State Board of Education, Ward 5 · District of Columbia

What top two issues motivate you to serve on the State Board of Education?

Too many of our students are not experiencing success after they graduate high school. Data from the mayor's office suggest that too many of our students aren't earning a living wage, that they struggle to find success, and many feel pessimistic about their future. This tells me that something isn't working in our schools, and I want to be a part of addressing this. My top three priorities to strengthen all our public schools are ensuring all schools create a safe and healthy learning environment, provide students with future ready learning opportunities, and put in place strategies to address chronic absenteeism.

How do you intend to hear from, respond to, and balance the needs of students, parents, and teachers?

My number one priority is to center student outcomes at every decision I make. As state board member, I intend to build opportunities for cross Ward community engagement so that parents, students, teachers, and advocates have a collective voice in advocating for safe and healthy learning environments as well as other issues. I will listen to our teachers to better understand what they need to be successful and elevate these needs to the appropriate policy makers. And I will engage with PTOs across the ward to ensure I am intimately knowledgeable about the issues impacting our schools.

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What top two issues motivate you to serve on the State Board of Education?

Two issues motivate me most. First, ending chronic absenteeism. Too many DC students are missing too much school. We need to address the reasons why, including transportation, safety, health, and whether students feel connected to school. I've worked nationally on this issue and helped bring DC into an effort to cut chronic absenteeism in half. Second, every Ward 5 student deserves a strong, safe public school close to home. Ward 5 students have some of DC's longest school commutes, while families are also raising concerns about ICE and National Guard activity near schools. Families shouldn't have to travel across the city to find what their children need, and every child should be able to learn without fear.

How do you intend to hear from, respond to, and balance the needs of students, parents, and teachers?

I will not wait until a decision is about to be made to ask students, families, and educators what they think. I will hold regular listening sessions, meet people in their schools and communities, and use both data and lived experience to guide my work. When perspectives differ, I will be transparent about what I heard, look for common ground, and explain how community input shaped my position. I also want students to have a meaningful voice in decisions that affect their education. My job is to bring people to the table early, listen carefully, and make sure their voices matter.

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What specific experience or skills prepare you to serve as a Board member?

First and foremost, I am a former classroom teacher with five years experience teaching high school. I am personally familiar with the opportunities and challenges facing our students and teachers. I am also the parent of school aged children who attend our public schools and am married to a DC school teacher, giving me a personal stake in the success of our public schools. I have 10 plus years of experience working in state K-12 education policy and am experienced working with state policymakers, including here in DC.

What specific experience or skills prepare you to serve as a Board member?

I bring lived and professional experience together. I'm a former PTO president and LSAT chair at John Burroughs Elementary, and I served on the board of a Ward 5 public charter school. In 2019, I helped launch the Ward 5 Education Equity Committee alongside then-SBOE member Zachary Parker. Professionally, I'm Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives & National Partnerships at EdTrust, where I lead a national initiative to cut chronic absenteeism. Across two decades in education policy and advocacy, I've learned how to bring people together across real differences to get results for students.