Bio
I
was born in 1975 to Terry and Kathy Burley in Colorado Springs, CO and spent
much of my early childhood moving around the middle of the country before my
family finally settled in Kansas. My mother taught special needs children with
mental retardation and/or behavioral disorders. My father worked at a residential
care facility for people with developmental disabilities.
I graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1998 with a BA in Mass Communications from Southwestern College (Winfield, KS). Following graduation, I relocated to Washington, DC to complete a fellowship with Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS)—a progressive budget watchdog group.
During my three-and-a-half-year tenure with TCS, I designed and managed the organization's award-winning website, wrote pieces that appeared in the Washington Post and the Atlanta Journal Constitution and worked on stories that were covered by the New York Times and several national wire services.
Following my mother's death from colon cancer in 2001, I traveled briefly back to Kansas, where I spent time with family and friends, worked on various web consulting projects and volunteered for the Wichita office of Planned Parenthood.
I returned to Washington, DC in April 2002 and assumed the role of Deputy Director of Communications for the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, a legal advocacy group for people with mental disabilities. I was named Director of Communications in July 2004. I left the Center in June 2005, but served on the group's Leadership 21 Advisory Committee and still support the Center's work .
I am currently the online campaigns director for Defenders of Wildlife, where I work to build support for wildlife conservation through the use of email, social networks and other online communications .