Marla Parker - Founder & Principle, Sounding Board Solutions

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Work Background

California State University-Los AngelesAssociate Professor

Aug. 2022Greater Los Angeles Area

Dope LabsUX Researcher

Oct. 2021

LEEAF Accelerator & FellowshipLead Faculty

May. 2021Los Angeles, California, United States

halōloopExecuive Team Member

Dec. 2020 - Jun. 2021

Sounding Board SolutionsFounder

Jun. 2020Consulting services for startups and small businesses offering Chief of Staff guidance, research and evaluation, strategic planning and advising.

California State University-Los AngelesCo-Founder of Civic and Social Innovation Group

Jan. 2017Los Angeles

California State University-Los AngelesAssistant Professor

Aug. 2016 - Aug. 2022Greater Los Angeles AreaI am a faculty member at CSU LA in the Department of Political Science teaching intro government and graduate public administration courses including Government and Society; Science, Society and Policy; Human Resource Management in the Public Sector; and Intergovernmental & Cross Sectoral Relations. I also conduct professional training in cultural competency. My research and applied interests include public management and administration; civic and academic entrepreneurship; social network theory; STEM policy; and cultural competency and diversity in organizations as well as pedagogy.

Arizona State UniversityPost-Doctoral Research Fellow

Jul. 2014 - May. 2016In the Center for Organization Research and Design at ASU, I worked on the STEM Mobility project led by Dr. Barry Bozeman, which focuses on understanding how gender, race and socioeconomic status drive the progress and persistence of individuals going through the STEM pipeline. I am led the evaluation of a major food bank to asses its social value.

University of Illinois at ChicagoInstructor

Sep. 2012 - May. 2013Department of Public Administration• Instructor, Undergraduate Course, Spring 2013 - Urban Planning and Public Affairs: Managing the External Environment (hybrid course involving online and in-class components) Course Description: Review of concepts related to collaboration in public management including: trends in collaborative management, collaboration governance/leadership, lifecycle of collaboration, inter-jurisdictional competition, intergovernmental/nonprofit cooperation, intergovernmental cooperative agreements, and contractual and informal relations with non-profit organizations and governmental actors. • Teaching Assistant, Graduate Course, Fall 2012 - Survey Questionnaire Design Course Description: Review of concepts and strategies for developing survey questionnaires for various modes of survey data collection. Includes a focus on question wording, coding and ordering. Sources for survey question development are also reviewed.

Science, Technology and Environmental Policy LabResearch Assistant

Nov. 2009 - May. 2014University of Illinois at ChicagoRESEARCH ASSISTANT WORK: Primary duties include assisting in the development and implementation of large scale, survey-based research projects, with a particular emphasis on gender and racial underrepresentation among academic science faculty.Detailed tasks include the following: • Assisting in literature reviews, survey questionnaire design and development, testing and data collection for online self-administered surveys, in-person interviews and paper based surveys; • Cleaning, coding and manipulating large survey-based data sets using statistical software; • Conducting and communicating quantitative analysis of survey data for research outputs (e.g. reports, presentations and research papers); • Creating and maintaining survey codebooks detailing survey administration activities and descriptive data; • Developing documentation for survey management and administration, including protocols and syntax; • Creating training materials and conducting training for survey raters; • Conducting in-person interviews; and • Completing administrative paperwork requiring university approval to conduct research (i.e. Institutional Review Board applications).

University of Illinois ChicagoPhD Student, Public Administration

Aug. 2009 - Mar. 2014

US EPAOak Ridge Intern

Jul. 2007 - Nov. 2009Proactively led and implemented the redesign of the Region’s intranet system, which included creating a new site design, selecting web creation software, and developing content. I also created and executed an internal marketing campaign focused on promoting the EPA Region 5 Superfund Division websites (both the internal intranet and external Internet websites) as mediums to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the division. An additional project was conducting research on the management of IT personnel in the public sector.

BBDO Detroit - Direct Marketing Services GroupE-Specialist

Jul. 2006 - Jul. 2007Successfully managed and coordinated the creation and execution of multiple, on-going email marketing campaigns for Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep vehicles and events to increase and maintain market share. I also consistently provided email metric reports. 2

BBDO Detroit - Dialogue Management GroupProgram Coordinator

Jun. 2005 - Feb. 2006Served as a productive liaison to the advertising account teams, information technology team, Diversified Marketing Service group, and various outside vendors to help manage new and existing marketing initiatives for Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep automotive brand events and programs. Other activities included creating various reports regarding call activity, communication fulfillment, and status of projects.

NPower MichiganVolunteer Intern / Program & Membership Associate

Feb. 2003 - Nov. 2004Efficiently administered a membership program consisting of over 200 Michigan nonprofit agencies with computer technology consulting and training needs. I also created and maintained informative e-newsletters and monthly e-bulletins for members.

Arthur Anderson, LLPConsultant

Aug. 2001 - Aug. 2002Assisted senior consultants in Oracle CRM software implementation projects by testing software, maintaining documentation and trouble-shooting software glitches.

E-Mentors ProgramCo-Founder/Volunteer Consultant

Sep. 1999 - Apr. 2003Co-lead in the development of a unique mentoring program that provided at-risk high school students with strong career and educational support, as well as helping them hone their technical skills. Other duties included management of over 70 student volunteers for the program and acting as a liaison to the participating high schools in the Ann Arbor and Detroit areas.