Campaign Website:
https://allyforcongress.com/

Campaign POC:

Phone Number: 240-277-0191

Campaign Email: ally@allyforcongress.com

Vetting Panel Selected: Pending

Structured Interview Completed: Pending

Biography: I’ve lived in Northern Virginia since I was 8 years old, and in district 11 since it was created in 1991. My story is typical in some ways and very different in others. To understand me and how I came to this point in life, let me share a bit about my heritage.

My mother is a first-generation immigrant, whose parents met in Glasgow before WW2. During the war, my grandmother served as a Red Cross nurse, and my grandfather was a minister. He came from a large Welsh coal-mining family, who pooled their funds so he could live a life outside of the mines. My father’s family arrived in New Orleans in the mid-1800s, and came to own a successful landscape business in New York.

My early years were spent in Central and West Africa, where my father served in the Foreign Service and my mother worked for the African-American Institute and U.S. Information Agency. When I was 5, my parents returned from Africa and, within the year, divorced. Three moves and three years later, we moved to Arlington, VA, to be close to my dad who was stationed in D.C. 

While in Africa, my mom taught English to high school girls in Mali, established the first family planning program in the Kivu (Congo), and worked to promote a Women in Development Program in Somalia. Back in the U.S., despite living below the poverty line and earning $.57 for every $1 her male counterparts earned, she continued her activism, volunteering for the local Democratic Party and teaching English to ESOL students in the Arlington County public school system.

While my dad was stationed in D.C., he took us hiking and exploring in Rock Creek Park and to Earth Day celebrations on the National Mall. One week each summer, we camped in Virginia State parks. He taught us the value of natural areas and the importance of conservation. When my sister and I were teenagers, he went back to Africa and we spent our summers in Chad, Upper Volta (Burkina Faso), and Zaire (Congo). We saw first-hand the ravages of extreme poverty, of civil wars, and of how power can corrupt leaders who once – but no longer – had the people’s interests at heart.

• I am a widow who lost her husband to bone cancer 2 days after his 52nd birthday.
• I am a single mother who was raised by a single mother.
• I am a woman who volunteered in our neighborhood schools for 14 years and at our neighborhood pool for four.
• I am passionate about things that matter, and fed up with the inaction and inequities that plague our society.

For my 12th birthday, my mom gave me a t-shirt that read “A woman’s place is in the House—and the Senate.” I believed that then, and I believe it now. 

I am running for Congress to make a difference by representing the American people, not corporate interests.

Why you? The House of Representatives was never meant to be a place for career politicians. The senate was meant to be for the wealthy and powerful, but the house is meant for the working class. The farmers, the pharmacists, the bus drivers, the teachers, and yes, even widowed mothers. I am not a career politician. We need a representative who is not interested in garnering power and playing backroom politics with the corrupt 1% who do not care about the people they represent. I’m the person for that job.

What are your priorities? My priorities are to save lives and money by creating a single-payer healthcare system where people never have to choose whether to pay for food or to get treatment when they’re sick; to make sure every child can get a high quality Pre-K education, which studies have shown will set them up to be productive and successful; and to tackle our climate crisis and create jobs by investing in research, production, and infrastructure for future energy needs.

On my website, you can find detailed policy stances for over a dozen pressing issues our nation faces. 

Endorsements:
BlueAmerica
RootsAction
90 for 90 ‘SHEROES’

Education: 
Masters in Public Policy – Environmental Law and Economics, Georgetown University
BA – English and Psychology w/ minor in Sociology, University of Richmond

Relevant Employment History: 
Program Manager – Department of Defense, Natural Resources
Senior Research Associate – Colorado State University, CEMML
Lead Associate – Booz Allen Hamilton
Senior Conservation and Resource Special – HydroGeoLogic inc.
Senior Policy Analyst – Versar inc.
Program Coordinator – National Fish & Wildlife Foundation

Military Experience / Branch / Years of Service / Rank / Type of Discharge: N/A

Past Offices Held and Tenure: None

Community Service:
20+ years volunteering through Fairfax County Public Schools, local community, and church.

Leadership Experience:
Managed multi-million dollar projects and programs, lead numerous teams across multiple organizations, represented program and provided keynote presentations, served on White House Climate Task Force, helped write DoD Instructions and Directives.

Personal Strengths: Successful record of building coalitions and consensus among diverse groups, strong communication, leadership skills, policy expertise.

What is the most important thing Virginians need to know about you? I’m not here because I want power or fame or connections in politics. If I thought the current representative was doing a good job, I’d be happy to retire and spend time with my family. But he’s not, and somebody needed to step up and actually represent the people of this district, no matter their age, gender, ethnicity, or even political affiliation. I’m stepping up because somebody had to.

How would your friends and family describe you? I think people would describe me as caring, sincere, and driven. Sometimes a bit blunt, but passionate about what is right and just.
 

What are your thoughts on the Constitution as the Law of the Land? The Constitution has incredible significance in the lives of Americans. Just as important is the Bill of Rights and it’s implicit message that things unclarified or no longer up to snuff in our Constitution can and should be altered through Constitutional Amendment.

What are your thoughts on religious liberty? Everyone should have the right to freely practice their religious beliefs, so long as by doing so they are not harming others. We should be as free to live without fear of hatred or persecution in this nation as we are to believe what we want. This nation was founded upon the separation of Church and State, and as a safe haven for those escaping religious persecution. I believe in that with my entire being.

What are your thoughts on the preservation of our history? History must be preserved and taught, no matter if it paints our nation in a good or bad light. There is a very defined line between preserving and celebrating history, and we must teach and preserve both the good and bad so as to educate future generations.

What are your thought on government transparency? Corruption is the most bipartisan issue in DC: both parties say they’re trying to tackle it, while simultaneously being swamped in it. Transparent governance and legislation for our constituents, not dark money and special interests groups, is of the utmost importance.

What are your thoughts on national defense? I worked with many high ranking officials while at DoD. What many people don’t realize is that military leaders are the ones who see war as a last resort, not a first option. Instead, corrupt and out of touch politicians and political appointees are the ones who continue to overinflate the DoD budget, and try to send our children off to unnecessary conflicts for financial or political gain. It was President Eisenhower, a war hero in his own right, who said “We must guard against the the acquisition of unwarranted influence… by the military industrial complex,” which is exactly what we’re seeing today.

What are your thoughts on the free enterprise system? I support a market based economy for encouraging entrepreneurs, innovation, etc. I also support consumer protections so that companies are not harming people, like in China where free enterprise lead to toxic plastics that poisoned citizens.

What are your thoughts on the protection of the unborn? I believe every life is important, which is why I don’t believe our federal government should be making decisions as personal as what to do with our bodies for us.

What are your thoughts on the role the family plays in America? Being the daughter of divorced parents, and raising my children as a widow after my husband passed in 2015, I’ve come to see family as the people you chose to share your life with, whether related or not.

What are your thoughts on equal rights, equal justice and equal opportunity, as opposed to equal outcomes? If people are given true equal rights, justice, and opportunity, we will see outcomes be equal. That does not mean they will all be the same, but a genuinely equitable input will result in equitable outputs.

What are your thoughts on the 2nd Amendment? Coming from the natural resources and military community, I understand the need for guns and for sport. But with 62% of gun deaths being suicides, and mass shootings on the rise, we must do a better job with gun safety. I’ve known many gun owners in my life, and they know better than anybody that there are some people that you really don’t want to have a gun.

Additional sources of information on this candidate:

Blog – https://allyforcongress.com/blog/

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/allyforcongress/