I was born in Paducah, Kentucky near much of my extended family. Being close to my grandparents and great-grandparents was a treat for which I will always be grateful. Playing down by the river, learning to drive on a John Deere tractor, and watching the buffalo literally roam are special memories of my early years.

My dad was transferred to Houston when I was four years old. Aside from a brief time in Dallas, Houston has been home ever since. Texas is where I learned to love living on the coast, fell in love with Texas A&M University as a high school senior, found a balance between city glitz and wide-open spaces, and where my family doubled in size. After graduating from Texas A&M with a degree in interdisciplinary studies in 2007, I began a teaching career that has been a huge joy in my life for the last decade and a half. I am now in the process of shifting my career to focus on nonprofit work. I am interested in seeking opportunities to help organizations plan strategically for program implementation to benefit communities or the care of orphaned and vulnerable children.

Much of my adult life has been spent crossing the Atlantic to Lusaka, Zambia. I serve families and teachers there through Alliance for Children Everywhere, a family preservation ministry. ACE is the light of my life, and I am so proud of our work changing how Zambian society and the government chooses to care for orphaned and vulnerable children.