Expertise
Participant-driven data collection and analysis
Ari collaborates with interest-holders to co-design and implement data collection tools. Ari has a strong skillset in designing outreach for data collection, bringing a focus on how a potential data collection participant will experience our outreach. She has worked with participant advisers to strengthen our data collection tools, such as seeking feedback after interviews to improve the protocol and sharing draft tools with advisers for their feedback. Ari has sought feedback on protocols to make iterative improvements to data collection, as well as working with advisers to inform what to ask about and how in interview protocols. Using these tools and drawing on her academic and professional background, Ari analyzes data, synthesizes results, and makes informed recommendations based on client needs.
Facilitation
When designing and executing facilitation, Ari prioritizes creating an environment in which participants feel comfortable sharing and collaborating. Whether virtually or in person, Ari builds rapport with participants to ensure facilitated gatherings feel conversational and engaging in order to promote participation. Ari has facilitated focus groups and community listening sessions across a variety of topics, from how people report potential child maltreatment to what type of needs exist among low-income pet owners.
Gender justice issues
Ari has a deep passion and developing expertise in issues related to gender justice. Prior to joining the Improve Group, she had multiple academic and professional experiences focusing on engaging with gender justice issues and projects. For instance, during her time working with Trust Women, an organization based in Wichita, KS, that opens clinics that provide abortion care in underserved communities, Ari dialogued directly with community members on their attitudes about abortion care and other women’s health issues for the purpose of engaging about restrictive local and statewide abortion legislation. In her graduate studies, Ari collaborated with the Advocates for Human Rights to conduct research on local and international legal practices and social movements around domestic violence and sexual assault. These issues inform the professional projects and personal volunteering that Ari seeks to pursue now and in the future.
Organizational development
Ari is a champion for equity-focused approaches within The Improve Group. One area in which she has demonstrated leadership is developing a Tribal engagement guide. Following a project that offered many lessons, Ari supported internal reflection on practices that could foster respectful and appropriate engagement with Tribes. She supported a review of our typical project activities, facilitated discussions among Improve Group staff, and drafted and continues to promote the use of Tribal engagement best practices. In another example of Ari’s work to ensure The Improve Group is an equitable organization, she served on an internal Compensation Task Force to review our compensation structure and ensure it is equitable and competitive.
Professional Experience
The Improve Group | St. Paul, MN | Associate Consultant | 2024-present | Works collaboratively with project teams to gather and make meaning of information, navigate complexity, and ensure clients’ investments of time and money lead to meaningful, sustained impact.
Research in Action | Minneapolis, MN | Junior Research Associate & Project Manager | 2022-2024 | Managed multiple mixed-methods participatory action research projects co-designed with institutional stakeholders and community advisory councils to advance concrete policy and practice solutions.
Future Services Institute, Humphrey School of Public Affairs | Minneapolis, MN | Research Assistant | 2021-2022 | Led and contributed to multiple research projects on systems change, human services, tribal-state relations, and native North American language revitalization and sustainability.
The Advocates for Human Rights | Minneapolis, MN | Women’s Human Rights Intern | 2021 | Conducted qualitative research on gender-based legal practices and analyzed data related to domestic violence and sexual assault judicial proceedings.
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society | Wichita, KS | Outreach Account Lead | 2018-2020 | Recruited and trained fundraising directors on the implementation of fundraising programs across K-12 school districts.
Kansas Appleseed Center for Law & Justice | Wichita, KS | Lead Canvasser | 2018 | Oversaw canvassing team who surveyed 1,000+ participants on local food insecurity issues, food assistance programs, and statewide legislation regarding food deserts.
Trust Women Foundation | Wichita, KS | Lead Canvasser & Advocacy Assistant | 2017-2018 | Supervised canvassing team who surveyed 38,000+ participants on statewide reproductive health legislation and fundraising.
Education
University of Minnesota, Humphrey School of Public Affairs | Master of Arts in Human Rights, International Development concentration
Wichita State University | Bachelor of Arts in Sociology (major), Political Science (minor), Gender Studies (minor), and Global Studies (undergraduate certificate)
Want to learn more about Ari? Check out their full resume here!