I grew up in a small town in rural Washington State, and then attended the University of Puget Sound where I studied computer science and math. In 1997, as a new college graduate, I moved to Chicago, worked in Information Technology at the Art Institute, and attended graduate school at UIC.

I moved to Oak Park in 2009 with my husband and my two-year-old daughter. At that time, I was a new Assistant Professor of Economics at Dominican University in River Forest, and my husband, Mark, and I were thrilled to be able to purchase a small home in the Longfellow neighborhood, close to my job at Dominican and a short train trip to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where Mark is a member of the faculty. Like many young families in our community, we moved to Oak Park for the schools, parks and libraries. With a growing (and growing up) family, we moved to north Oak Park in 2020. As a two-non-profit-job family, we feel the effect of our property taxes on our household budget, but make it work because we value the community resources, wonderful neighbors, and opportunities that living here provides.

We're a public-school family for the most part. I graduated as valedictorian of my high school class of 30 students, and my husband attended public schools in suburban Philadelphia. Our daughters are now a senior and a freshman at OPRF. Our older daughter attended Longfellow, Julian, and OPRF, our younger child started at Longfellow and then spent her middle school years at St. Giles School. And, we homeschooled her for a year during the pandemic. All of this to say, as a parent, I bring a broad perspective on education options in Oak Park, and the various paths that kids and families take to OPRF.

As Dominican’s Associate Provost, I focus on academic budgets, student academic success initiatives, strategic planning, faculty reviews, shared governance, assessment and professional accreditations. I am also charged with coordinating and uplifting faculty efforts to integrate equity and social justice in the curriculum. All of this work is informed by my training as an economist. I teach my students that economics is the science of decision-making under conditions of scarcity. I will bring my practical experience and my academic background to the board, taking a data-informed approach to planning and governance.

As my children are getting older, I am reflecting on how I can deepen my contributions to our community. I am passionate about public education, and see service on the D200 board as a way to leverage my professional experience to serve our community and provide stewardship for the incredible resource that is OPRF.