Sandra is passionate about climate change issues, and educates herself on alternative energies and lifestyle options that help reduce dependence on fossil fuels and help cope with a rapidly changing environment.
She is a founding member of Democracy Burlesque, a political sketch comedy troupe based in Chicago, where she writes, acts, and co-produces. DB is a great venue for her to vent against the hypocrisies and lunacies of our current political climate.
Sandra also plays traditional folk music on pennywhistle, bones, washboard, and vocals, and is a long time affiliate of the Old Town School of Folk Music.
Sandra received the American Society for Public Administration's Outstanding Graduate Student award.
Sandra participated in DePaul's study abroad program, traveling to Dublin, The Philippines, India, Istanbul, as well as New Orleans,and Washington DC.
Sandra completed all the coursework for the masters program. Additionally, she served as a grad teacher, teaching freshman composition classes.
Sandra developed her love of literature and of writing while an undergrad, as well as discovering a passion for directing and stage managing.
As a former pre-school instructor, Sandra has written for the school's newsletter, highlighting school and classroom activities, as well as educating parents on various aspects of the Montessori curriculum. She has also written articles on education and pedagogy for her Masters program at UIC.
Sandra spent 2.5 years as Training Director for Jane Addams Resource Corporation, where she wrote several grant applications. In addition, she was a member of the policy committee, where she wrote letters to state legislators advocating the restoring of funding to incumbent worker training. She also assisted trainers and the Executive Director in writing descriptions and brochures for new training and apprentice programs.
A paper she co-wrote with DePaul Professor Ron Fernandes, entitled "Small Water Projects Can Do Big Things: Watershed Management in India," was presented in Istanbul for the International Society for Third Sector Research conference (excerpt below).
Sandra spent 13 years as a Human Resources professional and Instructional Designer, specializing in employee relations, workforce development, and leadership training.
She has written numerous training manuals. In addition, she has also created performance-based annual reviews, so that they contain objective criteria and measurable achievements.
Sandra is a resident writer/co-producer, and performer at Democracy Burlesque, a political sketch comedy show based in Chicago. The goal of DB is to enlighten and inform audiences using humor as the hook. Her role models are The Daily Show and the Colbert Report--writing that is both thought-provoking and silly.
Sandra has written and designed brochures for a variety of purposes: from performance flyers for theaters and bands to marketing brochures for selling technical classes, she is skilled at combining short, catchy phrases and eye-catching graphics to grab attention and attract customers to the item or service being described.