I am a planner, designer, and arborist working in Oregon's Willamette Valley. My interests include urban biodiversity, the relationship between the built environment and public health, and the complex tensions among market-driven development, the need to accommodate growth, the need for a healthy built environment, and the need to integrate nature and biodiversity in the urban environment. 

 

Currently, I work as a land use planner for AKS Engineering and Forestry, which provides land use, landscape architecture, and arboriculture services, among other services, to private and public entities.

 

In 2020, I was appointed to the Salem Planning Commission (2020-2027), where I advocate for better planning and management of our natural resources. I am the Commission's current president. During my time on the Planning Commission, I have been involved in an update to the City's comprehensive plan, helped update and pass a new tree preservation ordinance, and initiated an update to the City's riparian map and policies. 

 

In 2018, I co-founded the Mission Street Parks Conservancy and served as its full-time president through its first two years.

My work included organizational management, fundraising, garden design, and landscape care for Bush’s Pasture Park. I also designed and helped install a new ornamental garden for the park.

 

Prior to 2018, I worked for nonprofits in Minnesota, Nevada, and Washington DC that focused on social justice, including Project Vote, where I served as president and executive director from 2008 to 2017. Project Vote helped Americans register, vote, and stay on the election rolls. Our worked included legislative and administrative advocacy, litigation, and, with a wide range of communities partners, funding and managing non-profit  voter registration drives. Project Vote was the country's leading organization to enforce the National Voter Registration Act. I began my career as an intern to US Senator Paul Wellstone. 

 

I graduated from the University of Oregon’s College of Design with a Master’s of Community and Regional Planning and a graduate certificate in Ecological Design. My master’s project was a masterplan for a new, sustainable community in the Galapagos. I received a B.A. in History from the University of Minnesota. 

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