Macmillan Learning
Senior Director
Accessibility Outreach and Communication
New York, NY
Fall 2021 – Current
Skills: Accessibility/Disability; Strategic Thinking and Planning; Problem Solving; Troubleshooting; Communication; Presentation and Public Speaking; Goal Setting; Project Management
- Establish and manage accessibility requirements for content teams and product/technology teams
- Assist in accessibility reviews and training of across teams including monthly training webinars and “office hours” for accessibility related questions
- Design Accessibility 101 course for new hire onboarding and current employees
- Establish employee resource group (ERG): AVID (Awareness of Visible and Invisible Disabilities)
- Speak at industry related events about accessibility and corporate achievements including SXSW, CSUN-ATC, and others
- Support customers seeking accessible alternatives of existing products
- Create cross-functional accessibility training program including monthly webinars, improved documentation and how-to’s, and personalized learning sessions
Senior Director
Content Standards and Accessibility
New York, NY
Fall 2015 – Fall 2021
- Updated Macmillan accessibility website and awarded APIRE Gold Rating for accessibility statement
- Led Macmillan team awarded as Accessible Book Consortium Excellence Award 2020
- Established workflow leading to Macmillan Learning becoming first Global Certified Accessible Publisher
- Awarded Industry Innovator Award by BISG for work on accessible workflows for publishing in 2020
- Manage team of five coordinators and project managers that examines existing workflows and project plans to suss out potential bottlenecks, cost inefficiencies, and staffing strains
- Participate in industry standard organizations at IMS Global, BISG, and W3C
- Co-chair W3C EPUB Community Group
- Establish and manage accessibility requirements for content teams
- Assist in accessibility reviews and training of editorial and content management teams
- Establish metadata standards for content and platform integration
- Streamline production processes in order to increase speed to market and decrease financial waste by removing unnecessary work steps
- Develop production tools – from epub production to assessment creation – that allow teams to produce content faster and with fewer errors starting with detailed process analysis
- Find commonalities and differences across disparate teams trying to achieve the same goals and getting those teams in synch
- Transition ebooks from pdf format to accessible epub for education in line with 3.1 standards and accessibility 1.0 specifications
- Represent team and company initiatives at industry conferences and in industry standards organizations
Executive Media Editor
Social and Behavioral Sciences
New York, NY
Summer 2013 – Fall 2015
The executive media editor position gave me a chance to work with a talented team of media editors, producers, and freelancers to create a fresh collection of educational media products in Psychology and Sociology.
- Migrated existing educational sites into new platform and format
- Developed new and revised media products and programs across various psychological fields
- Worked with current instructors to develop digital products and resources best suited to their courses
- Managed team of media editors with varying degrees of experience; Team revised, updated, and created 20-30 products a year
- Successfully maintained digital content budgets for a $40 million list
- Awarded Product of the Year for digital work on Scientific American: Psychology, 1e
- Traveled to academic conferences and college campuses
- Established and standardized development procedures for new digital products in conjunction with developmental editorial and media production teams
- Coordinated with legal department to develop contract templates that correspond to editorial and media needs; establish copyright process for media content
- Appointed co-lead of Content Standards working group identifying weaknesses in content development and presentation and making recommendations for implementing changes
- Editorial representative for content accessibility; responsible for auditing content and developing plans for meeting WCAG 2.0 AA accessibility goal
Pearson Education
Digital Media Editor
Advanced Studies
Upper Saddle River, NJ
Winter 2013 – Summer 2013
As a digital media editor, I had the opportunity to familiarize myself with various methods of online learning. From games to assessment and animations to eText, I experimented with a variety of educational platforms and worked with instructors in a variety of fields to develop products that work for them and their students.
- Developed short and long term digital media plan for junior and senior level college texts
- Revised MySearchLab franchise with new design and format
- Updated eText resources provided to students and instructors
- Worked with current instructors across ten disciplines to develop digital products and resources best suited to their courses
Sociology
Upper Saddle River, NJ
Winter 2012 – Winter 2013
- Launched two first edition digital products one from established author and one for new authoring team
- Acquired, contracted, developed, and managed digital content for upper level, core, and introductory sociology
- Worked with internal and external resources to develop new digital projects
- Negotiated contracts with content developers
- Developed budgets for digital projects
- Worked with instructional designers and web designers to ensure effectiveness of products for students and instructors
- Traveled to academic conferences and college campuses
Anthropology, Philosophy, and Religion
Upper Saddle River, NJ
Spring 2010 – Winter 2012
- Developed and Launched two new MyLab brands: MyReligionLab in November of 2010 and MyThinkingLab in July of 2011
- Developed educational web content in Anthropology (four fields), Philosophy (Intro, Logic, Ethics, Critical Thinking), and Religion.
- Projected manage 20-30 sites and products a year including the MyAnthroLab, MyReligionLab, MyPhilosophyLab, MyLogicLab, and MyThinkingLab series
- Communicated with authors to establish schedules and develop new product ideas
- Established relationships with external content providers and partnerships with internal organizations
- Acquired and developed digital only products
W. W. Norton and Company
Ancillary Editor
Social Sciences and Humanities
New York, NY
Summer 2008 – Spring 2010
The print ancillary editor position gave me the opportunity to increase my familiarity with social science and humanities texts. Not only did I edit on instructor’s manuals, test banks, and study guides, but I made an effort to work closely with digital media editors working with the same texts. We were successfully able to increase the quality and quantity of integration between print and digital media supplements. In this time, I also developed a stronger understanding of the production process and scheduling for texts and ancillaries. Finally, as a print ancillary editor, I expanded upon my communication skills, taking the lessons I learned on campus and applying them to communicating with professors as not just educators, but also authors.
- Signed authors for ancillary projects across nine disciplines in the social sciences and humanities
- Helped implement new assessment program to create higher quality testing materials
- Coordinated sales, marketing, media, and editorial efforts; created budgets and timelines
- Communicated detailed product information to sales staff
- Consulted with affiliate publishers about new and revised ancillary programs
- Presented ancillary material to current and potential adopters during campus visits
- Acted as primary print ancillary consultant to associate director of electronic media
College Sales Representative
Eastern Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine
New York, NY
Summer 2006 – Summer 2008
As a sales representative, I learned how to multitask across disciplines and schools, organizing priorities according to the availability and interests of professors as well as the importance of the adoption to my territory and the overall adoption list. Every day that I spent on campus gave me the opportunity to learn how to communicate with educators as educators, determining what books and supplementary materials would work best for their class and the way in which they taught. My time in the field also made me more comfortable presenting these materials both to instructors and to my coworkers at regional conferences.
- Increased regional revenue by 18 percent
- Planned, organized, and executed presentations for textbook adoptions across all disciplines including departmental events
- Established short-term (daily) and long-term (annual) priorities, planning campus visits by researching office hours, teaching schedules, and research interests
- Developed and maintained long-term relationships with current and potential adopters by providing prompt and thorough customer service
- Worked closely with bookstore managers to help with order fulfillment; addressed pricing, packaging, electronic media, and other customer requests
- Participated in national sales conferences; delivered presentations of W. W. Norton titles at regional sales conferences to my peers and managers
- Worked closely with regional manager, editors, and other staff to develop sales strategy
- Planned campus visits by researching office hours, teaching schedules, and research interests
- Sampled front-list titles to over 60 accounts
- Created marketing handouts for The Real World, an introductory sociology text
Barnes and Noble
Assistant Textbook Manager / Textbook Buyer
Boston, MA
Fall 2004 – Spring 2006
- Maintained 10,000 title textbook list for four Boston colleges valued at $18 million annually
- Supervised three buying office employees and 40 booksellers
- Increased quantity of early textbook orders and increased buyback quantities by 8%
- Created assignment sheets and training guide to streamline retail floor operation
- Completed Barnes and Noble Bestseller Program for management training