Candidate for
Member, City Council; City of Pacific Grove

I grew up in a small town of just 2,000 residents - Brewester, Ohio. After I graduated from Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio, with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science, I moved to Columbus, Ohio to work as a legislative assistant for a State Representative. I was making $13,000 a year and that was just enough to pay my rent, but not much else. Because I always had a desire to serve our country, and I wanted to travel and earn a graduate degree, I decided to join the U.S. Navy.

In 1998, I graduated from Officer Candidate School in Peninsula, Florida. I then went on to Intelligence training school in Virginia Beach before moving to San Diego where I served on an aircraft carrier for two years. During this two year assignment, the crew deployed to the Persian Gulf and worked in support of United Nations' Resolution 1242 against Iraq. I worked with SEAL Team 5 in carrying out Maritime Interdiction Operations, in order to halt the export of illegal oil from Iraq in support of the oil-for-food agreement.

In 2000, I moved to Monterey to attend the Naval Postgraduate School, where I earned a Masters of Arts in National Security Affairs focusing on Chinese foreign policy. After completing this graduate program, I was assigned to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii where I served as the primary daily intelligence briefer for the Commander of the Pacific Fleet. I also worked as the Foreign Liaison Officer coordinating and executing intelligence exchanges with the Navies of Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan. These exchanges demonstrated to me the importance of open communication and collaboration at all levels of government. During this time I also began attending the University of Hawaii to pursue a Ph.D. in Political Science, focusing on Vietnam's political decision-making process.

In 2005, I resigned from active duty after seven years and moved to Hanoi, Vietnam with my husband, who was serving as the Marine and Naval Attaché at the U.S. Embassy. While in Hanoi, I was hired by the U.S. State Department to work as the Operations Assistant to the U.S. Ambassador. I also taught classes on cultural studies at the Hanoi University of Foreign Studies. During the three years that we lived in Vietnam, I completed my Ph.D. and published a book titled Vietnam's Political Process: How Education Shapes Decision Making.

In 2008, Bob and I moved back to the United States and we were lucky enough to be able to return to the Monterey Peninsula. Bob served at DLI until 2011 when he retired after 23 years in the U.S. Marine Corps. In 2009, I was hired as an Associate Professor of National Security Decision Making at the Naval War College at NPS. In my three years as a professor I have presented various papers at academic conferences. Most recently, I was invited to share my research on rare earth metals and China's strategic resources policy at Harvard. I also wrote and presented a paper on the U.S. National Security Strategy at MIIS and George Washington University.

With a background in strategy development and with an understanding of political decision making, I hope to help Pacific Grove develop a ten-year plan. We need to be able to think about issues and challenges from a long term perspective. Being in the military also afforded me valuable leadership experience which is absolutely necessary to run efficient meetings, make consistent decisions, and motivate others to get the job done!