I am humbled to have served as the Takoma Park City Councilmember for Ward 5 since 2022. It has been my privilege and honor to dedicate myself to ensuring that our whole City and Ward 5 are the places where we can all live, work, play and thrive. I continue to be deeply committed to the well-being of my ward neighbors, in all of our multi-layered ethnic and cultural diversity. I seek to listen, learn and collaborate to build solutions that are win-win across our entire ward and beyond. I bring to the candidacy my 20+ years of professional experience in participatory community building as an advocate and international health, gender, and climate specialist, often in Spanish-speaking countries. My husband and I have been Ward 5 residents for 20+ years, first as renters and then as homeowners in 2005. Our three children attend MCPS schools (high school, middle and elementary), and our oldest attended the Takoma Park Cooperative Nursery School here in our ward. My wonderful experiences in our neighborhood motivate me to do all in my power to ensure the representation of every individual who lives in our community.