Community Education and Policy Associate

(she/her)

A queer feminist and Maryland transplant, I have lived with my wife, Leah, in Jamaica Plain since 2013. We currently cohabitate with two cats, Bartleby and Rutherford.

I took a circuitous route to community organizing, working as a pastry chef for 12 years before returning to school for dual Masters in Gender/Cultural Studies and Public Policy. Working in the hospitality industry gave me the opportunity to work alongside and learn from the hardest working individuals I have had the privilege to meet. It was specifically working with undocumented communities navigating exclusionary immigration policies that I was inspired to pursue graduate school. Being a systems-focused thinker, I craved the tools to understand these policies and the lens through which to reform them.

Choosing an academic program that layered critical theory over policy analysis my graduate work focused on grassroots organizing and proactive policy solutions that prioritize community resilience for under-resourced communities. I applied feminist, queer, and indigenous methodologies to a traditional policy lens in order to examine the trauma of resource extraction and the subsequent Rights of Nature movement. In my thesis, I examined the intersectional impact of the housing and climate crises on Boston communities and my policy recommendations moved beyond segmented and reactive responses and demanded more holistic and community-centric solutions. Central to this project was my work with BCAN! BCAN’s commitment to coalition-building and urgent action on the climate crisis has illustrated the power of collective action. I am privileged to work alongside such a warm and committed group of activists.