I am a fourth generation Tucsonan raised in a family that had a construction company. That company had a slogan that you would see on a poster on the building site where construction was happening – “Pardon us while we build a better Tucson.” The patriarch of our family really lived that slogan, with civic involvement well beyond business, and I learned so much from him. I believe we are the sum of our experiences and having the early childhood experiences I did embedded in me a need to continue to build a better Tucson.

I am a mom to two teens and a wife to an amazing husband. I am a designer and I am always curious about function and process, how processes fit together into larger systems, and how to create a healthy sustainable system. As I have managed projects and programs, I have found data is a valuable variable in informing processes, but the actual human beings are the ones that drive a final decision. I have also found that for all the things I have worked to change or inform, there is not anything as vital or essential as our children. With that said, it is a shockingly short amount of time we give our kids in our educational system, and shockingly immense efforts we expect from that system.

The work that Higher Ground is doing is immense and powerful in making an impact in family’s lives – by supporting the children where they are. To keep doing this work sustainably, Higher Ground recognizes the need for establishing a coalition of stakeholders from the private and public sector. As the Coalition Project Director, I am tasked with developing this group of supporters. Rolling up my sleeves and driving this effort forward with this incredible team is exactly how I want to Build a Better Tucson.