Ruby (a.k.a. @Ruby on Twitter) is the Director of New Media Strategy for HASTAC and the DML Competition. She provides expertise on Internet culture and trends, as well as day-to-day management and on-going development of hastac.org, a complex and heavily-used Drupal web site that serves as the public face, community center, and the operational home of HASTAC.
Ruby specializes in strategies that connect people to each other, sometimes known as “network-centric advocacy,” “social media,” “Web 2.0,” or “grassroots organizing,” depending upon what type of geek one is. She previously served as the Co-Director of Communications at the Fellowship of Reconciliation, an interfaith organization working for peace and justice through active nonviolence since 1914. Her previous professional experience includes social network analysis, blogger outreach, organizer capacity-building, web site design and development, online communication strategy, and all manner of trainings. Ruby has helped hundreds of progressive nonprofits use technology more effectively in service of their educational, movement-building, and political missions. She has worked with organizations of all sizes and scopes including local women’s centers, statewide advocacy organizations, and national and international institutions such as Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Greenpeace International, and the American Civil Liberties Union.
Ruby is an engaging and informative public speaker and workshop facilitator. She has led sessions or served on panels at South by Southwest Interactive, Harvard’s Berkman Center, NetSquared, IPDI’s Politics Online Conference, N-TEN’s Nonprofit Technology Conference, and many other events for nonprofits and advocacy organizations.
Ruby is also the founder and editor of OrangePolitics.org, a progressive multi-author weblog with a vibrant community discussing local issues around her hometown of Chapel Hill, NC. She earned a BSPH from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1993, and a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Duke University in 2000. She has served on a variety of nonprofit and local government boards and commissions including the Chapel Hill Planning Board, which she chaired for two years. Ruby practices Engaged Buddhism. She lives in a townhouse on the edge of Bolin Creek with her husband Brian, and son Isidore.