Curriculum Vitae & Selected Works

2015 – 2017 University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

Political Science, Public Policy Minor

Graduated with Distinction: Spring 2017

2012 - 2015 Los Rios Community College District, Sacramento, CA

Psychology, Transfer: Fall 2015

2017 Principal Investigator, UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

Designed and executed a national survey experiment with the guidance of Professor Laura Stoker examining the effects of various nutritional health campaigns on self-predicted future food purchases. The survey experiment, distributed via Amazon Mechanical Turk, also examined socioeconomic factors as potential barriers to healthy food purchases.

2013 – 2015 Research Assistant, American River College, Sacramento, CA

Under the direction of Dr. Andrea Garvey, Professor of Developmental Psychology, I studied change processes by examining recorded mother-infant interactions and observing infant facial expressions.

2013 – 2015 Principal Investigator, American River College, Sacramento, CA

Served as the Principal Investigator in a collaboration between our chapter of Psi Beta National Psychology Honors Society and their 2013-2014 National Research Project. I led a group of six students under the guidance of our chapter advisors from design to final conference presentation. We researched the interactions between growth mindset, future time-perspective, and subjective happiness through a national survey of college students.

Knight, K., Gopez, J., Knifong, M., Maze, A. Presented at the Western Psychological Association Conference in May 2015. Happiness as predicted by growth mindset and future time perspective.

Garvey, A., Asfour, H., Garcia, C., Knight, K., Marks, W., Rictor, A., Stepanova, Y. (April 2014). Infant smiling in early mother-infant communication. Presented at the Western Psychological Association Conference in April 2014.

Garvey, A., Garcia, C. Rictor, A., Knight, K., Burkhard, A. Presented at the Western Psychological Association Conference in May 2015. Do infant smiles reflect different emotional experiences?

• 2019 Presenter of "Please Stay" at The Body Political

• 2018 Presenter of "Cocoon" at The Body Political

• 2017 David P. Barrows Scholarship Recipient

• 2017 Honors at UC Berkeley in Spring 2017

• 2017 Presenter of "I'm Your Man" at The Body Political

• 2016 Honors at UC Berkeley in Fall 2016

• 2016 Honors at UC Berkeley in Spring 2016

• 2015 Elma Walpole Soroptimist Scholarship Recipient

• 2015 Honors at UC Berkeley in Fall 2015

• 2015 Bill J. Priest Scholarship Recipient

• 2014 Highest Honors at American River College in Fall 2014

• 2014 Highest Honors at American River College in Spring 2014

• 2014 Student Representative for the Board of Accreditation at American River College

2017 - 2019 Co-Founder and Director of Strategic Communications: A Simple Hello

2016 - 2017 Member of the Board of Directors at The Compeer Foundation

2017 Facilitator of Introduction to Experience and Immersive Design (UC Berkeley)

2017 Member of Phi Beta Kappa Honors Society

2017 Member of Golden Key International Honour Society

2016 - 2017 Member of Pi Sigma Alpha National Political Science Honors Society

2015 - 2017 Experience Designer with The Compeer Foundation

2014 - 2015 President of Phi Theta Kappa International Honors Society

2014 - 2015 Principal Investigator of Psi Beta National Honors Society

2013 - 2014 Represented Chapter at Phi Theta Kappa Regional Conference

2014 - 2015 Volunteer at Sacramento Children’s Home

2013 - 2015 Volunteer at Upendo Women's Foundation

2014 Volunteer at Robert’s Family Development Center Title IX Tutoring

2014 Member of JUST (Social Justice Club)

Political Science/Public Policy: Experimental Research Methods in Political Science, Introduction to U.S. Politics, Introduction to Comparative Politics, Political Psychology and Public Policy, America’s Dysfunctional Politics, Introduction to Empirical and Quantitative Analysis, The Politics of Displacement, History and Government of Eastern Europe, Russia After Communism, Middle East Politics

Psychology: Introduction to General Principles, Abnormal Behavior, Independent Studies, Psychology Research Methods, Introduction to Statistics, Child Psychology

Producer/Director: Tin Can Can LIVE International Virtual Variety Show: March 2020 - July 2020

A live international variety show featuring acts from around the world to support performers impacted by Covid-19, I produced three shows with world-class performers that incorporated new digital platforms to help people better connect with each other virtually. The show's success allowed us to provide vital income to struggling performers in a time of need.

Immersive Theater, Experience Designer and Consultant: Freelance San Francisco Bay Area, CA January 2016 to Present

I have taken on many roles for immersive events and consulting, including but not limited to:

• Grant, story, and script writer

• Event and team manager

• Director and Producer

• Lighting, sound, touch, scent, and scene designer

• Story and character development and acting

• Creative and Technical Consultant: The OTHER Show (2019)

• Worked closely with the Emmy-Award-winning-performer, Slater Penney, for an interactive and immersive theater show at UC Davis in 2019, presented over the course of 4 nights

• Initially brought on to help integrate immersive and interactive elements into the 30 minute production dealing with the effects of plastics on the Pacific Ocean wildlife, my role grew quickly

• Helped with conceptualization; research; project management; scripting; set, sound, and lighting design; and using psychological principals to effectively engage the audience

Project Lead: The Mating Game (2018)

• Created a four-day long theatrical show for an immersive event produced by Take 3 Presents. and directed a team of 8 to produce 4 total episodes of a live game show and 2 days of roaming theatrics

• Produced high-quality props and set pieces; scripted each show including mental, physical, and spiritual challenges for audience members and participants

• Represented the project and team at important corporate functions

Station Lead: Spirit Board (2017)

• Led a small team for three performance nights as part of Foma Labs's The Obfuscia Hotel and Obfuscia: Deja Vu

• Designed and created an immersive space and series of routines to be performed that included spirit summoning, animatronics, mentalism, and acting

Project Lead: The Kintsugi Rite (2017)

• Led a group of 6 volunteers to produce and run this 3-hour event

• 40 participants experienced a site-specific event that engaged narrative and community building, leading participants to create works of art and give back to their community

• Designed and managed the event from concept to execution, including custom props, lighting, copy, and souvenirs

Facilitator and Course Designer: Introduction to Experience and Immersive Design (UC Berkeley 2017)

This course taught students how to:

• Create engaging and moving narratives

• Integrate all aspects of experience and immersive design in a project

• Create immersive experiences ranging from the intimate to large-scale public events

• Understand the history of experience and immersive design

• Understand current trends and events in the immersive design movement

Lead: Urban Immersive Treasure Hunt

• Managed a team of 5 people for a two-part site-specific adventure

• Led 30 participants to uncover unknown stories, treasure, and excitement.

• Designed 2 events ranging from 2-4 hours long - each located in a specific area of the East Bay, using live performances, environmental clues, custom-designed media, puzzles, and a text bot

In addition to the projects listed above, I have designed and managed many events for private membership-based groups in the Bay Area ranging from parties and celebrations to organization and administrative meetings, as well as community-building events.

Performance Artist: Freelance San Francisco Bay Area, CA April 2013 - Present

I am a seductively silly performer whose work tends to focus on social issues in the mediums of burlesque, drag, clowning, immersive theater, and tactical frivolity. Finding a passion for performing arts as a child, I graduated high school as an honors thespian. My pieces often incorporate interactive and immersive elements, as well as psychological principles to engage the audience at a deeper level.

Most recently, I've had the incredible honor of garnering acclaim in local news publications for my pieces presented in The Body Political, a curated annual show in San Francisco (2017-19). For each piece presented, I acted as creator, director, and performer and was joined by award-winning Bay Area performers.

I've been privileged to have performed for small events to large ones with audiences in the thousands, as well as with many shows and troupes throughout Northern California, including:

• The Body Political

• Rebel Kings of Oakland

• First Friday Follies

• Debauchery

• Om Nom Nom Nonbinary Burlesque

• Ethereal Dollhouse

• Follies and Dollies

• Bodacious Bombshells

• Midtown Moxies

• RetroCrush Variety Show

• And numerous fundraisers and private events

Program Associate: Hello Housing, San Francisco, CA August 2017 - October 2018

• Performed office management, including fielding calls and emails from homeowners, applicants, and the public

• Created and implemented program and process improvements for the Concord Home Repair program to help low-income, disabled, and senior Concord residents

• Created a 52-page guidebook and training manual for company administrative processes

• Used and led trainings on HomeKeeper, a Salesforce platform to update, monitor and track key data points of applicants, owners, properties and loans

• Provided administrative support to Hello Stewardship team in processing a large volume of BMR homeowner certifications and BMR homebuyer applications

• Coordinated with Program Managers and Development team to help achieve various department requests and goals

• Performed annual monitoring of 900+ BMR homeowners to ensure compliance with their deed restrictions

• Performed research for special projects, such as market research, exploring marketing partners for sales campaigns and property profiling

Legislative Intern : Faculty Association of California Community Colleges, Sacramento, CA April 2015-May 2015

• Used hearings and social media to promote grassroots legislative advocacy to improve working conditions for adjunct community college professors

• Advertised budget and policy hearings to students and communities across the state to encourage participation in increasing office hours, working conditions, and resources for adjunct community college professors

• Solicited student use of social media and other means of communication to interact with state legislators on specific bills and proposals

Beacon Tutor: American River College, Sacramento, CA, January 2015 - May 2015

• Tutored “Psychology Research Methods” for a class of 30 students

• Assisted professor to design lesson plans

• Created and curated games and learning aids to engage students

Production Manager, Technical Consultant: SkullTronix, Rancho Cordova, CA, March 2007 - August 2015

• Led a small team of technicians to produce top-of-the-line Halloween animatronics

• Managed every step of production and customer service, including mold-making, creating custom props, utilization of power tools, assembly, electronics customization, and sales

• Represented company at trade shows and conventions, including celebrity interactions