My research explores writing in nonprofit settings, especially its role in supporting emerging collectives and projects. My most recent publications are based on a multiyear field study with a nonprofit team that developed an online learning and community-building platform for grassroots leaders. In a series of three articles, I identify communication-design practices that helped move this project from idea to reality.
Previously, I’ve explored how public health and other nonprofit organizations have integrated digital storytelling practice into their work. I also write theoretical and reflective pieces about teaching.
Full-text versions of most publications are available on Research Gate.
Selected Publications
- “The Art of Assembly: Script, Platform, Document“: Technical Communication Quarterly, 2023
- “A Community of Practice Design for Capacity-Building Programs: The Chicago Peace Fellows“: Community Development, 2023
- “Drawing into Being: Charter Graphics and Their Functions“: Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 2022
- “Alignment Genres and Practices: Lessons from Nonprofit Partnership Projects in Content Strategy“: Proceedings of the 39th ACM International Conference on Design of Communication, 2021
- “Nonprofit Collections of Digital Personal Experience Narratives: An Exploratory Analysis“: Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 2017
- “When Writing Becomes Content“: winner of the 2016 Richard Braddock award, College Composition and Communication, 2015
- “Building the Capacity of Organizations for Rhetorical Action with New Media: An Approach to Service Learning“: Computers and Composition: An International Journal, 2014
- “The Ethical Complexities of Sponsored Digital Storytelling“: International Journal of Cultural Studies, 2013
I have also published chapters on digital writing and the sustainability of new media writing practice in several edited collections: Composition and Copyright (ed. S. Westbrook), Story Circle: Digital Storytelling Around the World (eds. J. Hartley & K. McWilliam), and Technological Ecologies and Sustainability (eds. D. DeVoss, H. McKee, & D. Selfe).
Community- and nonprofit-engaged learning partnerships are also important to my work. To learn more, read about some recent projects.