I recently started to freelance for different outlets covering the civictech movement around the world. This week I wrote for Mobilisation Lab on a community organization tool from New Zealand called Loomio and for techPresident on Taiwan's g0v movement. Both articles illustrate the exciting, open-sourced tools being used by activists and governments to improve government services and how people interact with them.

A homeless man asks a businessman for his change. The businessman pinches a quarter loose in his pocket and flips it into a fountain. He favored luck over karma.

The literary journal, Cirque, published my short story "Distance Learning". The story takes place in the Republic in Georgia and follows the conflict between international development and local need through an American teaching English. You can read the piece here.

On top of this being my first fiction publication (but not fictional publication), this piece received the Andy Hope Award for writing in the spirit of social justice and compassion. I'm both excited and humbled to receive this award named for a prominent Tlingit Alaskan activist. 

The number one complaint I hear from autocrats and aspiring hegemons is, “How do I increase my territorial realm without raising hell from the United Nations’ Security Council or the U.S. military?” Ever since the end of World War I, it’s been increasingly more difficult for driven and visionary leaders to just conquer their neighbor. They wish for a simpler time before war crimes tribunals and Twitter.

Who could blame them? There are more hurdles today than ever to get what is rightfully yours. This post offers five easy steps to invading your neighbor in a lasting and meaningful way.

Poland today was not like it was when Julie was there. It seems redundant to say “places change”, but people forget so it bears repeating. Julie was in Poland as a Peace Corps volunteer between 1992 and 1994. Now, she was back in Laramie with her family.

This Op-Ed originally appeared in Kosovo 2.0 in English & Albanian. 

Against the constant chatter of corruption, questionable leadership, and failing government structures, there is one clear bright spot in Kosovo:
the juvenile justice system. Thanks to a concerted effort, Kosovo has put in place fundamental building blocks towards a just and equitable juvenile justice system. With further reform, Kosovo can be the juvenile justice leader in the region.