Selected work

The writing is the product.

Four cases show how I move from a problem to something people can use: legislation, a public argument, a technical manual, an honest accounting, or the system behind all four.

Confidential material from the IU Foundation and the City of Hobart Law Department is intentionally omitted.

01 Policy & advocacy 02 Simplifying complexity 03 Impact storytelling 04 Brand systems

Policy, advocacy & promotion

Survivor Resources Hub

Problem → legislation → advocacy → promotion. Three artifacts, one public resource.

Context: Students experiencing sexual violence were being asked to navigate scattered offices, pages, and definitions in order to find help. Crisis contacts, reporting paths, medical care, accommodations, legal advocacy, and confidentiality information needed to exist in one place.
My role: I authored CEA 1003, the Survivor Resources Hub Act, carried it through the Committee on Equity & Justice, and passed it through Congress on October 29. I then built the case for adoption and explained the result publicly.
What I made: The statute sets content, privacy, review, and reporting standards. Section 6 also requires a public awareness campaign, trauma-informed and survivor-centered messaging, and semesterly outreach reporting to Congress. I followed it with a two-page brief for the O’Neill Dean and a constituent update that states exactly what I did—and what campus professionals did.
Outcome: The Hub is live. The work shows that drafting policy and making it usable are different crafts, and that a resource no one can find is not finished.

Source documents

Survivor Resources Hub Act Two-page advocacy brief Constituent update Visit the live Hub

Simplifying complexity

Owen County Tax Abatement

One policy system, written in two registers without losing what makes it true.

Context: Owen County’s tax-abatement program was going unused. Businesses found it intimidating; the county had no standardized scoring system and no enforceable clawback when promised jobs or investment did not materialize.
My role: My team ran the research; I wrote the deliverables. Reese Brimm, Kaleb Ford, and Katie Haubold gathered and analyzed the source material. I turned their research and Indiana’s technical abatement rules into documents the county could use.
What I made: A two-part manual for one system. Part One is a technical Policymaker Guide covering statutory authority, two 100-point scoring matrices, compliance filings, and tiered clawbacks. Part Two explains the identical system in plain English for town officials who do not work in tax incentives every day. The companion report documents the research and recommendation.
Outcome: The county received a consistent framework it could explain, defend, and apply the same way twice. The work was completed for Marcee, President of the Owen County Chamber of Commerce, with Reese Brimm, Kaleb Ford, and Katie Haubold.

Source documents

Tax Abatement Manual Policy report

Impact storytelling & honest accounting

End-of-Service Report

Impact I contributed to but did not own, reported without inflating it.

Context: Outgoing officeholders write farewell letters. Farewell letters flatter. I wanted to leave a record that could be checked—and one that did not blur a bill passed, money allocated, advocacy conducted, and a student’s life actually changing into the same claim.
My role: After three years in Congress, I wrote a public accounting rather than a victory lap. I held five categories apart: legislation passed, funding secured, advocacy conducted, partnerships developed, and outcomes actually implemented.
What I made: A long-form report with a record-at-a-glance table, a substantive ‘What Did Not Succeed’ section, and eight unfinished projects handed forward. The featured PrEP update applies the same discipline to funding: $10,819 appropriated; up to $7,181 authorized but contingent; $18,000 as a ceiling, not a guarantee. CEA 1006 was co-authored with Mr. Savarese.
Outcome: This is the genre a grantmaker’s annual report and learning brief live in. As the report says: “I would rather write that now than let the record flatter me later.”

Source documents

End-of-Service Report PrEP constituent update PrEP Access Pilot Act — co-authored with Mr. Savarese

Brand & communications systems

OCE Lab communications system

A communications function designed to outlast the person who built it.

Context: The Observing Civic Engagement Lab had strong research and no established public communications function. Its identity, voice, visual standards, accessibility requirements, and publishing decisions needed to become consistent across people and platforms.
My role: As Communications Lead, I built the system from the ground up, ran it day to day, and documented it for future team members.
What I made: A practical brand guide covering voice, naming, color, typography, accessibility, photography, review, and compliance—plus a CMS onboarding guide that turns the editorial and publishing workflow into a repeatable handoff.
Outcome: Established a communications function and helped grow the Lab from a zero digital baseline to 10,000+ views, 3,600 reach, 600+ profile visits, and 300+ interactions across three platforms.

Source documents

OCE Lab brand guide Website training guide Visit OCE Lab

Additional legislation

Available to read.

CEA 1001 · Peer Wins Report Act

Requires IUSG’s Big Ten liaison to report bimonthly on what peer student governments have done and what is adaptable at IU. It institutionalizes learning across peers instead of starting from scratch.

Read the full document

C.J. Res. 13 · Immigration enforcement resolution

Restricts IUSG funds and official capacity from assisting federal civil immigration enforcement except where required by law, and requires a plain-language resource explaining judicial warrants, subpoenas, administrative warrants, and detainers.

Read the full document

Original commentary · field note

Civic engagement is infrastructure before it is attendance.

We often measure civic life by who showed up. That matters, but it is a late-stage measure. Participation depends first on whether people can find the meeting, trust the organizer, understand the stakes, and believe their time will change something. Communications is not decoration around that process. It is part of the infrastructure that makes participation possible.

Louis Gallegos · July 2026