I am a researcher, practitioner, and PD candidate at the University of Edinburgh. My doctoral research examines how the national government's approach to immigration impacted the efforts of those working to welcome and include immigrants in the UK and the US during the Brexit and Trump eras. I currently am working with Professor Ailsa Henderson on the creation and coordination of a Devolved Democracy Forum, designed to bring together practitioners and academics to discuss advances in democratic experiments across the three devolved territories in the UK and their impact on citizen engagement; and to identify best practice as well as avenues for future innovation in devolved democratic innovation. Other topics on which I have worked as a researcher include digital democratic innovation, participatory budgeting, and community engagement. Prior to commencing my PhD programme, I served as the founder and executive director at Project Interfaith, a US-based NGO focused on fostering understanding and inclusion about religious and cultural identity and diversity, and taught as an adjunct professor at both Creighton University and the University of Nebraska at Omaha. I hold a Master of Public Policy and a Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Education from Creighton University.