I was born and raised in the desert in Tucson, Arizona. My mom was a special education teacher who spent her spare time collecting food for the food bank and tutoring students. My dad is an engineer who spent weekends doing science experiments with me. During freshman year of high school, I met my partner, Brendan. We have now been together 13 years!

I went to college at the University of Arizona and studied Environmental Economics. While I spent most of my undergraduate years working on sustainability initiatives, I became interested in the role of business in society, which led me to work in financial services after school. Rather than hopping from job to job, I committed 7 years to building my career at a single company, the investment management firm Dodge & Cox.  I worked in most of the departments at the company, including in several operational and client services roles. In my final position, I led the initiative to develop the firm’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing approach as the company’s first ESG Analyst.

Community service has been an important part of my life since I began volunteering at an animal shelter when I started high school. After graduating college, I served on the board of the League of Women Voters of San Francisco for 6 years, including 3 years as President. In this role I led a 15-person board, part-time staff, and 50+ volunteers. I was then elected to serve as Treasurer of the national League of Women Voters, which oversees 750+ state and local Leagues, a 22 million dollar budget, and 50+ staff. I also served on the Bay Area Rapid Transit Bond Oversight Committee, which oversaw the spending of $3.5 billion in bond revenue to rebuild BART’s aging infrastructure. These experiences taught me how to work through challenging business situations, such as managing a transition after a senior leader unexpectedly left, working through budget deficits, and resolving conflicts between leaders.

I recently completed my MBA at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, which broadened my business knowledge and gave me the opportunity to explore entrepreneurship. After spending 2 years in a dorm on campus, Brendan and I have moved back to San Francisco, and are enjoying reconnecting with our community.