I’m a mother of four children, three currently enrolled in the Lakewood City Schools and a lifelong Lakewood Resident. I’m also a product of the Lakewood Schools, as are my husband, my parents, my in-laws, our brothers and many of our aunts, uncles and cousins. My husband’s grandfather graduated from Lakewood High in 1945, making our children fourth generation Rangers. To put it simply, we are entrenched in and massive advocates of the Lakewood Public Schools: our house bleeds purple and gold.

I have spent the past twenty years working at American Greetings in various departments, roles and functions. I have spent the last ten years in sales, and currently serve in a Sales Director role, leading a team of twelve sales reps responsible for $60M in total revenue. My current responsibilities include strategic planning, contract negotiations, budget management, training and development as well as change management and process improvement. In every role I’ve held I have always been a business analyst in some capacity – for my fellow excel enthusiasts, I love a book of raw data. I use data every single day in my job to inform my decision making, to interact with my partners across the company, and to address customer needs and inform strategic planning.

Being able to digest, analyze and interpret data is critical in today’s world – without those skills you must substitute your own judgement for someone else’s when making critical decisions. It is also extremely important to understand the ways in which data can be manipulated to either paint a big picture, or conversely used to justify a single point of view.

If elected I would bring a fresh perspective to the Board of Education. With a critical eye towards finances, strategic planning and process improvement, I hope to help the Lakewood City School District navigate these uncertain times in public education. While public schools are being attacked by radical politicians at both the state and federal level, now more than ever we need strong leadership and creative, strategic thinking to weather the storm while preserving this sacred institution.