Yale University - Yale School of Management

Stanford University

Government Relations Manager at Aurora

Sunnyvale, California, United States

- Serve as a key member of the government relations team to deepen Aurora’s public policy impact in the Bay Area and other regions, and advance Aurora's leadership in autonomous trucking + ridehailing.
-  Design, implement and scale innovative state and local community engagement & public affairs programs.
-  Manage key public policy operations including legislative tracking across all 50 states, stakeholder contacts and outreach, and campus visits.
-  Lead CSR efforts across Aurora, in close partnership with DEI, comms, marketing, workplace, employee resource groups, and people operations.
-  Identify and take on ad-hoc strategic projects - everything from defining new opportunities to executing key initiatives.
-  Collaborate with business development, partnerships, and legal to support company’s goals.

Aurora

Government Relations Manager

- Supported and reported to Verily Head of Government Relations as a special project due to COVID-19 (Waymo & Verily are sister companies under Alphabet).
-  Analyzed state and federal legislation in California, and as needed, in Colorado, Kansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Rhode Island, Vermont, & Virginia.
-  Served as liaison between state & federal consultants, and with trade groups.

Waymo

COVID-19 Special Project - Verily Life Sciences

- Government Relations: Managed engagement with cities, counties, and communities within the San Francisco Bay Area and throughout California to safely and responsibly deploy self-driving technology. Monitored legislative activity related to sustainability, transportation, equity, emerging mobility, autonomous vehicles, tech, employment law, and business taxes.

-  Community Engagement: Represented policy interests to external audiences to increase community awareness of Waymo. Built and maintained relationships with third party groups, not-for-profits, and trade associations throughout the region.

-  Employee Engagement: Created volunteer opportunities for employees across the SF Bay Area to engage with the community in a meaningful way.

City Policy and Government Affairs Manager, California

- Legislative Research: Wrote 15+ memos for staff and Senator on issues related to economy, banking, and finance, with a focus on workforce training, apprenticeship programs, Federal Reserve regulations, and trade to inform legislative agenda. Attended 10+ congressional hearings related to business tax reform proposals to brief legislative assistants

-  Press: Managed media requests for Press Secretary, and prepared daily news clips to inform D.C. and CA offices of current events

United States Senate

MBA Intern, Legislative Research & Press - Office of U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein

- Community Outreach: Maintained positive working relationships with local leaders and member associations by participating in public meetings, hearings, and community events. Provided neighbors with timely information about University positions.

-  Government Relations:  Coordinated 16+ campus visits of elected officials to Stanford. Tracked gifts to all elected officials, reviewed lobbying regulations annually with external counsel, sent quarterly reports to Office Manager to ensure University gifts filed in accordance with local, state, and federal law.

-  Policy Research: Documented, tracked, and researched 15+ local, state, and federal bills relevant to University priorities; informed executive team of impact of current advocacy efforts and upcoming challenges.

-  Communications: Deployed daily news and policy briefs to 30+ colleagues in public affairs, general counsel, communications, real estate, and transportation to improve cross-functional understanding of policies related to land use, growth, and sustainability

-  Programs & Events: Revamped and presented 24 orientation programs over 2 years for the City of Palo Alto to strengthen Palo Alto & Stanford partnership. Directed annual Community Partnerships Awards ceremony with 120 attendees to build Stanford’s presence in community. Planned 10 workshops outlining University real estate in Menlo Park, Redwood City, and Palo Alto, with an attendance of 60-100 local residents per workshop to resolve community concerns related to development.

Assistant Director, Community Relations

Abilities United supports children and adults with disabilities, their families and the community, and champions a culture in which all members of society are included and appreciated for their distinctive contributions.

Abilities United

Board Member, Board Secretary

Served as a Leadership Palo Alto Fellow, a year-long program through the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce, to gain an in-depth understanding of the full spectrum of Palo Alto life, including local economic, social and government challenges, opportunities and trends, and Palo Alto’s global influence.

Leadership Palo Alto - Class of 2015

Fellow

- Community Outreach: Maintained positive working relationships with neighbors, local leaders and officials, and member associations. Provided community with proactive and timely information about University positions. Represented Stanford University at public meetings, hearings, and community events.

-  Policy Research: Documented, tracked, and researched policy issues that were relevant to University’s objectives in local government and community relations. Prepared and presented briefs on local issues of interest.

-  Programs & Events: Expanded outreach efforts and programs aimed at community organizations, neighborhoods, key individuals, and the general public. Coordinated events and campus visits of local leaders.

Community Relations Associate

- Member Relations: Managed relationships with technology firms, private sector CEOs, public officials, and advocacy organizations for public policy trade association of over 390 Silicon Valley businesses to develop cohesive Silicon Valley policy campaign.  Maintained Salesforce database, membership recruitment collateral, website, and member earnings reports.

-  Financial Administration: Invoiced and collected over $2 million annually in sponsorships and membership dues. Initiated new accounting program via QuickBooks to automate invoicing process and increase efficiency of membership team.

-  Program Management: Led annual conference of 100 government relations managers and executives on policy to improve advocacy efforts across CA.

-  State Policy Advocacy: Steered statewide R.E.A.L. Coalition of 21 regional and state advocacy associations to advance policy portfolio related to water, economic competitiveness, and education/workforce development; organized monthly meetings with state legislators. Led development of R.E.A.L. Coalition agenda, invitations to guest speakers, and meeting logistics.

-  Community Outreach: Represented SVLG as a community liaison to the city of Palo Alto and Save the Bay.

Silicon Valley Leadership Group

Senior Associate, Strategic Coalitions & Investor Relations

Managed member relations and business development for public policy trade association of over 390 Silicon Valley businesses. Connected member companies with relevant policy committees, served as initial point of contact for member inquiries, recruited new member companies, collected membership dues and sponsorships, managed annual conference, supported statewide and federal coalitions to advance policy portfolio, and led charitable contest through the SVLG Foundation.

Membership Associate

Course Assistant for ES 201: Climate Change and the IPCC, taught by Professor Kristie Ebi and School of Earth Sciences Dean Pam Matson. Managed Coursework website, grades and homework assignments.

Course Assistant

Worked with communication and outreach coordinators on nonpartisan campaign to increase the number of women in office in 2012 elections, contacted organizations to set up 2012 plenary sessions at conferences, researched funding opportunities and grant process.

Hughes & Company

Communications Intern for The 2012 Project

Interned with VP of Business Development on crowdsourced environmental testing technology, outreach and communication with over 12 partner organizations, researched environmental water testing, planned pilot project.

Gauge Scientific

Business Development and Research Intern

Worked under guidance of Terry Trumbull, attended BAAQMD hearings, reviewed local candidate responses, participated in Sierra Club endorsement process, organized financial contributions.

Santa Clara County League of Conservation Voters

Environmental Mentorship

Interned for environmental advocacy firm, participated in CA Assembly and Senate hearings, attended meetings at the Cal/EPA and CARB, wrote articles on ballot propositions, analyzed laws, researched water policy, compiled campaign lists.

The Planning and Conservation League

Stanford in Government Fellow

Worked with local businesses to reward households that reduce energy usage, recruited households to enroll in Earth Aid, set up meetings with local businesses, organized fundraising auction.

Earth Aid

Earth Aid Fellow

Research assistant with Professor Alexandre Boucher on project titled “Monitoring Urban Growth Using Landsat Imagery Analysis: How Urbanization has Affected China's Landscapes”, synthesized results into final paper, presented to peers and advisers.

Stanford University School of Earth Sciences

Research Assistant in Undergraduate Research Program

Taught English to students from ages 3 to 18, trained new employees, administered and evaluated English and Math tests, graded homework, evaluated student progress.

Sydnee Journel

Sydnee Journel