The daughter of two public school teachers, I grew up in the diverse and vibrant city of Houston, Texas. I earned a BA from Southwestern University and a MA and PhD in Political Science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. I moved to Somerville in 2004 and have been lucky to be here ever since. Somerville is where I met my husband Peter, who works for a community solar company, and where we welcomed our daughter Ruthie to our family in 2015.

For the past decade, I have taught in the Gender, Leadership & Public Policy Program at UMass Boston. I am a proud member of the Massachusetts Teachers Association. Before teaching, I was the executive director of the Women’s Institute for Leadership Development, working to support women’s leadership in the Massachusetts labor movement. I came to that position from working as an organizer for the United Food and Commercial Workers union (UFCW).

Throughout my life, I have been an activist and advocate for climate justice, immigrant rights and economic justice. In recent years I have also been active in the Somerville Public Schools. I am driven by connecting people with one another and with solutions to the collective problems we face, to make our lives better together.