My Story
I am a single, working mother, anti-violence leader, educator, and renter. I’ve called Greenpoint home for 17 years, and am proud to be raising my 12-year-old son here. I know firsthand how hard it is to make ends meet. Housing prices continue to skyrocket even while our schools are underfunded and our beloved small businesses struggle to keep their doors open. Our environment, burdened by decades of divestment and pollution, is far behind its clean-up schedule. A direct result is the inadvertently high rate of asthma in our community, something that my own son endures.
I’m running to ensure that the 50th Assembly District is a place where everyone can afford a safe and healthy place to call home, every child receives a quality education, and small businesses and entrepreneurs can thrive. If elected, I will use my decades of personal and professional experience in education, advocacy, and leadership to build coalitions with legislators in Albany and bring much-needed resources to Greenpoint and North and South Williamsburg. For 26 years I’ve dedicated my professional and volunteer work to education as a public school teacher, in education publishing, and most recently in school violence prevention. In 2017, I ran the New York Marathon for and began volunteering with the national nonprofit, Sandy Hook Promise. In 2018, I brought their Start With Hello program to NYC Public School 31 and School District 14. In 2019, I was recruited to work for the organization, most recently as Associate Vice President of the Say Something Anonymous Reporting System.
I was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1971, to working-class parents. My mother was an aesthetician and volunteer English tutor. My father attended the Culinary Institute of America and worked as a chef and caterer, and eventually a building contractor. I earned a BFA in creative writing from Emerson College and an M.Ed. in education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. More recently, I earned a certificate in leadership from the UC Davis School of Business. I am also a trained mediator and hold a certificate from Phoenix Dispute Resolutions. Having dedicated my life to ensuring kids have a bright future, I want to bring that mom energy to Albany to guarantee that all North Brooklyn residents have a say in deciding our collective future as a community.