My roots are on the East Side. I was born at St. John’s Hospital and spent my early years in the Payne – Phalen neighborhood, where my grandparents and much of my extended family lived most of their lives. My parents later moved to and raised our family in the Beaver Lake Heights neighborhood. I have wonderful memories of fishing at Beaver Lake, playing and ice-skating at Hazel Park and Conway playgrounds, and walking to the Minnehaha drive-in to watch movies with no sound!

Over the past thirty years, I have been active and have volunteered in church, with the Girl Scouts, in my children’s schools, and with youth athletics. I currently work full-time as a Contract Administrator for a non-profit organization that has a mission to make higher education available to all, to help people pay back their student loans, and to promote financial well-being and quality of life.

My first volunteer experience with the East Side Elders in the summer of 2021 was so rewarding that I joined the board a few months later.