Teaching - A Multi Year, Multi Iterative Continuous Project
I teach at the intersection of business, design, and strategy, helping students connect analytical thinking with creative intuition. As an Adjunct Lecturer in Financial Management at Parsons School of Design, I guide design students in understanding how financial and strategic decisions shape the creative economy. My goal as an educator is to empower emerging creators and entrepreneurs to think critically, manage sustainably, and lead with both empathy and insight.
TEACHING APPOINTMENTS
Adjunct Lecturer, Financial Management
The New School, August 2023 - Present
Instruct a class of 18 students in Financial Management from both a design and business perspective within the Strategic Design and Management BBA program.
Develop a comprehensive 15-week curriculum, preparing and delivering lectures that bridge creative and analytical thinking.
Design syllabi aligned with learning objectives, school policies, and project-based deliverables.
Evaluate and grade coursework, providing feedback through Canvas, email, and group discussions.
Foster classroom engagement through collaborative case studies and financial modeling exercises that encourage critical thinking and applied learning.
Classroom Lead
Apex for Youth, January 2020 - March 2025
Lead a weekly Saturday classroom of 3–8 elementary school students focused on social-emotional learning and personal development.
Teach concepts such as diversity, community, and resilience through interactive lessons and guided discussions.
Delegate tasks to volunteer team members and serve as liaison between school administrators and program leadership to ensure consistency and support across sessions.
Learning Lab Mentor
Habitat for Humanity, February 2014 - May 2016
Built supportive one-on-one mentoring relationships with elementary school students through the Learning Lab program.
Tutored in math and reading, and guided students in emotional regulation and collaboration during group activities.
Supported students’ academic and social growth through individualized guidance and sustained mentorship.
This early experience shaped my approach to empathy-driven education, understanding that confidence and curiosity grow from feeling seen, supported, and encouraged.
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
I view teaching as a design process: iterative, collaborative, and grounded in context. Each course I teach is a living system that integrates financial literacy, strategic thinking, and creative experimentation. My teaching is guided by clarity, relevance, and adaptability. Every semester, I refine my lessons based on student feedback, performance patterns, and emerging trends in marketing and analytics. I treat iteration as integral to education as each cohort brings new insights into how students learn, question, and apply ideas. Ultimately, I want my students to see finance and strategy not as constraints but as creative frameworks. When students recognize that financial fluency can unlock new possibilities for storytelling, entrepreneurship, and innovation, they begin to think like designers of systems, not just participants in them.
ITERATIVE COURSE DEVELOPMENT
Each semester, I update and improve my courses to reflect both student input and real-world shifts in the creative industries.
Recent Enhancements
2024: Introduced collaborative student led presentation that integrates the history of different financial markets, demonstrations in building financial statements, and interactive competitive analyses
2025: Added more independent in class activities for groups and individuals, research in recent major financial scams as it relates to fundraising, questioning/reasoning of AI and new technologies, history and relevant information on economics, tariffs, and supply chain management, more instances for the students to collaborate and lead the class and curriculum
These ongoing iterations ensure the classroom remains dynamic, relevant, and grounded in current industry practice.
STUDENT ENGAGEMENT
I strive to create a classroom atmosphere that is conversational, exploratory, and inclusive.
Students are encouraged to draw connections between design, finance, and culture, and to articulate the “why” behind their creative and business choices.
Many students who initially feel intimidated by financial concepts leave the course with new confidence and fluency in expressing their ideas through both numbers and narrative. The most rewarding part of teaching is seeing students realize that financial understanding can be as creative as design itself.
COURSES TAUGHT
Financial Management
BBA in Strategic Design and Management — Parsons School of Design
Course Length: 15 weeks
Focus: Financial statement analysis, building a business, finance in context
Format: Lectures, group projects, storytelling assignments.
Deliverables:
Reflective learning discussions
Ratio analysis paper
Financial markets history presentation
Relationship of laws/politics and economics + supply chain presentation
Business pitch paper or presentation
TEACHING INTERESTS
I am particularly interested in continuing to teach finance courses from a creative perspective in addition to developing and teaching courses that explore:
Data-driven storytelling and communication
Strategic management for creative entrepreneurs
Marketing analytics and decision-making