I’ve spent my entire life in the world of policy and politics, and a good part of the last decade being an advisor and support system to other change makers around the world. I cut my teeth in US politics. But after working for seven years without a vacation slogging away from one campaign to the next , I committed myself to making a leap of faith and moving abroad to see what was going on in the rest of the world. I accepted a position in international nonprofit in Ukraine and thought I would be gone a year – almost 10 years ago.  

And now 25 countries, one foreign husband, a chubby well-traveled cat and many colorful scarves later, here I am. During this time, I’ve trained former warlord political parties in Afghanistan to speak out against domestic violence. I’ve helped human rights activists in the Former Soviet Union seed a revolution. I once traveled to Boko Haram territory in Nigeria to help women fight against child marriage. And I’ve worked with Syrian women in the midst of war fighting to have a say about their own destiny. I started this podcast because there’s very little information about women from a global first-person perspective, through their own voice. Through these conversations I will bring my perspective and philosophy as a feminist and women’s rights activist to the discussion.

I am originally from the American west, born and raised in Kalispell, Montana, which provided me with the rarely used skills of horseback riding and shooting guns (although not at the same time). Besides politics and global change making, my passions are photography, anything food related, being a sous-chef for my husband and a good Aunt to my four nieces. I have lived most my life in and out of a suitcase – working across the Former Soviet Union, the Middle East and Africa.