DBC Remodeling is a residential remodeling company located in Erie, PA and serving the surrounding counties including nearby parts of NY and OH. DBC was founded in 2007 by my husband, Doug Bierer, and now employs over 40 of the finest tradesman and craftsman I have ever met. From the time DBC was formed, I have had the privilege of creating the brand, marketing and strategy for the company. At first I performed these duties after work during evenings and weekends while still holding full-time employment elsewhere. In 2020, as with many other companies, DBC faced challenges that required new strategies and plans. It became clear a full-time marketing position was needed, and there was not a person alive who wanted to tell that story more than me. I now have the privilege of spearheading DBC's marketing strategy as my primary responsibility. It is my honor to serve other organizations by teaching and consulting on how to work together to serve customers and clients more effectively.

I worked on the UnifiedErie violence reduction initiative in Erie County. I served as the coordinator for the Prevention Prong of this three-pronged approach to reducing violence in Erie, PA. As coordinator, I facilitated committees and coordinated invested stakeholders to work on strategies that were prioritized using the Communities That Care framework for evaluating youth survey data. Within this role, I facilitated three working teams that met monthly to work on strategies, created the Take Me To Worship campaign, created most of the communication material for the UnifiedErie project as a whole, and carried out trainings and public speaking events throughout the region. Participating in this amazing project and working with so many incredible and invested community partners was a true honor and a privilege.

I worked on all aspects of Community Outreach for the Susan Hirt Hagen Center for Community Outreach Research and Evaluation at Penn State Behrend. I directed the Positive Youth Development project and The Mentor Project at CORE, while also serving as a connector for our agency in the community. I looked for ways that our team and the University could contribute to large community initiatives around the region. The easiest way to describe my skill set at PSU would be to say I was a "brilliant to normal translator." I had the privilege to work with brilliant researchers and thought leaders in the community to identify what the root issues were affecting youth in Erie County (using accurate social science data), and then identify and promote proven methods to improve outcomes for those youth and their families. I got to translate all that brilliant science and data speak and turn it into something persuasive that convinced normal people to care about it and act on it.

From Erie to State College, I was responsible for overseeing highway safety initiatives in 21 counties across Pennsylvania. Starting in 2002 with 6 counties, it was my job to use crash data and relationship building to win over local police departments and convince them to adopt new enforcement strategies as a way of reducing crashes and fatalities in their area. Once getting enforcement on board, I coordinated with judges, schools, and hospitals to raise public awareness about topics such as seatbelts, aggressive driving, and DUI. My responsibilities required a great deal of communication to the public through press events and public speaking, as well as a great deal of relationship building and persuasion. The bridges I learned to build between public, private, and non-profit sectors created a foundation that made my future work with UnifiedErie possible.