About me

Anita is pictured in a lab coat in a black and white photo, trying to observe a crowd of rubber ducks to no avail. One of them sits on her head. — Sometimes it really does feel like this!

Yes, I worked in cancer research for 7 years, mostly because I didn’t know what else to do with a biology degree that wasn’t med school or grad school.

I eventually figured out that what really motivates me is empowering people with information. A random side project led me to UX, and I loved it so much I decided to do it for a job! 😄 I cobbled together a design education for myself, then I happened to land in government, where I've been clarifying complex public services for the past 10 years.

My dogged urge to get actionable information to people has gotten me on projects involving affordable housing, permitting, and COVID.

About this site

Along with communicating what I’m about to hiring managers and recruiters, this website is for people who are new to either design or civic tech, wondering what working in government is actually like. Or wondering what it took for me to get here. That’s why I’ve kept my student and pro-bono projects online, the way I originally wrote them back around 2014.

So if that describes you, welcome! I hope what I’ve written is helpful. I’d love to meet you and give you words of encouragement. Feel free to book a virtual coffee with me or message me on LinkedIn.

Colophon

The (admitedly old but still amazingly fitting) photo of me was taken by the irrepressible Jing Wuen.

This site uses IBM Plex Sans for headings, because just look at this beautiful differentiation. Body copy is Lora. Animated icons are from Unicorn Icons.

The site is built with Eleventy, with a theme modified from Eleventy Duo.