I was born and raised in northeastern New Jersey. Most of my family immigrated to the United States from Sicily around the turn of the 20th century, and have been mostly based in the New York City area for that time. I grew up in a home with a large extended family that was multi-generational and multi-cultural, in which my grandparents spoke Sicilian, yet I was raised to be an American. I grew up in a community that was extremely diverse, surrounded and influenced by cultures from all over the planet. I have experienced the benefits of white privilege as well as the discrimination against people who are not viewed as white or as American. I experienced firsthand the struggle of being in a working class family, living between the extreme poverty and excessive wealth that exists in greater New York City. I learned early in my life about the reality of inequality, and have always had a commitment to challenging the oppression that has impacted me and others from similar and different backgrounds.

​I worked very hard throughout school, and despite being from one of the poorest high schools in Bergen County, I was able to attend Dartmouth College due to their commitment to need-blind admissions and their generous financial aid. I graduated from Dartmouth in 1998 as a Senior Fellow, with a Bachelor's Degree in Music. I moved to Burlington, Vermont, to be an Americorps member at Spectrum Youth and Family Services. While at Spectrum, I fell in love with the profession of Social Work. I eventually attended the University of Vermont where I received a Master’s Degree in Social Work in 2005.

​Since graduate school, I have worked as a substitute crisis clinician for First Call (children and families crisis service at the HowardCenter). I worked for 4 years as a family support worker and social services supervisor for Transitional Services for Youth and Families. After earning my social work license, I started my own private practice in clinical social work in 2010.

I currently support myself through my private practice, engaging in psychotherapy with a diverse range of clients, mostly age 5-18, and their families. I also work with adults, despite my greater experience with children and families. One of my areas of specialty is multicultural practice. I have worked with many people of color, refugees, immigrants, people with various sexual/gender identities, and people with different abilities. I have bore witness to many stories of discrimination and oppression. I also work mostly with clients from poor, working, or middle class backgrounds. I have heard many examples of how the government has helped and hindered the people of my community.

I see my social work experience as being vital to my role as School Commissioner. The schools are as influential on our children as our homes. I bring with me an understanding of child development and how the physical and social environment affects the growth of humans. I am committed to seeing the school system evolve in ways that furthers the health and wellness of all of our children. I seek not only to be an advocate for the children and families of the Central District, but also to represent the best interests of all the children and families of Burlington. I want to find more ways for the voices of all of our students and their families to be validated, heard, and listened to, not just tolerated. I want all students to have more opportunities for success, and to be able to overcome their challenges to achieve their goals and dreams, just like I did. I want them to have a fighting chance in a world where the odds have been stacked against them.

In addition to my social work with individuals and families, I have been involved in an important community-organizing effort for the past 7 years. I am the co-founder of a neighborhood group called ISGOOD (Isham Street Gardening and Other Optimistic Doings). The purpose of ISGOOD is to change the social environment of my street through collaborative reclamation of the physical environment. Isham Street is one of the most neglected streets in our city, populated mostly by college students who have historically been disconnected from the impact of their actions and not invested in their neighborhood. By building community with the long-term residents of the street, I have worked to slowly change the culture of the block through gardening. We have created small community gardens in the greenbelts and on private land. Through our efforts, we have engaged college students in a process where they become connected with their neighbors and through which they come to care for their physical environment. 

We have developed partnerships that extend beyond our block, involving UVM Office of Student and Community Relations, other neighborhood groups, Burlington Health and Rehab, and most recently we were awarded a grant from the AARP. In this past year, we built a coalition between students, long-term residents, and patients and staff of Burlington Health and Rehab. Together we continue the transformation of one of Burlington’s dirtiest and noisiest streets into an urban oasis of permaculture and social harmony. With this physical transformation, we seek to also demonstrate a new kind of urban social environment, where people care for each other and their surroundings, and seek to leave behind beauty wherever they may roam.

I see my experience with ISGOOD being important to my role as Legislator because I have learned how to build connections between disparate interests. I believe that my skills in mediation will important as the Legislature makes difficult decisions about use of resources. I also believe that my commitment and experience to remediating an urban environment has influenced me in contributing to the kind of physical and social reforms that are needed in our systems of government.