10 Lessons I Learned About Prepping Ballots…Right Before They’re Counted

I’ve had the honor of serving Denver voters as an election judge for the last two years and worked on multiple roles, all around processing mail-in ballots. Once again, with US Democracy continuing to face challenges, I choose to be a part of the solution and not only work as an election judge, but also share out what I learned to help combat any misinformation out there.

This time for Denver’s 2026 Primary Election, I got to work on ballot prep, which is the procedure in between signature verification and counting. Working on ballot prep turned out be an eye opening experience. Here’s what I learned.

Lessons from 2025: Making a Difference and Finding Your Value in The Age of AI

It’s January again, which means it’s time to write my retrospective of the lessons I’ve learned from the previous year.

This 2025 Year End Retrospective might be one of the most difficult I’ve had to write to date. My country, the United States, has been sliding into autocracy. With AI reshaping the job market, the tech recession, and backlash against DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), it is harder than ever to land a job if you’ve been out of work or underemployed for a while, as I have. It is especially hard for those that belong to one or more marginalized groups.

I don’t have all the answers. What I’ve written here is a reflection of what the last year has been like for me: what I’ve done to make a difference how and where I can, finding my value in the age of AI, and my hopes for the new year. If you can find some hope or inspiration from reading this article, to either keep going and/or to help others, then it would have been worth it for me to write this. Thanks for reading, and for your support!

6 Lessons I Learned Verifying Ballot Signatures as a US Election Judge

TLDR Summary: US Democracy has been facing ever-increasing challenges over the last year. And there are still those who allege election fraud in spite of some of the most secure and robust election processes in place in the country, if not the world. In the face of uncertainty, I choose to be part of the solution and do my part by showing up, and then to tell the truth about what I saw. I had the honor of serving as an election judge for Denver county for the November 2025 election, the second election I’ve supported since starting as an election judge. This time, I got to work on verifying signatures on the mail in ballots. Here’s what I learned about that process.

My Journey Through 2024: From Last Leadership Fellow to Google Cloud Architect

The year 2025 has begun, which means it’s time for me to release my retrospective of 2024!

TL;DR Summary

The year 2024 started off strong with me leading the Women Who Code Mobile community through our first ever group open source projects. Then, I lost my Leadership Fellow job and my community all at once when Women Who Code shut down. It was hard to move on, but I joined a Cloud Architect program and became a Certified Google Cloud Architect. Here’s my journey through 2024 and the lessons I learned along the way.

I Passed the PCA Exam

Note: The following post appeared originally on my LinkedIn profile.

I’m happy to share that I’ve obtained a new certification: Professional Cloud Architect (PCA) Certification from Google! 🎉