I’m a small business owner, neighborhood advocate, and lifelong community organizer, and I’m committed to creating a stronger, more connected Morgantown. My husband, Tim, and I moved to Greenmont six years ago and have quickly fallen in love with the community and our neighbors’ passion to revitalize the area.

I learned early on the importance of standing up for what’s right from my mother, a dedicated teacher and union activist. Throughout my childhood, she went on strike multiple times to fight for better pay, affordable healthcare, and respect for educators. I vividly remember standing by her side on the picket lines. Such experiences shaped me, and taught me fairness, advocacy, and action.

I cultivated these values through my own experiences through community service projects with my Girl Scout troop, which continued throughout high school, then to volunteering with the organization over the next five years to pass my knowledge on to future Girl Scouts. My passion for animal rights led me to volunteer with the Humane Society to help pass California’s Proposition 12 in 2017. I gathered the second-most number of signatures in the state in support of Prop 12, which led to a full-time outreach position first with the Human League and then with Animal Equality. Working with so many like-minded peers to pass such an important piece of legislation is one of my proudest accomplishments, because it shows the power of grassroots activism. 

In the six years I’ve lived here in Morgantown, I have actively sought out similar civic engagement. I’ve been a member of the Greenmont Neighborhood Association for three years, and currently serve as co-chair, working on community-driven projects and neighborhood revitalization efforts. I have also advocated for our neighborhood at city council meetings. Most recently, I have actively engaged with the Morgantown Land Reuse and Preservation Agency to release funds for a beautification project to convert blighted properties on Pennsylvania Ave into green space. Our next goal with the Agency is to revitalize existing homes in lower Greenmont before they fall into further disrepair, then convert them into affordable housing.

I have firsthand experience with the challenges of navigating our city’s policies and processes as a small business owner as well. I’ve built my pet-sitting business from the ground up, earning over 400 five-star reviews while navigating the realities of running and growing a business. Our zoning and permitting processes as well as city regulations are not always transparent, which makes creating and sustaining a business harder than it needs to be. I know what small businesses need from the city to thrive, and I want to make it easier for them to do so.