Who Am I? Small business owner. Wife & mother. Activist.

​I grew up in a middle-class 1980s family – a younger sister, a newly "9-to-5" mother, and a traditional father with his own home-building business. We lived just beyond the suburbs on 8 beautiful acres with a garden, trail horses, and more hunting dogs than I could count.

But I went to a downtown magnet school nearly an hour away, where I met students from all over our county, from all ethnic, economic, and religious backgrounds. It’s where I first learned to appreciate and embrace my community’s diversity.

It was the perfect combination of rural and urban. And it was a great foundation for my life north of Atlanta in fast-growing Forsyth County, GA.

I've had a long career as a newspaper editor and small-business owner. During college, I met and married Dave, an ambitious, charismatic Irishman who now works with global nonprofit organizations. Our three children are all products of Forsyth's wonderful public schools. ​

Dave and I have been married 27 years, and I'm so proud of the family we've created. He works with global nonprofit organizations. Caiti is working on a masters in educational psychology at the University of Kentucky. Eoin is studying business at Georgia College & State University. And Cara is a senior at Lambert High School.

But as we all know, life can be anything but easy.

In 2007, I was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor as big as a peach. Thanks to my amazing surgeon and a deep support system, I’m well now. But not everyone with such a traumatic diagnosis is so lucky. America's healthcare system is devastatingly and unnecessarily expensive and difficult to maneuver. And without the pre-existing conditions protections in the Affordable Care Act, it would be even worse.

In 2017, I co-founded a vibrant local grassroots organization in Forsyth that focuses on connecting like-minded progressive neighbors working to lobby our legislators, register voters, knock doors and make calls for campaigns, and generally advocate for many issues that will bring real, positive change to Georgia families. And I've learned that Georgia's electorate is more than ready to be reinvigorated.

During my years as a Forsyth professional, wife and mother, and activist, I have come to care deeply about issues that I know matter to many of you – reproductive rights, healthcare, public schools, common-sense gun safety, and election integrity. I want to work with you on these issues and represent our community in the Georgia State Senate.