Bringing more than two decades of nonprofit, government, and management experience to MY ROLE AS COMMISSIONER

As County Commissioner, I work to build consensus on policies and programs that help improve the lives of our working families and individuals.

Over the past few years, I’ve leveraged my relationships with leaders across the state, my experience in politics, non-profit leadership, and human services as a foundation for my role in Summit County Government.

Summit County is an incredible place. It’s also a challenging place to live. Removing the barriers to livability was my goal—and my career— long before I decided to run for Commissioner.

Tackling the high cost of health insurance in Summit County was a focus of leaders around the County. I was proud to be the founding CEO of Peak Health Alliance, a first-of-its-kind approach to health insurance. The unique collaborative between insurers and providers helped lower the cost of health insurance for local families and individuals by more than 20% and served 8 counties across the state.

As the Executive Director of the Family and Intercultural Resource Center (FIRC), I worked on a wide variety of human service and workforce issues and successfully grew the budget from 750,000 dollars to 5 million dollars while increasing the staff from 7-50.

While the county has grown in population and popularity, so did its needs. I helped incubate the Building Hope Program, a vital resource now in its fourth year in Summit County; started the Housing Works Initiative (adding more than 30 long term rentals to Summit’s bed base); worked on a variety of issues related to emergency financial assistance, and worked to start the Summit Prosperity Initiative in coordination with the Summit Chamber of Commerce. I also co-chaired the successful 1A for Summit campaign, now known as Strong Future, which was passed by voters in 2018 to fund recycling, childcare, wildfire mitigation, and mental health.

Prior to moving to Summit County, I served as staff to Maine Governor John Baldacci, Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean and the Maine State Senate. I also served as Deputy Director of Wisconsin Citizen Action, Wisconsin’s largest public advocacy nonprofit organization where I was instrumental in involving Wisconsin citizens in developing legislation in the areas of health care, economic development and education.

A graduate of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, I hold a Master’s Degree in Non-profit Management from Regis University.

Lastly, I’m a resident of Dillon Valley with my daughter Aila, twins Anja and Graham, and our dog Derby.