My parents also truly valued community. Our town was managed by a Board of Selectmen and volunteer committees. My father served on the finance committee and my mother on the library board. Democracy happened in our living room when neighbors gathered to debate school funding, the zoning commission and the budget. My father served multiple terms as First Selectman, and the thrill I felt watching a community come together to shape its future – it’s something I’ve carried with me ever since.

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After high school, loans and scholarships helped get me to Brown University. I remember my first week in Providence walking to the Avon – you could just walk to a movie! I still marvel at our city’s walkability, and I walk every day to explore Providence (and yes, I think about sidewalk repair!). I have walked every single street in Ward 2, which is one reason I’m excited to knock on doors and introduce myself to you and your neighbors. If I’m lucky enough to service as your councilor, I’ll keep walking through our neighborhoods – not just during elections, but every day.

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After Brown I worked with Ted Sizer, an education professor from the East Side who took his philosophy of democratic, equitable schools and built a national network, the Coalition of Essential Schools. After earning a master’s degree from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, I spent the early part of my career in San Francisco teaching, helping lead this network, and advocating for rigorous student-centered public education.
 

When our own kids were small, my husband Kevin and I chose to return to Providence. We loved its incredible history, food, and diversity. And, of course, we loved that we could afford to buy a house. I’m not sure we could if we were a young family moving here now. Many neighbors are struggling with affordability. My family certainly is. Our son has a great full-time job in green energy, but is living with us because rent is so high.

 

And it’s not just housing. Even in neighborhoods as great as ours, things are a lot harder than they should be for too many of us. I get emotional thinking if the stressful conversations Kevin and I have had over the years, figuring out how we were going to afford to send our kids to college. I’m in this race because I think we’d benefit from more public officials who know what it is like to have hard conversations about what matters most.

 

Our three kids – Elias, Leo, and Henry – attended the Providence Public Schools, first MLK Elementary, then Nathan Bishop Middle School, and then Classical High School. Like a lot of parents, I spent hours volunteering in classrooms and organizing with other families to make our kids’ schools better. I remember laughing with Leo because his friends saw me at school so often they thought I was a teacher. I stepped up to help lead the MLK, Bishop, and Classical parent organizations as we advocated for more diverse and better family engagement, and I represented parents on a superintendent selection committee and other district-level groups.
 

But sometimes supporting our schools means fighting for our kids. When the city wanted to close Nathan Bishop Middle School, I joined a group of neighbors, led by Sam Zurier, who were organizing to keep our neighborhood school. It took two years, but we didn’t just save Bishop – we helped reinvent it. We worked with architects and educators to make sure the renovation would serve our community. We pushed to open the school gradually, adding a grade a year and allowing teachers to build a strong culture. We stood up for our neighborhood. And when budget cuts threatened more school closures across the city, I helped organize meetings so parents from every neighborhood could be heard. We didn’t win every fight, but we made sure decision makers understood how their choices affected families.

For six years, my column for East Side Monthly shared stories from our schools, which face serious obstacles and also offer classmates from dozens of countries, teachers who believe in every child, and a chance to grow up understanding the world is bigger than any one neighborhood. Today, Providence doesn’t control our schools or their budget. A top priority for the City Council will be advocating for our kids and families in the return to local control. We need leaders who know our schools and have fought for them.

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I’ve been active in our community in other ways, too – as a board member at Temple Emanu-el and the JCC, as Fox Point East Side Little League parent, and as a founding member of the Sessions Street Community Garden. For the last six years I’ve worked for the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council, where I’ve fought for clean water, green space, and climate resilience in our city. We’ve brought diverse stakeholders together to secure millions of dollars for sustainable, green development in some of Providence’s most economically challenged neighborhoods, like Olneyville. Along the way I’ve worked with the City Council and numerous city departments, managed complex grants and budgets, and effectively lobbied the city and state to strengthen environmental programs. I know how difficult it can be to win change at City Hall, but I’ve also seen that it can be done.​