At Flamboyan, Sierra provides comprehensive support to the DC Executive Director and ensures seamless execution of her professional priorities. She helps manage the ED’s projects, works closely with internal stakeholders to strengthen and retain staff culture, and support the ED’s external profile through preparation and coordination with external partners. Sierra is committed to working in education because she wholeheartedly believes that a well-rounded education and supportive relationships within school systems are crucial to students successfully navigating their personal and professional lives.
Prior to joining Flamboyan, Sierra received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Virginia Tech and went on to work in social and health science research for several years. She started her career working at the ANGST Lab in the Psychology department at the University of Minnesota, where she collaborated on projects related to fear-associated learning, memory, and decision making. Most recently, Sierra served as a Health Science Specialist in the research department at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Healthcare system, where she focused on a project investigating mindfulness-based interventions to treat chronic pain in Veterans.
Sierra sees herself as empathetic and enjoys deeply connecting with her work and the people she interacts with. Outside of Flamboyan, Sierra also enjoys nature and spending time outdoors. Connect with Sierra on LinkedIn.
What was your favorite subject or course in school? Creative Writing in college with Aileen Murphy. She made all her students feel so comfortable and created a safe environment for us to get vulnerable and explore multiple avenues of creativity. I also took a higher-level writing course with her in which students would go out into local public schools and bring creative writing activities to classrooms of varying ages. It was a challenging but incredibly rewarding experience.