Empowering Our Community Together

Why I'm Running

As a white woman, my social location affords me privileges in housing, employment, and civic participation. Indeed, it supports my ability to run for a position on the Town Council. I am also a daughter, mother, wife, social worker and friend. These life experiences have shaped my view of the social justice work I do. I have learned through community organizing to center the voices of people most impacted by a problem when working toward a solution. I would bring this perspective to my work on the council.

I chose to run again because I am infuriated with the federal administration’s blatant disregard for human and civil rights. I don’t want to see poor policy choices replicated at the local level. As a town councilor, my responsibility lies with the residents of the town, not the university administrators, corporate developers, or elite class. I hope to represent the interests of young families, workers and groups traditionally marginalized by the government as we work to build a safe, equitable Amherst for all.

About Me

Before I moved to Amherst (and later Leverett) as a teenager in 2001, my family had moved around a number of times. Amherst was the first place that immediately felt like home to me. I loved the vibrant “uptown” with the Carriage Shops, restaurants and record stores. I attended many cultural events at the local higher education institutions with my art historian parents, and delighted in the groundbreaking of the Eric Carle Museum where my father was the Founding Director. I appreciated the multicultural community of the town.

I graduated from Amherst Regional High School and went to college in Redlands, California. Post college, I moved to Boston with two high school friends, where I completed my Masters in Social Work at Simmons.

In 2013, I married my husband at the Eric Carle Museum, planting the seed for our life together. We decided to return to Amherst in 2018, when our first child was 2 years old. Since then, we have welcomed another child. We have enjoyed local hiking trails and swimming holes, playgrounds and events on the common together, taking in all Amherst has to offer. We have enjoyed being part of the Wildwood school community and connecting with other families.

In 2020, I found a group of likeminded people organizing to redistribute town funds from police to alternative public safety solutions which are non-coercive and non-punitive. I became familiar with how the town budget works, and have been attending town council meetings regularly since then. We organized a Know Your Rights training, People’s Budget forums, and teach-ins. I have also organized with other parents supporting teachers and paraeducators in their contract negotiations, as well as advocating to the school committee and town council for budgets that meet the needs of our students.

I have also joined two town committees, the Amherst Municipal Affordable Housing Trust and the Community Safety and Social Justice Committee, of which I am co-chair. I have witnessed how committees interact with the council, and have pushed for action on issues surrounding social justice- including fully funding Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service and establishing a Youth Empowerment Center.

Much of my previous work experience has given me the skills and perspective to be an engaging and successful Town Councilor. Early in my career, as an intern at Tapestry Health’s harm reduction program in Springfield, I had my first immersion in “meeting people where they are” and I continue to engage with people in this way, no matter where I meet them. This experience motivated me to become a social worker.

I then studied abroad in Valparaiso, Chile, where I volunteered at a day treatment program for people with various mental health diagnoses. Being immersed in another culture and language taught me humility, and how to consider issues from a different perspective.

When I returned to college, I interned with youth at the local alternative high school’s teen parent program. Initially, I had an idea to discuss reproductive Justice with the young people, but after listening to their stories and the stigma they faced, we collaborated on a multimedia presentation about combatting negative stereotypes. This experience helped me become more flexible.

After college, I worked at a housing non-profit in Boston. In 2009, I helped design and implement the agency’s stimulus program— providing rental assistance to people who were unemployed and in unsubsidized housing. This experience enhanced my program and policy development skills.

My clinical experience has involved incarcerated adolescents and women, people who use substances and families experiencing trauma. I am often seeing people in crisis, and listening and holding space for discomfort have been important tools. Drawing from these experiences would allow me to be effective as a councilor.