About Me
FAMILY
Originally born in Oklahoma City, I spent most of my childhood in Lawton, Oklahoma. Family has always been the important aspect of my life. My brother Jeff recently served in Iraq as a Blackhawk pilot with the Kansas National Guard and now lives in Texas with his wife, Cassandra. My sister Jennifer teaches reading in Manhattan. My parents, Bill and Susan, met while attending KU and were married at Danforth Chapel. Like all good Jayhawks, my parents instilled in me a love for the University and the city of Lawrence. Some of my earliest memories are of attending football games at Memorial Stadium while visiting family in the area, most of whom are current or former educators.
COLLEGE & COMMUNITY
I graduated from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Design with an emphasis in Visual Communication. I am fortunate to have lived in K.K. Amini Scholarship Hall, where I developed lifelong friends and deep connections to campus life. While much of my life was consumed by late-night design projects, I made it a priority to volunteer and give back to the community that had already given me so much. Working with universty administrators and students, I helped create the Center for Service Learning, which emphasizes service through academic curriculum. I worked on the Harvard National Campaign for Civic and Political Engagement, organized fine arts students to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the school, and worked as an orientation assistant helping new students and their families as they transitioned to college life. Furthermore, I was honored to serve as the co-director of the Center for Community Outreach, a campus-based nonprofit that connects KU students to volunteer opportunities on campus and in Lawrence. I also joined Plymouth Congregational Church as a student and am still an active member; I currently serve on their Membership Board. Finally, I have recently been appointed to the Ecumenical Christian Ministries Board of Directors, and look forward to continued involvement in other community organizations.
CAREER
Following my walk down Mount Oread, I headed to New York City to work for The William J. Clinton Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization. While there, I became inspired and motivated by President Clinton's belief that companies, communities, and individuals have an enormous capacity to "do well by doing good". For the past two years I've worked with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a partnership between the Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association. The goal of the Alliance is to reduce the prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States by working with schools, food and beverage companies, health care organizations, and directly with young people themselves. After nearly two years in New York, I decided to return to Lawrence to bring the idea of doing well by doing good to a critical venue: state government. In addition to this drive to return to "the nest", I was also drawn back by the quality and pace of life and sense of community in Lawrence, which, in my opinion, is truly unique and worth working to improve as best I can.
PUBLIC SERVICE
In my heart, I have always been guided and inspired by the "service" component of "public service". I believe that holding elected office means serving your constituents, listening to their ideas, and working tirelessly to see that their concerns are appropriately addressed. In essence, people need policies that enrich their daily lives. As your representative I will strive to do everything within my ability to ensure that the lives of those I represent are never unnecessarily impeded or generally made more difficult.
It is these experiences, and the values I have formed through and because of them, that have brought me to where I am today as a candidate.