Originally from Northern California I moved to Portland in 2000 for work and to be closer to friends and family. I have come to treasure the beauty and variety of the environment and people of the Northwest. I am a grateful employee of the American Red Cross for the past 25 years. During those years I have had opportunities for in-depth learning in business management, leadership, finances, employee engagement, problem solving and root cause analysis.
I graduated from the University of Wisconsin at Madison with a baccalaureate degree in English Language, Linguistics, Literature and have a soft spot for communication: books, podcasts, public speaking, etc.
I have been involved with Toastmasters International, an organization that teaches communication and leadership skills, since 2014 and have supported the Rose City Toasters club at Columbia River Correctional Institution since 2017. To say I was inspired by my involvement with Rose City Toasters would be a massive understatement. The experience opened my eyes to the tremendous need for programs in our prisons and how appreciative the men were for the support and encouragement of the program.
I am somewhat ‘new’ to what goes on in our justice system, and what I see concerns me deeply. I have dear friends both in the system and released from its hold and I see the ways it fails not just them but those around them.
My goal with Oregon CURE is to learn and understand how I can use my skills and heartfelt beliefs about our broken system to bring about positive change.
Outside of work, I am a peer wellness mentor with The Insight Alliance and a regular volunteer with Blanchet House in Portland. I have a niece and nephew that I adore, and a cat named Milo that is somewhat maladjusted, and I cannot guarantee that he won’t attempt to shred your face if you try to touch him. Yet I adore him as well.