First elected: November 2023
Term: November 2023 - November 2027
2024 Council Assignments
- DRCOG - Denver Regional Council of Governments and Jeffco Collaborative Transportation Forum (pursuant to IGA) - Alternate
- Housing Advisory Policy Commission
- Judges Salary Committee
- Lakewood Reinvestment Authority Board
- Learn more about Council committees
Profile
How long have you lived in Lakewood?
6 years
What motivated you to enter public service?
I find joy bringing people together to solve problems. It’s often difficult, but also deeply satisfying. Government can be maddeningly imperfect, but it’s our best tool for banding together to take on thorny collective challenges. I’ve spent most of my career working to bring people together to solve problems across multiple levels of government. I truly believe in our potential to make the world a better place through public service - and also, how easily we can screw stuff up when we take the wrong approach. I’m passionate about doing all we can to do the first and avoid the second!
My partner Michael and I live in the Belmar area, and we love this neighborhood. I was born and raised in Denver; much of my family lives around here. I have a nephew and two nieces in Lakewood and Denver, and I worry about the world we are leaving them. Local government isn’t glamorous, but I’m excited to represent our community and help make Lakewood a little safer, cleaner, fairer and more sustainable for their generation.
What issues are you most passionate about?
My work in government and the nonprofit sector has made me passionate about equal opportunity. In Lakewood, in Colorado and in America, everyone deserves a fair shot at building a career, a home, a family and a community that brings them joy. Injustice - systems or policies that prevent people from doing that - drive me crazy. I want to fight to do right by the most vulnerable folks in our community, and pursue fact- and data-based strategies to make sure these folks don’t slip through the cracks. (I am sometimes disturbed that these days, a fact- and data-based approach to government is more radical than it should be!) Colorado and Lakewood are such special places - I want us to do a better job of meeting today’s historic challenges, and leave our kids and grandkids a better, safer, cleaner, fairer world.
On city council, I’m committed to fighting for:
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More affordable, attainable housing, so we don’t price teachers, nurses, first responders and seniors out of Lakewood.
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Approaches and services to prevent homelessness and help connect our unhoused neighbors with effective services and housing, while saving taxpayer money in the long term;
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An evidence-based strategy to prevent and reduce crime, focused on prevention rather than more jails;
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Local, federal and state resources to make Lakewood more sustainable, preserving our parks and open spaces, reducing our carbon footprint, and making Lakewood more transit-oriented, more walkable and more bikeable, with more connected bike trails;
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Supporting local small businesses and effective workforce development strategies;
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Leading with our values of inclusion and respect, building consensus, and disagreeing without being disagreeable
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I love to relax with my partner Michael and enjoy all the great things Lakewood has to offer. I’m currently preparing for a half marathon; I love running through more and more of Lakewood’s beautiful parks as I work up to 13 miles! I love spending time with my family, including one nephew and three nieces in the Denver/metro area. Michael and I love dinners and breakfasts out at the many yummy local restaurants in Belmar, Ward 3, and Lakewood. I enjoy catching up with friends, reading, listening to podcasts, learning about wonky policy areas, playing poker and watching movies with Michael (he likes horror - I prefer rom-coms and historical dramas).
What is your professional and/or educational background?
I grew up in Denver and graduated from George Washington High School in Denver. I have a BA and a Master’s in Public Affairs (MPA), reflecting my passion for public policy. I run a small nonprofit, the Colorado Equitable Economic Mobility Initiative (CEEMI). We help job-training programs that work (backed by data that they connect Coloradans with good-paying jobs) expand to serve more learners.
Before that, I launched Colorado state-funded programs that provide services for youth proven to reduce violent crime, and a program for foster youth enrolled in Jeffco Public Schools that measurably improved their educational outcomes. I also helped support the Community Economic Defense Project, which has provided rental assistance and eviction legal defense to over 30,000 Coloradans.
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