PROFESSIONAL:
- worked for President Obama’s mentor
- convinced PBS Turning Point documentary series producers to do a tremendously moving episode about my boss at Domus, Mike Duggan
- worked on youth and education issues for the man who retired as the governor of my adopted state of Connecticut and is now chancellor of the University of Maine system
- wrote speeches for (winning and losing) political candidates as well as young people telling their stories of overcoming adversity
- helped a phenomenal nonprofit go from raising $0 annually in private funds to over $6M when I left
- selected to attend an intensive week-long Democratic National Committee’s campaign manager training (which built organizational and critical-thinking skills I’ve used in every job afterwards)
- received the 2016 Award for Outstanding Fundraising Professional from the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) CT and Fairfield County CT Chapters
- hired and trained five grantwriters, four of whom were excellent colleagues, skilled professionals, and have remained my friends (hey, you can’t win ’em all)
PERSONAL:
- grew up on a series of farms, where you’d better be mindful of your surroundings if you don’t want to get hurt
- actively mentored a young woman for a decade (we’re still in touch 18 years later)
- published several pieces of fiction writing, including a contest-winning piece of short fiction
- was a high school principal’s daughter
- went dogsledding in Norway inside the Arctic Circle
- lived in France in 2008 as a Rotary International Cultural Ambassadorial Scholar to learn the culture and the language
- won a college chemistry contest as a high school junior
- quilted with three generations of my mom’s family
- bungee jumped
- apprenticed and became a skilled wood chiseler
- patrolled the Mississippi River during the Great Flood of 1993 identifying weak spots on one of the world’s largest levee systems
- volunteered to help ESL kids learn to read English
- learned the Texas Two Step at a barn dance in the middle of nowhere on Spring Break
- was a bunny mom to Domus’ therapy rabbit, Hoppers
- talked my way onto the roof of the Illinois State Capitol to view the 4th of July fireworks (which was a big no-no, slightly dangerous, and very memorable)
I was raised by a practical, determined Midwestern woman who randomly met and married an Italian man from New Jersey. I hope my mom was right when she said I was the best of both of them. I’m an empathetic listener and a creative problemsolver. I don’t miss deadlines. I’m a feminist, a bad but enthusiastic singer, a loving aunt, and a voracious reader. I love crafting a plan. If I believed in having a calling in life, eliminating suffering would be it.