About

I live in Chicago and work as an analyst at the Center for Radical Innovation for Social Change ​(RISC), a nonprofit incubator founded by Freakonomics co-author Steven Levitt. At RISC, I ​lead Project Donor, a nonprofit founded at RISC that helps living organ donors achieve ​transplant eligibility and pilots novel interventions in the living donor space.


I graduated magna cum laude from the University of Chicago in 2022 with degrees in ​Economics and Environmental & Urban Studies with Honors. While there, I served as editor-​in-chief of UChicago’s independent student newspaper, The Chicago Maroon. In my free ​time, I write poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction. My work has been selected for the Best ​Microfiction anthology and nominated for the Best of the Net and a Pushcart Prize. I love ​swimming in Lake Michigan and spoiling my cat, Marlowe (pictured above).





Plain Envelope Line Style
Instagram Outline Logo
Flat Fill Twitter Icon
Black Official LinkedIn Logo

Current Work

I currently lead Project Donor, a nonprofit housed at UChicago's Center for RISC. ​Project Donor is devoted to improving the American living organ donation system, both ​by easing the process for prospective donors and by implementing system-wide reforms ​to benefit donors, transplant centers, and recipients. Project Donor works with over 400 ​would-be kidney and liver donors who have been rejected from donating due to BMI or ​cigarette use. We provide free weight loss, smoking cessation, and emotional support ​resources, as well as logistical and material support on the path to donation.


In April 2024, my team completed a report mapping the national kidney donation system ​and proposing a series of behavioral, institutional, and policy interventions to simplify ​the living donation bureaucracy and increase the proportion of willing donors who are ​able to give this extraordinary gift to a loved one or stranger.


At RISC, I also work on exploratory projects: nascent ideas for unexpected solutions to ​big problems. Today, I’m researching potential interventions related to animal welfare ​and futures markets for social good.


I am currently applying to law school. As an attorney, I hope to return to my ​undergraduate research interest in strategic environmental justice litigation by bringing ​suits at the intersection of climate change and civil liberties.




Selected Nonfiction

Journalism:

South Side Weekly - Profile of Jamie Kalven, Chicago's 'guerrilla journalist' (w/ Emma Jannssen)

The Chicago Maroon - The decades-long battle over Hyde Park's Promontory Point

The Chicago Maroon - First-ever Maroon Sustainability Issue

The Chicago Maroon - Profile of the Reverend Jesse Jackson, Chicago's Living Civil Rights Icon

The Chicago Maroon - Coverage of Hyde Park Police Shooting in January 2022

The Chicago Maroon - Essential Special Issue: Essential Workers at UChicago

The Hyde Park Herald -The Garden of the Phoenix: A hidden gem with a long history

The South Side Weekly - Interview with the author and illustrator of BTTM FDRS: A graphic novel


Advocacy:

The Center for RISC - Living Organ Donation: Challenges and Opportunities

ClimateLinks for USAID - Plastic is a Climate Issue, Too

ClimateLinks for USAID - Nigerian Youth Innovate for a Clean Energy Future

The French Consulate in Chicago - Spotlight: Plastics and Human Health

Radio Waves: An audio series on youth water advocates (funded by UChicago's College Summer ​Institute)

UChicago Environmental Frontiers - Plan for 15% Reduction in Campus Water Use (internal use only)

Planet Radio - NoMoreMermaidTears interview

Project AZU - Youth Environmental Leaders Interview


Academic Works:
















Selected Poetry and Fiction


2024:

Not My Style - Up is then thunder and Make-believe lightning

hex - The aphid underground and On living your best life


2023

PRISM International - We all start from the same place and grow from there and This is the story about ​the girl who gets lost in the woods (print only)

HAD - Froggy Lives Forever and Desert Stories

Red Ogre Review - What I think will happen next and In the sound hole

Gone Lawn - Greenwashing: A Love Story and On blurry nights...

Atlas & Alice - Silhouette (Wigleaf Top 50 2024)

hex - Yarnidermis (selected for the Best Microfiction anthology)


2022

Olney - A Little Further

Buffalo buffalo buffalo - Seven Invasions (with Evan Williams)

Variant Lit - Moses in Retirement (nominated for a Pushcart Prize)

HAD - Feeling small, (with Evan Williams)

EcoTheo - urban heat, Natural Body, and The trouble with the city (print only)

hex - The Brains (nominated for the Best of the Net and Best Microfiction anthologies)

Cool Rock Repository - Three Saints

















RUBY RORTY

(831)246-1522

rubyannrorty@gmail.com

EDUCATION

The University of Chicago

GPA 3.86/4.00

B.A. Economics B.A. Environmental & Urban Studies with Honors

2018-2022

Magna cum laude

National Merit Scholar, Provost’s Scholar, Dean’s List 2019-2020, 2021-2022


Honors and awards:

WSJ Noted Scholar, Frizzell Student Honoree, Environmental Justice Grant Awardee 2021 Chicago Studies Thesis Award


Work Experience

Project Lead

Project Donor

June 2023-Present

  • Oversee operations, development, and strategy for a nonprofit serving 200+ living organ donor candidates and 30+ transplant centers. Conceive of and pilot behavioral, policy, and institutional interventions to improve America’s living organ donation system, including most recently early-process cash transfers and concierge eligibility testing services.

Analyst

Center for RISC at the University of Chicago

January 2023-Present

  • Research and implement innovative projects for social good, including a program to increase the supply of living kidney and liver donors, an ongoing investigation into alternatives to Portland cement, and a nascent project focused on implementing effective mental health care in public high schools.

Intake Specialist

ACLU of the District of Columbia

September 2022-Present

  • Investigate and evaluate the cases of individuals who seek legal help from the D.C. ACLU
  • Work with attorneys to evaluate the legal strength and potential impact of purported civil liberties violations

Climate Finance Action

Campaign Stategy Intern

June 2022-September 2022

  • Crafted strategy for divestment of the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) from fossil fuels. Lobbied TSP members, President Biden, and EPA administrators to divest and declare a climate emergency
  • Created educational climate finance webinars, authored petitions, drafted press releases and social media strategy
  • Conducted legal and policy research for the TSP Fossil Fuel campaign and the office of Senator Dick Durbin on the projected impacts of the Supreme Court’s (then forthcoming) ruling in Sackett v. EPA

Chicago-based Environmental Justice Researcher

Independent grant-funded research

June 2021 - Present

  • Received $9,000 in university funding to conduct a research project on environmental justice (EJ) in Chicago. Interviewed legal experts and plaintiffs, analyzed case law, and reassessed historical legal scholarship on U.S. EJ litigation strategy in order to develop strategic recommendations. Research currently under review for publication in Consilience at Columbia
  • Continued project as a B.A. thesis on the grassroots movement to avert an attempted relocation of a metal shredding plant to Chicago’s Southeast Side. The resulting sociolegal thesis was granted honors and awarded the University of Chicago’s Chicago Thesis Prize for its multidisciplinary engagement and forward-looking legal recommendations
  • Continues to investigate local EJ issues as a freelancer for local papers like the South Side Weekly and Hyde Park Herald

Climate Justice Through the Courts

Legal Research Assistant

July 2021 - Present

  • Conducted sociolegal research on international climate justice litigation under the mentorship of Dr. Margaretha Wewerinke at Leiden University. Built case timelines, analyzed media coverage, and projected future rulings based on precedent
  • Currently co-authoring chapter on restitution and resolution in international climate litigation. Edited chapters of the forthcoming Judicial Handbook on Climate Litigation, a forthcoming manual on best practices in climate judicial practice

The Chicago Maroon

Editor-in-Chief

February 2021-February 2022

  • Managed more than 100 student journalists, illustrators, and editors to produce award-winning coverage as editorial head of the University of Chicago’s independent, student-led weekly newspaper
  • Created first-ever Sustainability Special Issue, curating reporting and commentary on sustainability in the city and on campus
  • Executive decision-maker for all aspects of the paper, including hiring, internal policy, budget, etc.
  • Wrote in-depth investigative journalism, including a profile of Jesse Jackson and a history of Hyde Park's lakeside

The Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation

Jeff Metcalf Research Fellow

June 2020-September 2020

  • Conducted cost-benefit analysis on water-saving strategies and created a plan to achieve 15% campus water-use reduction by 2025. Presented research and plan to key University stakeholders as a prioritized list of cost-effective interventions
  • Monitored UChicago’s water use against comparable institutions and created accessible graphics for sustainability

Technical Skills: Advanced in InDesign, Vanguard, Microsoft Suite | Experience with R, Julia, Tableau, GIS, MATLAB


Hand Drawn Vector of Orca.
Hand Drawn Vector of Orca.
Hand Drawn Vector of Orca.
Hand Drawn Vector of Orca.
Hand Drawn Vector of Orca.
Hand Drawn Vector of Orca.