our livestream.
In addition to maintaining our station's voice by ensuring professionalism on-air and adherence to our indie rock format, I guided the 2013 relaunch of the station's website as well as the in-person celebration and merchandise for the station's 40 year anniversary. In 2013, I received a national award for Outstanding Leadership in College Radio for my efforts in leading WLFC as Ohio's State Headquarters for College Radio Day 2013.
College radio day records
I helped shape the sound of the 2013 College Radio Day Album by serving as an Indie Expert on a national soundboard that helped to select and secure songs to be included from regional and national musicians.
WBVI FM Mix 96.7 / WFOB AM 1430
After working in college radio for two years, I secured my first position in commercial radio as an intern at Tri-County Broadcasting. As an intern, I worked on the station's website and helped to organize the station's music and commercial libraries. After the successful completion of my internship, I was hired as a Board Operator. After graduation, I joined the station's on-air talent as the Midday Host on Mix 96.7 WBVI.
For me, commercial radio didn't have the same charm as college radio. I found myself missing my previous station's opportunities to work directly with local and regional musicians and help them deliver their music to a larger audience. I eventually left commercial radio to pursue a career that would allow me to utilize a broader range of my skills.
Slippery Elm Literary Journal
As PR Editor and Webmaster of Slippery Elm Literary Journal, I built and managed a WordPress-based website and a digital marketing strategy that helped the literary journal solicit submissions and expand into digital publishing.
The new website and digital publishing arm allowed Slippery Elm to expand into multimedia literature, filling a need in the literary community as a place to publish and share nontraditional (and sometimes nonlinear) work made possible by constantly evolving digital tools.
Multimedia literature and non-linear narratives are a fascinating subsection of literature. Every day, the limits of what is possible in this genre are pushed further by the availability of technology and the ever-changing landscape of the internet. View one of my favorite examples, Thirty Second Stories here. Check out some of my own work in the genre here.
Music Journalism
I don't just love to talk about music, I also love to write about it. I authored a weekly column for The Pulse (UF's student newspaper) where I reviewed new indie rock releases and later covered the Central Ohio music scene for ColumbusUnderground.com.
They can't all be five stars! My harshest reviews were of Lorde's debut album and a 311 show at Express Live. (But I do love Lorde's new album, solar power.)
Senior Art Exhibition
My senior art exhibition centered around a collection of layered prints created by combing two traditional forms of printmaking (linocuts and monotypes). It also included a selection of my work in other mediums including digital photography, oil painting, and drawing.
Kake Bridge Student Ambassador program
In 2012, I traveled to Japan as part of the KAKE Bridge cultural exchange. After studying Japanese at UF, I was honored to be selected for this opportunity to represent my university, state, and country in Japan. I believe cultural exchange is a hugely valuable tool for personal development and international relations.